Anyone in the Houston Area?

[ksmith]

I'm wondering what you charge, or what the going rate for in home care is in the area? I'm having a hard time finding anything online.

[Starburst]

I'm not sure if it's legal for them to share their rates with you if they are in the same area because it can be considered price fixing, so you cannot directly talk to your competition about your rates.

http://www.tomcopelandblog.com/2010/09/can-you-talk-to-other-providers-about-your-rates.html

http://www.tomcopelandblog.com/2011/03/when-is-it-safe-to-talk-about-child-care-rates.html

But you can go to your local child care resources and referral agency and ask for a list of the different daycares in your area, which may also include price.

Try contacting your local CCR&R:

http://childcareaware.org/parents-and-guardians/childcarefinder#section=searchbyzip

[SilverSabre25]

As a moderator I'm wondering why you are asking about Houston and your location says you are in Turkey...

[ksmith]

Starburst, I was not aware it was illegal to share their actual prices. I also did ask what the going rate for the area was if someone can't or is not comfortable sharing their prices. People have posted the average price for care in their area several times in this forum. To address SilverSabre25's question, because living in Turkey is temporary, and Houston is one of the areas we are considering after Turkey.

[SilverSabre25]

Oh, ok! thanks for clearing that up! Carry on

To answer your question, I would call a few daycare centers in the area of Houston you're interested in to get an idea of their rates, then hang out on Craigslist reading child care ads and see who posts their prices, to give you an idea of going rates. In central OH my rate is about $40/week less than the crappy daycare centers' infant rates, but I'm on the high side for my part of town. A few miles away, providers can charge $40-$50 more than me easily.

[MyAngels]

Maybe you can find out if there's a local family childcare association for providers in the area and get in touch with them. Until you're actually living there discussing rates is perfectly fine.

ETA: This might be a place to start: http://www.greaterhoustonchildcareassociation.com/

[ksmith]

Thanks! I never thought about checking craigslist, and I'll check out that link!