Taking Special Care Spokane Company Links Up Renters With Homes Needing Sitters
Courtney and Alicia Lee are living in a four bedroom, three-and-one-half bath home with hardwood floors and vaulted ceilings. They pay just $350 rent a month plus utilities.
That’s because the Lees are renting the Tekoa house through Home Caretaking Service, a Spokane firm that acts as the middleman between people who need house sitters and short-term renters.
The business, founded in 1984 and purchased by Rick and Stacy Montoya in 1996, specializes in finding house sitters for homes that are on the real estate market and for snowbirds who travel south for three or more months a year.
The homeowner pays Home Caretaking Service nothing, and in exchange for being able to move on short notice, the renter pays the company very little - usually just a few hundred dollars.
At any given time, said Rick Montoya, Home Caretaking Service handles 30 to 60 homes. Values range from $70,000-$500,000.
The service found caretakers to live in the Colbert homes that the city of Spokane is trying to sell after purchasing them to settle a dispute with the homeowners over smells coming from the compost plant.
Making the cut as a renter, however, isn’t easy. Stacy Montoya said that Home Caretaking Service carefully screens applicants, even down to inspecting their furniture to make sure it fits with the house they will rent. She and Rick also conduct spot checks after the house sitters move in.
“Our typical person who does this is not your typical renter,” she said. “They may be saving to buy a home, getting divorced or have just moved to town and are looking for a house to buy.”
Lee and his wife are building a house. Being home caretakers allows them to live inexpensively in a nice home until their house is completed.
An occupied house is easier to sell, said Mary Lou Shiley, a real estate agent with Prudential Crane Valley. She encourages home sellers to use the Montoyas’ service if they have to move before a seller is found.
“I have had vacant homes go downhill if they sit empty for a month in the summer,” she said. The yard starts to look ratty.”
In addition, she said, many insurance companies will drop coverage of vacant homes because they are more susceptible to vandals and scavengers looking for free doors and light fixtures. And lived-in homes are more appealing to buyers.
Caretakers have to follow strict rules and leave the home anytime a real estate agent wants to show it.
“There have to be no dishes in the sink, the beds have to be made each morning and the house has to be spotless,” said Stacy Montoya, who added that caretakers also have to bring furniture to fill the home. “We don’t ever want to have the appearance that someone is camping there.”
Leonard Gamache and his wife, Margaret, spend winters in Yuma, Ariz., leaving Spokane in mid-October and returning in April. They found out about Home Caretaking Service from friends.
“We’ve used it for seven seasons and we’ve been very pleased,” said Leonard Gamache. “We don’t smoke and don’t have pets, so they don’t let anyone in who does smoke or has pets.”
Around town
Flooring America has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company operates more than 1,000 retail locations, including three Carpet Centers in Spokane and one in Coeur d’Alene. The stores will remain open under the reorganization.
Shari’s Restaurants is opening a 24-hour restaurant on July 5 at the Wandermere Shopping Center on Highway 395.
Fairwinds Northpointe, a Leisure Care retirement community, is now showing model senior apartments at its new complex at 520 E. Holland. The facility will also feature a communal dining room, gift shop, beauty shop and organized outings. It is scheduled to open in late summer.