Home Management Company?

[barry1010]

Does such a thing exist? My relative suffers from extreme anxiety and the smallest thing overwhelms her. She owns her own house and wants a 'big name company' that she can trust to handle not just big emergency repairs but scheduled jobs such as decorating, routine maintenance.
She worries about strangers in her home, being ripped off, bad workmanship but also about her house going to wrack and ruin if she doesn't maintain it.
Ideally, she would like to be able to phone a company, tell them what she wants doing and the appropriate trades people be assigned to visit, give a quote and do the job. She wants the 'management company' to be responsible if things go wrong.
She is not worried about the extra cost which she considers worth it for peace of mind. She wants a company to watch her back, basically.
Does such a thing exist?

[margarettom]

I don’t know if such a thing exists, but I have to look after my property and have a reliable plumber, a reliable electrician, a reliable gardener and a reliable odd job man who manages the rest. Most were picked on the recommendation of friends or local advertising. I think the only extra problems might be with the roof. (I do have a roofer, but have only needed to use him once in the last 10 years).
If these could be set up for her by a relative maybe, then she would be OK and less anxious.
Of course this doesn’t cover the ‘be responsible if things go wrong’ bit, but I have not had a problem with any of the work done for me.

[barry1010]

My relative lives many miles from the rest of the family and is reclusive - her choice. She has no friends and doesn't like discussing 'her business' with the neighbours otherwise that would be the sensible solution, she is a very private person.
I live too far away to be on hand to oversee any tradespeople which is why we think a management company is the best option for her.

[THECORBYLOON]

Would an ordinary property management company not be suitable? She is, in effect, in the same position as a landlord and tenant arrangement except she is both of them.

[barry1010]

I have no experience of property management companies. Not a clue where to start looking.

[ladybirder]

Blocks of flats often have property management companies but I don't know if they do it for a single home. Google PMC's in her area and ask. She will probably have to pay a monthly fee for this service, if they do it, the same as a block of flats does.

[barry1010]

Thanks, ladybirder, I've just googled for her area and the main services they offer is finding and evicting tenants and maintaining communal areas. No 'big names'. I suppose I was hoping an insurance company offered such a service as they do for emergencies such as your roof blowing off.
My relative expects to pay a monthly fee for the service plus the cost for the actual work.

[TonyV]

Maybe try local council to see if they have a registered list of companies

[barry1010]

Good idea, Tony. We shall try that

[Tilly2]

Homeserve, Anglia Water have a range of insurane covers and we have found them extremely good.

See here 'Cover for your home through HomeServe.'

Decorators and the like can be found through Check A Trader or Rated People.

[barry1010]

Check a Trade and Rated People are just updated versions of Yellow Pages - the tradespeople pay to be listed and they are only removed if they get so many negative reviews. They aren't really screened and verified, sadly.
Will check out Homeserve

[barry1010]

Homeserve is exactly the sort of thing she wants, such a pity they don't provide decorators, plasterers and such like but I think she will find them very useful for what they do provide.
Thank you, Tilly.

There must be a lot of people like my relative - maybe it is a business opportunity :)

[calmck]

Is there a local newspaper for her area. They might list services.
Probably the best thing would be local tradespeople and discuss a retainer service. Painting would not be necessary yearly. I have someone to mow and garden, the local heating supply company come if there is a problem with boiler, heating. I have a painter and handyman I use when needed and he arranges other services as needed. It sounds as though a housekeeper, male or female might be the solution and they could interview service providers and make arrangements

[ladybirder]

What about having a word with a letting agent in her area as they will have subcontractors they use? Talk to them nicely and they might helpful;-)
BTW I have been badly let down by using someone from a check-a-trade. Word of mouth only now.

[Tilly2]

Does she have a Nextdoor website in her area? Nextdoor is a very good site for asking for recommendations from local people for local tradesmen.

https://help.nextdoor.com/s/article/How-to-join-Nextdoor?language=en_GB

[eve1974]

Yes it deffo exists. Mainly for large developments but individuals can do this too.

Myself abd my husband ran a company that did exactly that for 15yrs.

(We only stopped when husb got very ill with leaukaemia)

We were the first point of call for ANYTHING. We got the subcontractors in (ones we trusted). We wld pay the contractors directly n invoice the client once a month.


We had many many clients and it was successful. We could have continued with the business but when my husband got ill it became too much as his treatment was taking so much time (and energy)

Without asking you to divulge too much info what county is your sis in? We cld potentially help her if needed.

Ps she may want to look at keywords like :”facilities management”. “House manager”... even tho these aren’t exactly what we did they have some similarity .

[eve1974]

She could also see If am agency specialising in private household staff cld put her in touch with someone. Private household staff agencies provide staff for whatever “Uber posh”folk need...and wld find an individual to do exactly what she required
But the agencies wld charge a hefty placement fee

[eve1974]

We provided both planned maintenance, as well as reactive. We’d be on call 24/7 n all the clients did is let us know what they wanted .. ...we’d do all the rest. Booking in, meeting subtractors on site etc etc etc

[barry1010]

That's the sort of thing she wants, eve, but she is most insistent on a 'big name' company.
You must have been very proud of your business, I thought there would be a need for it in privately owned homes as well as the rental market. Not everyone is confident dealing with tradespeople nor have a clue how much a job should cost or how long it should take. I see posts on Facebook such as 'elderly widow looking for decorator' and I shudder thinking she is inviting crooks and shysters in to her home.

[calmck]

You could try classified section of The Lady magazine or Town and Country and Country Life magazines.

[calmck]

Google house keeping services. Lots come up but you have to put in your area