It’s very common for high-end homeowners to sparingly maintain their homes and treat them as if they were not considered luxury. A luxury homeowner’s duties are greater in comparison to the ordinary homeowner. As opposed to properties that don’t make the luxury mark, upscale locales need to be watched and maintained with greater care for a variety of reasons including longevity, market value, and responsibility. Luxury homes have different issues than ordinary homes like an abundance of water pouring onto floors that only takes a certain cleaning agent or a security system that needs a reboot. With more luxury comes more responsibility.
As a luxury auction house that specializes in mansion auctions and luxury real estate auctions, we know the difference between a well-kept home and one that needs some love and care. The prior does well when they’re up for auction or re-sale and the latter usually costs more down the line and is a hassle to maintain and sell. With this in mind, approach your luxury property maintenance from the perspective of a luxury homeowner and you’ll be glad you did. Scroll on to discover more tips on how to maintain upscale properties.
Tips on High-End Property Maintenance
Luxury properties need more than a weekly maid. They’ll need a maintenance system. Here’s how to do it:
Make a To-Do List
You’re a luxury homeowner which means you probably have a busy schedule and very little free time. You might be away from your home, leaving it vacant for months at a time. Certain routine inspections, like having your yearly HVAC check, may go out the window. To ensure you remember all that you need, create a chore checklist digitally and in print to remember each season what needs to be done. Your maintenance checklist in the summer might look different in the summer. For example, in the summer, you might jot down “inspect the roof,” while in winter, you might put “check your CO2 detectors.” Either way, you can deal with the checklist or hand it off to an assistant, friend or family member, or third-party company.
Deal With Issues As They Arise
We all know the consequences of avoiding dealing with a problem. Typically, it looms larger and then proceeds to blow up in our faces. Waiting for the problem to get bad before you take action only sets you up for failure, guilt, and shame in the aftermath. To avoid this, try to tackle your responsibilities one at a time, dealing with the priorities first, and then the regular items in time. To protect your property and make sure it lasts a long time and retains its value, ensure you call the proper professionals as soon as possible. If there’s water damage in the basement, for example, call the plumber before it becomes a deeper, more costly problem.
If you aren’t an absentee homeowner and need someone to spot issues when you’re not home, consider partnering with a luxury property management company. They can take care of the maintenance while you’re off and away.
Keep Your Home Clean
Clean homes appear to look easily well-maintained. They’re not. They need constant upkeep, especially if there is more surface area and square footage. To ensure you have a clean home, make sure there are no shoes on the stairs or floors, no clutter on the tables, and no toys in adult areas. A spotless interior creates a happier mind.
Because luxury properties run larger in square footage, you’ll probably benefit from cleaning as you go, like picking up trash when you see it, or wiping up spills as they occur. This will help you in the long run so you’ll have less work to do over time. Cleaning daily is a great habit to get into. Simple tasks like wiping kitchen counters and cleaning floors can help you get there.
Don’t love cleaning? Hire a cleaning company to do it for you.
24/7 Services Are A Must
Maintenance is important for regular upkeep, but what if there is an emergency? Or an issue has increased in scope and size? For example, your yearly roof inspection is due but it’s just got ripped apart a few days before the inspection. What do you do in this situation? Partnering with contractors who are on call 24/7 is a great way to get that fixed instead of waiting for your original roof inspector to come days later. Developing a network of on-call contractors will help you deal with problems as they arise and not as they implode in the future due to negligence.
Invest in Property Value
Maintenance doesn’t just mean the things you already do like cleaning and repairing. It also includes the things you can enhance and improve upon. Because your luxury property has a certain value or status, it’s important to consider future property improvements you can make down the line. Investing in smart features, wellness enhancements, or technology can be great for increasing the property’s value and trendiness.
Luxury Homeowners’ Best-Kept Secret: Hire a Luxury Property Maintenance Company
It’s easy to make sure your home is maintained when you work with luxury property management firms. They’re experts in luxury maintenance services. A third-party company is best at figuring out your property, its specs, its challenges, and what can be done to improve upon it. As they get more knowledge about your property, they can use it to diagnose your home and make informed decisions on maintenance and proper care. Let’s say you have hardwood floors or a chandelier. They’ll know how to clean and take care of the features better than hiring one contractor for each need.
