Casa occupado: House sitters help foreclosed homes seem more appealing

August 20, 8:57 AMHousing ExaminerDena Kouremetis

Previous Next

6 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Housing Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Empty houses up and down a street don’t help neighborhood values.  In her article, No More Lonely Home: Details About House-Sitting Strategy, RealtyTimes' Phoebe Chongchua reports that foreclosed, vacant homes are often not as attractive to potential buyers.  The solution? House sitters.

Using live-in caretakers for foreclosed homes involves allowing people to live in the property for little rent (some as low as $400 per month) in exchange for house-sitting the residence. “Typically, the house-sitters or caretakers are responsible for keeping up the home, paying for utilities, and any homeowners’ association fees,” says Chongchua. “They aren’t usually offered a lease term and they’re required to move out with as little as five days’ notice if the home sells. It can become a great solution for people seeking less expensive rent and for owners of vacant properties.

An ABC News report says that the concept was introduced over the past few years because of the risk  foreclosed homes pose for vandalism. So does it work?  Albuquerque-based Homes in Transition says occupied homes can sell for 20 percent more and 30 percent faster than empty, lonely ones. The homeowner pays nothing for the service, designed instead to alleviate many of the costs that are associated with maintaining a vacant property, since they are paid for by the resident property house-sitter.

Homes in Transition collects a small fee from its “caretakers” each month, which allows them to maintain the home’s appeal during the term of the occupancy. The company also advises homeowners or banks to do any necessary repairs before the house-sitter moves in, and naturally no pets and no smokers are allowed.

Details of these house-sitting agreements vary, but generally house-sitters perform a variety of household tasks, such as cleaning furnace filters, fixing dripping faucets or toilets, changing light bulbs, removing their own accumulated trash, and helping to care for the yard.

Homes in Transition offer also offers the house sitter the option of paying into a monthly maintenance service program so that when household problems occur, the general contractor associated with the company can fix them. “The service program follows the house-sitter,” says Chongchua.  “So, when relocation occurs the services are then transferred to the next property the house-sitter moves into. The interim house-sitter strategy is promoted as a way to alleviate the concerns that often accompany having a home sit vacant for long periods of time.