Setting Up Your Vacation Home
Like any other business running a vacation home depends quite a lot upon how it is set up in the beginning. That is, making it a smooth running operation that can switch over occupants, either weekly or monthly, with the expertise of a hotel.
1) Who Are Your Clients?
Your type of guests has a lot to do with how you will set up the infrastructure and the furnishings. For example, if your clients are sea kayakers and hikers you might want to go for a simple set-up. A friend of mine fixed up his place for this type of clientèle. It is finished in knotty pine with a pine floor because the people are active and near a beach and there is always sand in every corner of the home. But because he has wood and tile floors this is easily cleaned up.
Even if you have a more family-oriented property you will want to go with hard flooring such as laminate and wood or tile for the cleanup factor. Carpets tend to get stained while throw rugs are not that expensive.
2) Caretaker
This is a very important find as a good caretaker cleans up after the people leave and checks in the new bunch. This includes washing the linen, cleaning, doing dishes, vacuuming, paint touch ups, cutting the lawn and, in the winter, snow shoveling. In addition the caretaker provides security.
There are services that do this so look around and ask other vacation home owners in the area who they use. If you are a s lucky as me then your guy lives next door. Mine is retired, handy and loves people and the extra income.
3) Maintenance
Most of this will be taken care of by the caretaking service but there are other considerations:
- Automatic fuel filling (if applicable)
- Furnace insurance: A 24/7 number in case your furnace quits. The company will also provide periodic checks on the unit.
- Snow removal service (if applicable): They will come automatically and plow your driveway when it snows.
- Appliances: For the money and headaches you will save in the long-run buy new: stove, fridge, dishwasher and washer/dryer stack. Get long warranties. They will have contracts with local repairmen. (We did this in 2000 and haven’t had a problem with one appliance)
- Roof Inspection: Get a private inspector to check the roof and then follow the recommendations. You don’t want a leaky roof.
In later blogs I will go into furniture and specifics but the main point is to identify your people, set up a caretaker and concentrate on low maintenance upgrades that won’t cost you a fortune.
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