Ready when you are.
Book a free call →Parenting solo?
One adult. The whole picture. No backup.
A house manager is the backup a single parent doesn't otherwise have. There is no second parent to split the list with, so the list is all yours: the house, the kids' logistics, the work, the admin. A house manager is the backup you don't have: someone who owns the household so the hours you do have go to the children and the job.
Many families start part-time.
Backup at home
The house is handled, so the time you have goes to them.
Single-parent families with us run 8 to 15 hours a week.
- 10,000+ families supported
- 90-day guarantee
- Flat fee, never a % of salary
What people are saying
What changes when someone shares the load.
“Sage Haus has rescued our family. I don't know how I survived this long without this kind of support. Once I gave myself permission to ask for help, everything changed.”
Backup
Another adult who knows the house, the routine and the kids' schedule. The sick day, the late meeting and the travel week stop being emergencies.
8–15 hrs
Where single-parent Sage Haus families landed. Enough to own the kitchen, the laundry and the errands; the role grows if it earns it.
Flat fee
Not a percentage of salary. One fee for the search, in two payments, on one income.
The gap
The list doesn't split when there's one of you.
Two-parent households argue about who holds the list. Single parents just hold it. The house manager is the first person who takes a share.
A week now
- Work, then the second shift: dinner, laundry, homework, bedtime
- Every errand, appointment and return is yours
- A sick kid or a late meeting breaks the whole week
- No one to hand the house to for a weekend
- The admin pile that never gets to the top
A week with a house manager
- Dinner planned and prepped, the kitchen stocked
- Laundry, resets and supplies handled
- Pickups and the after-school window covered when you need them
- Appointments, returns, vendors and the admin owned
- Another adult who knows the routine when something breaks
Co-parenting on an alternating schedule? One family below is exactly that.
Seen enough? Pick a time now.
A free 30-minute group call with a Sage Haus hiring specialist. No obligation, and the fee is covered live.
What you'll get
A search built around one income and one calendar.
1
Kickoff call with your specialist
We map the week you actually have and the hours that would change it most.
2
A job description for backup
Household first, with the after-school window and the sick-day cover scoped in if you want them.
3
Vetted finalists, interviews arranged
Sourced, screened and interviewed by a person. References and a background check before any offer.
4
Onboarding and a 90-day guarantee
An onboarding call, a six-week check-in, and a one-time re-match within 90 days if the fit isn't right.
Shared custody?
A role that follows the schedule.
One founder we placed with co-parents on an alternating schedule. The house manager's hours flex with the weeks the children are home.
Need childcare too?
It can sit inside the role.
Pickups, the after-school hours and a weeknight bedtime can be part of the job description. If you need full-day care, a nanny comes first, and we place nannies too.
Case studies
One adult, and a house that runs anyway.
The Dunmore family · Single-Parent Home
A team at work. Finally, one at home.
A tech executive and single mom with two teenage boys and a newly purchased house — which meant a to-do list with real depth and nobody to share it.
The Rowntree family · Single-Parent Home
One person, one household, one growing clinic.
A clinician running her own practice and raising a young child on her own.
The Fenwick family · Entrepreneurs
A founder, three children, and a household split across two weeks.
A founder co-parenting three children on an alternating schedule.
The Wextonbury family · Dual-Income
Two cities, one household, and the airport in between.
Two full-time working parents in the Southeast with a newborn and a toddler at home — and an older child whose shared-custody schedule lives in another state, which puts the airport on the family calendar every month..
Read all the stories at sagehaus.com/case-studies.
Not ready to book? Take the three-minute quiz.
It builds a scope for your family: the hours, the tasks and the kind of role that fits. You get the result straight away.
The numbers
One income, honest numbers.
The calculator adds up the sitters, the delivery and the piecemeal help you pay for today, plus your own hours, and puts it next to a part-time house manager.
- The cost today, including your own time
- A part-time house manager at the hours and rate you choose
- Return on the search at one and two years
How the calculator works
- 1What you pay today for sitters, delivery, cleaners and errands, plus the hours you put in yourself
- 2A house manager at the hours and rate you choose, with W-2 costs if you want them
- 3How you find them: a flat fee, an agency percentage, or your own time
- 4The return on the search at one and two years, and the hours you get back
Nothing is filled in for you. Add the Sage Haus fee from your call when you have it.
Book a call
Ready for support?
A free 30-minute call with a Sage Haus hiring specialist. We'll look at your week, tell you honestly what kind of role fits, and if a search makes sense, what it would look like for your family.
More from our families
What changes after the hire.
“This decision has been life changing for our family, and I am very grateful to Sage Haus for finding our House Manager.”
“Not only do I actually get down time, but laundry and dishes ACTUALLY get done.”
“Our house manager fits into our family perfectly.”
Questions families ask
Before you book.
Can I afford this on one income?
Single-parent Sage Haus families run 8 to 15 hours a week. The calculator puts the house manager's cost next to what you spend today on sitters, delivery and piecemeal help, plus your own hours. Run it with your own numbers before the call.
Free resource: the calculator
Can the role include the kids?
Yes. Pickups, the after-school window and a weeknight bedtime can sit inside the job description alongside the household. If you need full-day care, a nanny or daycare comes first and the house manager second. We place nannies too.
What happens when I travel or work late?
The house manager knows the routine, the house and the children's schedule. Cover for a late meeting or a travel week can be scoped in; overnight care is a separate conversation on the call.
What does a house manager actually do all day?
The household: the daily reset, laundry, kitchen and meal prep, groceries and supplies, the calendar, vendors, errands and returns.
Free resource: The mental load, explained and time and cost calculator
What will I pay the house manager?
Single-parent households often start at 8 to 15 hours, so the weekly cost sits at the lower end. Typically $25 to $50 an hour depending on scope and location, higher in New York and the Bay Area. They're a W-2 household employee; we point you to a payroll partner that handles taxes and pay stubs. Our own fee is covered on the call.
How do you vet candidates?
Vetting someone who'll be your backup is the same process, done by a person. Regional hiring specialists source from local boards and our certified talent pool. Every candidate is screened and interviewed by a human before you meet them. References, a background check and an employment agreement come before any offer, and a one-time re-match is available within 90 days.
How long does it take?
If a custody schedule sets the hours, tell us on the call. About four to six weeks from an approved job description to your first candidates. If you have a date in mind, we work back from it.
What if it doesn't work out?
If the role needs to change, the guarantee covers it. A one-time re-match with up to two new candidates inside the first 90 days, no extra fee, provided you did the onboarding call and the six-week check-in with us.
Do you cover my area?
Single-parent households have come to us from San Jose to Houston. Families across the United States and Canada, with regional specialists who know the local market. Rural and small-town searches take a little longer; tell us where you are on the call.