Managing Home Maintenance Costs

Believe it or not most people are more concerned about someone breaking into their homes while they are away on vacation or business. The reality is that there is more danger of damage from a variety of other things than what you might not think of. One of the main ones is that your insurance company may require someone to check on your home every couple of days. They need to make sure that the furnace is running and that there is no leaking water. This could be a condition of insurability so we tell everyone to check with their insurance company. Determine what is actually required before they head off on vacation for a couple of weeks. Residential Property Management Categories should be considered by everyone. They are all different.

Residential Property Management Categories

There are lots of reasons for hiring someone or arranging with a neighbor or family member to look after your home while you are away. These categories cover the occasional all the way through the full time professional. The following list comprises some of the main reasons why you may want to consider having someone do this on your behalf ( In all cases except for pets, we assume you are gone for a week or more):

• Pets at home ( Have someone come in to feed and care for your pets)
• Insurance requirements (24/48/72 hour intervals)
• Landscaping ( including cut the grass, water the plants)
• Water indoor plants
• Make the home look lived in(lights on timers, move lights)
• Pick up the mail ( hold or send to the homeowner)
• Remove advertising and papers from front step
• Check on the water, including sump pumps
• Turn on the water to fill traps(if vacant for more than 2 weeks)
• Check security of the home
• Snow removal
• Check on the home and report to the homeowner
• Monitor home improvement while the homeowner is away
• Rent the home
• Rental property management

There are probably many other reasons for having someone look after your home while you are away or if you plan to rent your home out to someone while you leave the country. It also may be a vacation property or an investment property. If you are reading this post and notice something missing please feel free to leave us a comment.

Additional Property Management Requirements

The requirements are also much different depending on whether you have a traditional home with a front and back yard, vs. a townhouse, a condo or a rental property. The time of year also is a factor since you must arrange for someone to cut the lawn and trim during the summer, while the winter requires someone to clear the snow from the walkway and driveway if you live in areas that receive snow. These all need to be taken into account if you planning on hiring a residential property manager, a house sitter or arranging for someone to look after you home while you are away.

We will be developing customized checklists for people in these various categories.  If they do not quite fit or you have a special situation that we have not covered, please leave us a comment and we will update our lists. We plan on issuing a new post every two weeks so stay tuned to watch for our latest post.

For more posts about a variety of property management topics, click here.