Tips for Managing a Secondary Home

There are many advantages to owning more than one home.  Secondary homes can be a great source of income if they are rented out.  Secondary homes can also be wonderful vacation homes for your family.  But taking care of a secondary home can be time consuming and costly if you are not careful.  Here are some tips for managing your secondary home:

1. Keep landscaping low maintenance.  Remember, lawns need mowed and watered quite often to maintain their lush appearance.  Who will be in charge of lawn maintenance?  If you opt for stone or perhaps a wildflower garden instead of a grassy lawn, you will save yourself some time.
2. Keep a separate billing record for the secondary home.  Don’t let your household bills get mixed up with the secondary home’s bills.  Keep them completely separate so that you can differentiate between them when you need to.
3. Consider hiring a property manager.  If there is just too much work to be done on your own, hiring a property manager might be a viable option for you.  Weigh the costs of doing everything yourself versus hiring someone to handle it for you.  Do not forget to include your time spent with maintenance as a cost as well.  Your time is valuable and should be accounted into your equation.  Remember, a property manager does more than just maintain the grounds.  He or she can also help find good tenants or renters.
4. Find out how to properly insure all your property within your budget.  You will want to have a second insurance policy for your other home if you are renting it or plan to have guests stay there.  Umbrella insurance may be a good option to increase your limits of liability as well.

Call us to discuss your needs as a homeowner of more than one home.  We will work with you to find the best coverage for all your property.

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