Anyone who gives you a firm number before seeing the house is either padding it or about to revise it. That said, you deserve a range before you make the call, so here is what jobs in this county actually run.
Full-house cleanouts by size
| House | Typical range | Usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment or condo, 1 bed | $450 - $900 | Half day, one truck |
| 1,000 sq ft ranch | $900 - $1,800 | One day, two-person crew |
| 1,500 sq ft with basement | $1,400 - $2,800 | One long day, two dump runs |
| 2,000 sq ft with basement and garage | $1,900 - $3,800 | One to two days, three-person crew |
| 2,500+ sq ft, full house | $2,500 - $5,500 | Two days, staged donation pickup |
| Heavy accumulation / hoarding | $3,000 - $12,000+ | Multi-day, sorting pass, possible specialty handling |
These are consistent with national cleanout benchmarks, which run roughly $1 to $2 per square foot for a full clear-out and $25 to $100 per hour where a company prices by labor instead. Southeast Michigan sits in the middle of that band: our disposal tipping costs are lower than the coasts, our labor is not.
What actually drives your number
Volume, not floor area. A packed 1,100 square foot ranch costs more than an empty 2,400 square foot colonial. Crews price the truckloads, not the deed.
Stairs and access. A walk-out basement with a door to the driveway is the cheapest possible layout. A finished basement with one interior staircase and a turn at the bottom can add hours. Old West Side and Water Hill houses in Ann Arbor, and much of Depot Town in Ypsilanti, are narrow-stair houses from the 1890s to 1920s. Say so when you call.
Disposal fees on specific items. Mattresses, box springs, tube televisions, refrigerators and freezers with refrigerant, tires, and paint each carry their own handling cost. A basement with eight cans of old paint and a chest freezer is a different job than one without.
Distance to the transfer station. Jobs in Ann Arbor, Pittsfield and Scio are close in. Manchester, Milan and the western townships add drive time to every load.
What a fair quote includes
- Labor, truck, and all disposal and tipping fees, stated as one number
- Removal of everything not marked “keep,” including from the basement, attic, garage and shed
- A donation run with receipts for the estate’s records
- Broom-swept finish and before/after photos
- No charge if you walk away after the walkthrough
What should make you suspicious
- A firm price quoted sight-unseen over the phone
- “Starting at $99” pricing (that is a single-item pickup price, not a cleanout)
- An offer to take the contents in lieu of payment before anyone has appraised anything
- A deposit demanded before a written scope exists
- Hourly billing with no cap
If the estate has real value in it
Get an estate sale company or an appraiser in before the cleanout crew. The order matters. Sale first, cleanout second, and the cleanout gets cheaper because there is less to haul. Common items worth a second look in this county: mid-century furniture, tools, sterling, University of Michigan memorabilia, and anything in an original box in the attic.
We will say this on the walkthrough if we see it, even though it costs us volume.
Common questions
Why won't you quote me over the phone?
Because the honest answer depends on how full the house is, and nobody describes that accurately over the phone. Everyone underestimates their parents' basement. A ten-minute walkthrough turns a guess into a number we will hold to.
Is it cheaper if I rent a dumpster myself?
Sometimes, if you have the labor. A 20-yard roll-off in Washtenaw County typically runs $400 to $600 for a week including a tonnage allowance, and you still have to carry everything out and pay overage on weight. For most families the crew is the point, not the container.
Do you charge by the hour?
No. Hourly pricing puts your interests and the crew's in opposition. You get one price for the whole job after the walkthrough.
What raises the price the most?
Stairs without an exterior basement door, heavy accumulation, appliances and mattresses that carry disposal fees, and anything requiring more than one dump run. Square footage matters less than most people expect.