Many of my clients rent their homes out through out the year to get extra income.    With down turn in the economy and the overall fear factor, rentals seem to be a bit slower this summer.  I recently stumbled across a great blog with lots of owner rental information.  Their article ‘What To Do If Your Peak Summer Weeks Are Not Fully Booked ‘  is great reading and can be found at http://tinyurl.com/qtr3vw   While Home Fridays does not find renters, we do take care of everything for the home between and during rentals.  There is nothing worse when a problem occurs and you are thousands of miles away and unable to resolve.  As the local contact for the guests, we can get the problem fixed quickly.  Whether it is a guest locking themselves out, an oven that doesn’t work or making sure the guests leave on time and the house is undamaged and prepped for the next guests.  Home Fridays is your solution for it all!

Spring is finally here – the sun is out and last night our low was above freezing (by just 2 degrees).   So it is time to make the mad rush for getting all the projects done before the next snow fall.  Sounds crazy, but that is how we think about summer at Home Fridays.  Just a few months to get all the maintenance items covered (painting, deck refinishing, repairs) while the weather cooperates.  It is also the busiest time of year for project management. 

While our owners are out of town, they often want something done at the house – remodel, decks refinshed, painting, floors refinished,  just to name a few.  It is so much easier to get these things done when no one is living in the house.  But if you are far far away – how do you keep track of the contractors?  That is where Home Fridays comes in – we act as your local eyes and ears.  Managing, cajoling and sometimes beating on the contractors to make sure everything gets done.  Several of my owners just leave a paint chip on wall and we make sure it gets painted before they return.  Recently we picked the exterior colors, worked with the local home owners association for approval, hired the painters and made sure the entire project was completed before the first guests arrived for the summer.  It makes our clients lifes easier as they don’t have to live through the mess and can relax at home, knowing that everything is taken care of.   So I am off – we have a number of project running that need my attention.   If you need help with your second home – just give us a call!

Recently we had a late night emergency call when water was flowing from a clients house into the neighbor’s yard.  A quick trip to the house and a little detective work identified a problem with the water feature.  The water was working hard to fill itself up – and then the water was running out of the feature and directly into the neighbors yard.  All easy problems to solve, but not something that can go unattended until the owners are back in town.  Just another reason you want someone watching the house and be sure they are available 24/7.  Because we all know these issues don’t happen at 9am on Monday mornings. 

Water features are amazing and so relaxing to have in the yard.  But without proper maintenance they can make a big impact in a  negative way.  The pumps need to be cleaned and the water ways need to be maintained.  Be sure that the pumps are cleaned out weekly – especially when the pine needles and leaves are falling.  The pumps can get clogged and then water runs out over the pump, instead of draining.  With the auto fill water, the water feature becomes a big water pump for the yard.   Also, over time the walls of the feature can freeze, thaw, settle and get dislodged (sometimes dogs an people can play a part as well).  If the water path is disrupted, it can run out onto the yard and again the pump will just fill up the yard.  Or in the case of one of our owners – filled up the neighbors yard!  One of our clients has a beautiful water feature and 3 big dogs who love it.  Over time they had moved enough stones out of one area to allow water to escape the planned flow.  The water pumped into the neighbors yard and no one was happy. 

Lowell Lamberton and Brian Shawver just wrote an article for the Cascade Business News where they used Home Fridays as an example.  Check it out http://tinyurl.com/p97ppl