Today we will explain the practice of vacation house management. This column is creating a post during the patrol of vacation house management.
One of the practical tasks of vacation home management is patrol of properties. We also make patrols in detached houses and apartments, and also discard mail. Although it is an option, we will enter the house at the request of the owner and ventilate and pass water. Most of the mails do not require unnecessary leaflets, but if there are bills and usage details such as water and gas, etc., take a scan or discard them separately.
After arriving at the site, the first thing to do is to discard the mail. In the case of condominiums, there may be a trash can near the mailbox, but if there is no wastepaper basket, the trash will be taken back to the office. After entering the room, first open all windows. If a circuit breaker is turned off, turn on the power and check the room. Also, if there is a garden, check the planting situation and report to the owner if we need help of gardener. As it's still good at this time of year, but it gets hotter in August and September, so check whether the trees are growing well. After that, pass water to the kitchen, washroom and toilet piping. The pipe has an S-shaped drain trap, which prevents sewage from rising from the pipe when there is water. However, if the vacant term is long, this water dries and the smell of sewage spreads indoors. This is why the area around the washing machine often smells. If you do not install a washing machine nor do not use it, cover it with cellophane etc. to prevent the smell.
Basically, if water is passed for 3 minutes, the water in the drain trap can be replenished and the water in the pipe can be passed. Ventilation will be performed for 30 minutes in the room, so during this time, scan the various documents that have arrived in the mailbox and upload the necessary documents to the shared folder. Name each document by including the content and date of the document. Invoices, etc. are stated in the documents that have arrived from the last meter reading date to this meter reading date, so put them in the file name as well. By doing so, the owner can easily check what documents, when payments, etc. details are.

When we are visiting the condominium, if it is during the time when the manager is there, we greet them and talk about whether it has changed or when the owner will come next. By doing so, if there is something in the period of vacant, we will get in touch from manager immediately. Even while the owner is visiting Japan, they will be able to take care if there are any problems, and they will be able to help in the event of an emergency.

By the way, in many cases of vacant house management, we keep one set of keys. Trust is the most important base, so we store and manage the keys with care. As it will take time for the new tourist visa this moment, but we do this kind of work every month, and we look forward to the owner's arrival in Japan.​

Today, we would like to introduce a case we had the other day about caring for the garden.
We manage the owner's second house and visit the local patrol once a month. At that time, we also check the postal items and visually check the outside of the building. As an option, we also perform ventilation work in the building, kitchen, toilets, washrooms, etc. to prevent the pipes from drying out and causing a bad odor to spread inside the building.
Meanwhile, the other day, when we were patrolling a building that manages a vacation house, we found that the planting in the garden had grown greatly and it was crossing the border with the neighboring land. Also, it has not been kept in good condition for a long time, the plants interfered with the sunlight, and there were some places where the light could not reach. As shown in the photo, there were some parts such as pine trees that were partially dead.

It's okay to leave it for a few months, but it's still annoying to the neighboring land, and if the condition of the plants is not improved, the garden will die more and more.
Therefore, this time we asked the gardener to check the current situation and gave us advice on what kind of maintenance is good. According to the contents, gardener said that it is better to perform basic pruning and light pruning twice a year. Since deciduous coniferous trees are resistant to cold, it is possible to perform basic pruning during the winter because the timing varies depending on the planting growing in the garden. And in order to get a good shape in a balanced manner, the gardener said that the proper time for light pruning is better from summer to autumn.

Pruning time for coniferous tree

In addition, the gardener said that it is better to decide the time for basic pruning according to the type of planting in the garden. But for the light pruning work, it should be done at the convenience of the customer. For example, if the owner visits Japan during the autumn leaves change and asks them to check the condition of the garden, it would be good to have it around October. If the owner visits Japan during the cherry blossom season, it is better to take care of it just before coming to Japan, as it will make the owner happy.
This time, care was taken for a long time, so we asked them to work on cutting unnecessary planting too.

The planting in the garden has been refreshed, and there is no crossing of borders next to it. Also, the kind of planting that was not found in the original garden was cut and is in a very beautiful condition. According to the gardener, this time there is a block fence at the boundary, so when the owner looked outside from the room, the gardener designed it so that the block fence would be hidden just by planting. Since there is no line of sight from the window of the neighbor's house, leave the upper part empty to some extent and it will become warmer and the volume will come out along with the cultivation of the planting.

We would like the owner to come to Japan right now to check it out and see the beautiful new garden, but we would like them to come to Japan in the fall when things are more settled.
We can refer you to these gardeners, so if you would like to take care of your garden, please contact us.