Can I hire someone to look after my house better than I can?

June 12, 2023 5:05 PM

I've owned a home for a few years. I seem to have no skill/aptitude/interest for looking after the things that a homeowner is supposed to look after to make sure my house is in good shape - cleaning eavestroughs, noticing things that need repair or are not as they should be. I'd love to hire someone to do that for me. Does such a person exist? What is the name of that job?

Like - basically, I want to live the life of a tenant with a good landlord (like - I don't want to have to think about this stuff) but with the advantages of home ownership. Ideally I'd get someone who would check in periodically, notice stuff that needed to be done, and also refer me to the people who can help.

posted by ManInSuit to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

handyman

We have had several, some better than others....
But there are folks who can do all kinds of tasks.
posted by Windopaene at 5:32 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would love to have an arrangement of some sort where the person doing the noticing-of-things-to-fix was not the person who would financially benefit from the things getting fixed. I'm not sure how one would set that up, though.
posted by dmd at 5:36 PM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]

I always wished there was a hire a dad. Guys that like this stuff but just are too old to be standing on ladders anymore.
posted by ReluctantViking at 5:39 PM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]

I always wished there was a hire a dad. Guys that like this stuff but just are too old to be standing on ladders anymore.

That's basically what a handyman is. As dmd said though, unless it's someone you really trust it might be better to pay one person to find the problems and one person to fix them so there's no conflict of interest.

For things like HVAC systems you can usually sign a service contract that will include an annual preventive maintenance / cleaning. That'd take care of that stuff. You can probably get similar contracts for large appliances and garage doors.
posted by bondcliff at 5:48 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

A home inspector can do the identifying part of this, it doesn’t have to be limited to home sales. I’m not sure if they’d be able to refer out or who would do the actual completion part though
posted by raccoon409 at 5:51 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

If you go for a semi-routine visit from a home inspector, make sure they know it's for maintenance purposes (not related to a sale) and that you'd be hiring them again in future (the idea of recurring income may help them drop their price).

...and then pick someone certified by ASHI.
posted by aramaic at 6:06 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

A "caretaker" is what we call that here, though usually more for seasonal residents. It's pretty much a handyman — someone who knows how to do pretty much everything around the house and when it should be done — but tends to be at least partially on retainer, like $X per month for A/B/C regular services, then additional and special things at $Y per hour/project.
posted by feistycakes at 6:14 PM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

Previously. It looks like "home concierge" might be the appropriate search term.
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 6:14 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

TIL that "eavestroughs" is another word for what I've always known as "gutters".
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 7:15 PM on June 12, 2023 [9 favorites]

One potential solution to this: If you get a chance, sell &move into a well-run apartment complex/coop. The super/staff/management should take care of this......"Walls-out" is not your problem.
posted by lalochezia at 7:28 PM on June 12, 2023

In Montreal there’s a business called “brother in law to rent”. Basically they will do small and large update/maintenance on your house. They have all their certifications too (unlike the brother in law).

If you are in Canada, Costco offers home inspection services even when not buying/selling a home. The service is through Mike Holmes Ltd (who ran a successful home repair company, and tv show)
posted by seawallrunner at 8:10 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

I also saw this book recommended - it lists all the tasks that should be done weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually.
posted by seawallrunner at 8:13 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Contact a local rental property management company or two and tell them what you need. They’ll either offer to look after your home for you, or point you toward a service that can.
posted by notyou at 8:44 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Handyman. I think a building inspector would be overkill and too expensive, but find a handyman you can trust and have him come around once a month (once a quarter probably, once you have anything currently needing maintenance sorted) and give you a report on what needs work and what is coming up for needing work.

I get the thinking behind one person to inspect and one to maintain, but that also seems like overkill and will cost more. Find someone you trust and they'll appreciate the ongoing work enough to keep them honest.

I always wished there was a hire a dad.
Close enough?
posted by dg at 9:02 PM on June 12, 2023

Matildatakesovertheworld has it above, ‘home concierge’ is the term. They are becoming very popular in my city, I’ve been researching this as well. It’s a fabulous idea, probably too expensive for me but I would definitely sign on if I could.
posted by pearlybob at 3:15 AM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Friends of mine pay a rental property manager to manage their home with them in it. They pay the management fee and the bills for the various services go through the company. Although they say it adds about 20% to their maintenance costs, they say it's worth it because the property manager can often get goods and services at a discount because they use them for other properties.
posted by rpfields at 9:00 PM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I had the greatest ongoing handyman to whom I could say, "if you lived here, what would you do?" etc. and he would give me his opinions and related costs. I mourn his loss to another city almost daily. Agree this is a service I'd pay lots for.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 5:01 AM on June 14, 2023