Evergreen Local Can Handle Property Maintenance and Repairs

Preserving and ideally increasing our client’s properties is one of the chief roles of a good residential property management and housesitting company. A competent house-sitter and property caretaker accomplishes all of this with the assistance of both our own team here at Evergeen Local and through our network of qualified, licensed vendors/contractors whom we have vetted for excellent cost effective service. Here is a list of questions you should consider when hiring a housesitter on a long term basis:

How does the housesitter/property caretaking company track any repairs or maintenance on the home that may be needed while the homeowner is away?

A software solution should be in place here. You want to find a housesitter with a system that does not allow maintenance requests to fall through the cracks and require multiple client requests before the work is done. Ideally, clients should be able to submit maintenance requests online. At Evergeen Local, we have this all set up for our clients.

How are after hours requests and emergencies handled and who handles them?

Make sure it’s someone qualified to handle the problem. The last thing you want is an answering machine or someone saying you will have to wait till Monday to get the repair. At Evergeen Local, we offer 24 hour emergency assistance for our clients. We will not sleep until our client’s homes are safe and secure and all issues are handled in a reaonsable and responsible manner. We treat our client’s homes, like our own homes. Period.

What process and system do they have in place to practice preventative maintenance on the home?

Preventative maintenance is the mechanism a housesitter uses to maintain the value of your property and avoid letting small issues become larger more expensive problems down the road. This involves things like a predefined maintenance and inspection schedule as well as promptly addressing known issues. Successful luxury home owners know that when you’re in for the long haul you have to engage in sustainable practices that maximize property values, not short-term practices that delay (and multiply) costs. At Evergeen Local we get this. We understand the upkeep of living in a luxury home and the nuances that goes along with luxury home ownership.

Do they have their own maintenance crew?

If the answer is yes, are they covered by workers compensation and are they licensed, bonded and insured? Additionally are they available 24/7/365 for emergencies? At Evergeen Local we are fully insured, licensed, bonded, and are available around the clock. Our clients mean everything to us and we will stop at nothing to guarantee their satisfaction. Holidays, off-hours, inclement weather….it’s no problem for us, we live to serve and will do our best to care for our client’s homes. And we’ll be there every step of the way. We created this company with that mission in mind and it’s at the forefront with everything we do. To be “of service” to our clients.

What contractors do they work with? 

Do the contractors carry workers compensation and are they licensed, bonded and insured? Does the housesitting company oversee the contractors’ work for quality, code compliance, and cost effectiveness? Some clients like to take the extra step of researching the primary vendors that will be used to make sure there are no red flags. At Evergeen Local we will collaborate closely with our clients in any emergency repair situation and make sure satisfaction of our clients is the utmost importance. We are right there ensuring your home is well cared for, even when a specialized contractor is brought in for repairs and maintenance.

Do they have any conflicts of interest with their vendors? 

Beware of relationships that are based on something other than good work and the best price. Vendors reward house-sitting companies and property management companies for their business, but this should be in the form of discounted rates, which benefit the owner, rather than "referral bonuses" that go to the management firm. The management contract may state something to the effect that the management company may:

“…perform any of its duties and obtain necessary products and services, through affiliated companies or organizations in which Management may own an interest, and may receive fees, commissions and/or profits from these affiliated companies or organizations.”

If this is the case make sure you get full disclosure on the nature of any pre-existing relationships where this applies and will be notified when this comes up again in the future with new vendors. One possible exception to this rule would be when the housesitting company receives a small fee from vendors for guaranteed payment, meaning the vendors gets paid by the housesitting company regardless of whether the owner whose property is being worked on has sufficient funds in their account. At Evergeen Local we conduct business ethically and with integrity - there are no corners being cut - our clients come first. Always. This is the reason why we have a local presence and will be in business for the long haul. We are not a large, national chain of nanny’s and babysitters and housesitters and petsitters - we are locally owned and operated and will do right for our clients.

Do they provide itemized statements with receipts for the work performed?

This adds accountability and transparency to the billing process. You don't want to work with a residential housesitting and property management company that is unwilling to provide solid documentation of where your money is going. Evergeen Local is fully transparent every step of the way in an emergency repair situation. Our clients can track down to the penny where expenses are being incurred in the event of an emergency repair to their home while we are providing housesitting services.