Quote:
Originally Posted by jtrf
Hello everyone!
My wife and I have found our dream home, on the water in Alton, but like every dream home it will be quite a stretch for our budget. Before we let our emotions get the better of us, we wanted to get a sense for what the maintenance costs will be. Here's what we think we need:
1) Snow removal. The house is on a shared private road. The owner of a (very large) house at the end used to generously pay for all the houses along the road, but this is apparently changing. We'd be responsible for about 0.3 miles of a fairly thin, somewhat hilly road, and our own driveway which is probably longer than normal. We'll be there on weekends only, but I guess we'll need it plowed all the time for fuel delivery etc.
2) Landscaping. The house has beautiful grounds sloping down to the lake. I'd estimate 2 acres of land-scapable land. Most of that is lawns, but there are lots (hundreds) of flowers around the house. Everything would need to be planted in the spring, and watered and mowed throughout the summer.
3) Pool. The house has an in-ground pool, which is large for a spa but small for a pool. We'd need someone to maintain that as well.
4) Handyman. Friends say this is really important, and people typically charge by the hour. Would be great if he could stop by the house a couple times just to check everything while we're away during the week.
5) "Gopher." It would be really nice, but not necessary, to have someone pick up our mail from the post office, be at the house to meet workmen, etc. Not sure if a handyman would do this or would be affordable for this type of work.
I know this is a lot! But given the sage advice that goes back and forth on this forum, we'd love any thoughts and advice you have. What should we expect in terms of ballpark prices? Can you suggest any good vendors?
Thanks ever so much!
|
Don' stretch your budget too much. The house will find more ways to spend your money than you can imagine
Don't even consider not plowing after every storm. Once you let a storms worth of snow sit for a few days it becomes "Ice in" until the spring thaw. Have someone plow whether you are going to be there or not. A plowed driveway helps to make the house look lived in as well.
Get some type of heating system monitoring. I use a "Freeze Alarm". I have my system set up so the house is kept at 50 deg when it's unoccupied. If the house drops to 45 deg the system calls me to alert me of the condition. This gives me plenty of time to arrange for heating service or to get to the house to do it myself. the Freeze alarm will also notify of a power failure (it has battery back up). It's a good secondary alarm beside the burglar alarm in the house. I can call the Freeze Alarm to turn my heat up prior to heading to the lake so the house is nice and toasty when I get there in the winter.
As others have said, ground cover is your friend. nice lawns require chemicals that are bad for the lake. Ground cover is cheap and requires no maint. other than leaf blowing in the spring which is far cheaper than a landscaper for 2 acres.
Get references and make sure your handyman caries insurance. You don't want to open yourself to liability. Remember everyone with a second home is looked at as if they have all the $$$ in the world.
As a second home owner expect to pay a little more for some services, It's just the way it is.