Homeowners..how do U do it?

JustUsTrucking · Feb 12, 2007

Hi: Just wondering how homeowners do it. We currently own a home, with a relative who rents it back from us. We have use of one of the bedrooms so going home for short periods is o.k. We generally stay out on the road for 3 months at a time, then home for a few day's. The problem is the relative will be moving out of state in the near future. This leaves a whole bunch of issues that I don't know how to handle. Mail, yard care, pool care. We have no other relative's that could watch over the house when we are gone. I would be very nervous leaving the house for such an extended time..stuff happens..what if a water pipe burst or even worse if the house were broken into. We could hire someone to mow the lawn and tend the pool I suppose. Wondering if it makes more sense to sell the house, invest the monies, and just rent until we get off the road. How do other homeowners take care of their homes when you are are rarely home and have no one to help?
Thanks for the input !!!

greg334 · Feb 12, 2007

I was talking to someone who is in the same situation. We came to the conclusion that if there is no emotional ties to the house, sell it. In her case, we figured out that she can rent a room at a freind's house to have a legal residence (her freind may also claim the $50 a month on their taxes to make sure there are no legal problems). This gives her a place for her all the needed stuff, like mail, taxes and licensing of her and the truck.

ihamner · Feb 12, 2007

Melanie, this is a real concern for those of us on the road for long periods of time. We also have a relative living in our home right now. But we have decided that when the time comes and he moves out, we are going to hire a friend to go by our home every few days. She will handle the mail and keep the house checked out...including any cleaning areas and so forth. She is willing to take care of all this for a fee so it works out for both of us. My question about this is: can we write off her fee as a business expense since she will be taking care of the property when we are gone. I guess it is a question for our accountant. Anyone else have any experience with this??

India Hamner
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terryandrene · Feb 12, 2007

When Rene' and I started expediting we were concerned about all the problems that JUSTUSTRUCKING mentioned. In the beginning, we considered selling the house and using a hotel on weekends or for at-home periods. That would have been cheaper than our mortgage. We didn't sell; however, we took the following actions to stay on the road and take care of personnel business at the same time.

We rented a PO Box of sufficient size to accomodate a few weeks of mail while allowing magazines to lay flat. $120 annually.

We installed an ADT intrusion and fire alarm system and tested it while all the neighborhood kids were playing kickball in our cul de sac. About $200 install and $22 monthly.

All our bills are auto deduct from a checking account or from visa. We only pay one personal bill a month and that is the Visa bill.

Lawn care was taken care of by installing an irrigation system and hiring the mower guys to mow an the fertilizer guys to fertilize. An occasional gift to a neighbor takes care of picking up literature and free newspapers that might indicate no one at home.

We have a water sensor that can activate an electronc valve to shut off water supply if the sensor gets wet.

JustUsTrucking · Feb 12, 2007

All good advise. We already rent a PO Box, so incoming mail is not really an issue, either is the utility bill's because they can all be monitored and paid online. I do have a concern with the occasional item that may arrive in the mail that need's immediate attention and we will not be home to attend to it. The best thing about the relative renting the house back is that she goes through all our mail, determines it's importance and then will scan/e-mail what we need to take care of immediately. Granted, that is rare, but I'm really anal about stuff like that.

TeamCaffee · Feb 12, 2007

Have you looked at something like Mailbox etc. places? We have heard of several different way to have mail forwarded to you. Using FedEx to have your mail over nighted to a truck stop. A private mail service should be of help to you if you stay out very long.