Housesitting service is win-win for homeowners, helpers

Combine the early winter storms with slow home sales, on top of the normal snowbird exodus, and the result is a hot market for housesitting services that people vacant homes with short-term residents who can keep up the place, deter vandalism, and prevent nasty surprises on insurance claims.

The service is free to the owners, and fees charged residents are often lower than the rent they would pay on a home or apartment, with the tradeoff being the potential for a quick ouster if, for example, a home is sold out from under them.

Owners of the two major services in the Spokane area, Diana’s Home Sitting Services and Montoya Home Caretaking Inc., said stays of a few months are the rule, but a few become long-term.

Rick Montoya said one duplex he handles has been occupied by a sitter for five years.

“Each house has its own demands,” said Diana Uphus, who estimated her business has increased 50 percent this winter.

Uphus and Montoya said empty homes invite trouble. And if vacant too long – 30 or 60 days depending on the policy – owners may find their insurance won’t cover claims because a pipe burst, or an ice dam created a leak in the roof while they were gone.

Montoya, who purchased his business in 1995, said the bills for repairing some damage caused by the ice storm of November 1996 ended up with the homeowners instead of insurers because they had been out of the house too long.

Uphus said not all coverage may stop, but owners may have to pay premiums twice the normal rate to assure protection.

She said sitters must report any failures in home electrical and mechanical systems within 24 hours, or they may lose their deposits.

She can dispatch subcontractors she works with regularly, or use one preferred by the homeowner. Husband Kevin, a Spokane Valley Fire Department captain and business co-owner, can handle some of the minor repairs, she said.

The couple started Diana’s in 2000, after a home they vacated to move into another was vandalized. They asked themselves what they would want in a service that could prevent the same thing from happening again, to themselves or others.

They, like Montoya, have gradually built a clientele by networking with real estate agents and brokers, bankers, insurance agents and neighbors. Uphus said she worked the recent RV show, handing her card to buyers who might need someone to take care of their homes while they are out on the road.

Snowbirds are a bread-and-butter clientele, but the business has become less seasonal, Montoya said.

Owners who leave the area for new jobs and cannot sell their homes want sitters, he said. Or owners may be consultants or contractors who know they will be out of town for several months on a job.

Sitters are sometimes would-be buyers waiting out the market.

“They could choose to buy, but they don’t want to,” Montoya said.

He said he is also working with sitters who have lost their own homes through foreclosure.

Many do not want to squeeze into an apartment, Montoya said, but cannot afford to rent a house.

Spokane County uses both services, spokeswoman Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter said.

She said the county owns three properties purchased for right-of-way use that have homes occupied by sitters. They help prevent vandalism, she said, or invaders who strip out wiring, plumbing, fixtures or anything else of value.

“It’s really a good situation,” Wheatley-Billeter said of sitter occupancy.

Montoya and Uphus charge between $300 and $500 a month for a home, almost always fully furnished, and sitters pay the utility bills. Montoya said the rate is negotiable depending on how handy the sitter is and how much work will be involved maintaining the home. They might have to take care of a pet, he said.

The properties are subject to inspection at any time. If a home is untidy or not in good order, Uphus and Montoya said they leave a note. That usually solves the problem, they said.

Neither has ever evicted a sitter, but Uphus said one who kept an office messy – sometimes revealing personal information – was not kept on the roster of potential sitters, she said.

Uphus said she screens sitter candidates using Bonded Data Research. Bad apples seldom get that far because they must pay for the background check themselves, she said, adding that the question she asks herself is, “Would I want them in my house?”

She said smoking is a no-no.

Montoya said he, too, runs checks, but adds that a blemished credit score does not necessarily eliminate a candidate.

Uphus said she has sitters in homes valued at less than $200,000, and more than $1 million. Regardless of value, they get the same service, she said.

If owners of expensive homes are uneasy about sitters, Uphus said she will take and e-mail digital photographs to reassure them all is well. “The digitals make them feel like they’re here,” she said.

Uphus said she will stage a home, bringing in or removing furniture, rugs or plants, if the property is for sale.

She, Kevin and Montoya all have real estate licenses – Kevin is a broker – because the state of Washington considers them property managers. Selling is not a priority, but an additional service they offer owners, Uphus and Montoya said.

Uphus said 85 percent of her clients are repeat business. She will not take a home if she does not think she will be able to give it the necessary attention.

“You really have to do what you say you’re going to do,” Uphus said.