For those of you who are lucky enough to own a second property, either somewhere else in the state or farther afield, or maybe even abroad, maintaining a second home is, as you will already be fully aware, decidedly tricky at times.
So, in an effort to help you with this, continue reading for a simple guide to holiday home maintenance.
Security
If your beloved holiday home is left unoccupied for weeks and even months at a time, then there absolutely needs to be a way for you to monitor what is happening around your property when you are not there. By far, the most effective investment would be a comprehensive CCTV system, which covers not only the front door and entrance to your holiday home but also the backyard and garden to the rear too.
In addition to a complex CCTV video surveillance system, it is also strongly advisable to invest in a device to deter unwanted intruders and youths from breaking and entering by contacting the professionals at mosquitoloiteringsolutions.com.
Find Time to Visit the Property Regularly
Obviously, if your holiday home is many miles away from your permanent address, it will involve an awful lot of prior planning and organization to make the trip to the property.
However, for you to keep a tight control of your second home, even if you have trusted friends and local neighbors who regularly check up on the building, you do need to go there yourself.
The following checklist should help you ensure that the most important maintenance jobs are completed every time you visit your holiday home:
- Check to see if the radiators need bleeding
- Ensure all lightbulbs are working
- Make sure carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are working properly
- Have the boiler serviced by a professional plumber
- Make sure the drains and pipes are free from blockages and debris
- Wash and launder all linens and towels
- Clean all bathroom tiles and re-grout if necessary
One incredibly important additional job you must never forget to complete is thoroughly examining all white goods throughout the property to ensure all wires are sealed and there are no rips or tears in the electrical wires.
Renting to Friends & Family Members
If you are kind enough to not even think about charging members of your family and friends when they ask to stay in your beautiful holiday home, then you are to be commended, but there still needs to be a set of ‘house rules’ that they should want to abide by.
Just as when a person sells their old car to someone they know, staying in a friend’s home only turns into an issue if something goes wrong, but when this does happen, it can often place a strain on the relationship.
This is why you need to be incredibly careful about who you rent your holiday home to and, moreover, draw up your list of rules everyone needs to stick to, regardless of who they are.
