Housing exchange for childcare and housekeeping

California has specific rules around live-in household help that apply here (including capping how much room/board value can be applied towards the cost of care; the rest must be paid hourly, and you must calculate it based on at least minimum wage) so I'd start by reviewing those regulations to determine if it makes sense for your family. If you usually rent the unit at market rate, know that the cap is quite a bit lower than East Bay rents, so the math may not work well. If it's a unit that would otherwise be vacant for family or friends to use, though, it might be a good fit. You might consider an au pair, too.

Whatever you do, I encourage you to write up a contract and include a trial period after which time you will decide about the rest of the period, e.g., a 2-4 week trial and then a longer contract.  

Once we gave free rent to an undergrad in exchange for housecleaning.  It did not work well.  So be sure that you have clauses included that allow you to change the situation along the way. 

Good luck!  

I would not do it.  Consider renting for fair market value and then using the rental income for babysitters.  It is difficult to value the rental cost and the childcare cost in this situation, and ultimately in months where you use childcare less you will feel like you are missing out and in months where you need more help, the tenant will feel like they are "paying" too much for the rental or ask for payment.  I've also heard of horror stories where the childcare offered was unreliable, or the caregiver and kids did not connect, or for whatever other reason the landlords wanted to fire the childcare provider but the childcare provider refused to move and refused to pay rent so they had to go through expensive eviction process during which time the tenant lived for free and did not provide childcare as per the agreement.  Especially if you are in Berkeley or another place with rules that are very pro-tenant, I would not do it.  If you do it then at least make sure that the contract includes the fair market rate for the rental that the tenant would have to pay if they don't "work" a certain number of hours that month and vice versa you will pay them $x/hr if they work more hours per month than in the contract.  Plus you might be capped at how much you can even "charge" them for the unit via childcare hours, so financially it is better idea to just rent it out for money as usual and then you can enter into a separate agreement for childcare if the fit is right.  Good luck. 

You might check into the average or “going rate” for your rental unit; depending on where you’re located, you might be surprised at the amount rentals are going for now. It’s possible you’d want to keep renting the in-law and hiring a caregiver as separate transactions, depending on how the figures play out. 

For a proper contract, you need a lawyer, especially if you are in a rent-controlled area. Finding someone who needs someplace to live AND the sort of job you are offering can be difficult. It limits your choices.