Home ServicesVacation Home Management in Palmetto Bluff: Freezing Temperatures Head South

It’s not every day in Bluffton, South Carolina that we are plunged into record-setting cold. Winter Storm Elliot showed up uninvited to the 2022 holidays at a time that left many in the lowcountry unprepared. For those of you that were celebrating at home, but away from your 2nd home investment property, or traveling and simply away during the holidays, did you have anyone who could check on your house during the unexpected deep freeze? When you own investment property, particularly located some distance from your primary residence, it’s crucial to have someone reliable and trustworthy to manage your investment and ensure that everything is being monitored. Here are some things to consider when choosing a private home care firm to manage your property.

Site-based with boots on the ground

With offices onsite and located within the Palmetto Bluff resort, our team regularly monitor the homes of our private home care clients. Regular inspections ensure that quality standards are maintained year-round and custom preventative care programs help protect your valuable home investment. Our team in Palmetto Bluff works closely with locally-based vendors and provide professional and skilled maintenance services to meet the upkeep needs of your property.  Our staff are hand-picked for their skills, reliability, trust, and integrity.

At the core of what we do, we take care of your home like it was our own

According to the National Real Estate Insurance Group the three leading causes of property damage are fire, theft/vandalism, and water damage. That’s why, at the height of the freezing weather in Bluffton, we mobilized our team to visit every property in our care and ensure that faucets were left at a drip, both inside and outside spigots too. We continued to visit our private home care portfolio throughout the days when the nighttime temperatures were in the teens and 20s to ensure that no pipes had burst, check outside landscaping sprinklers, and assure the HVAC systems were functioning correctly. 

Building codes in the lowcountry aren’t always required to protect for sub-freezing temperatures. Particularly in coastal communities, where homes are often elevated to meet FEMA flood standards, pipes can be exposed to the elements or located in areas that are unprotected from windy and cold temperatures. Compounded by the fact that many of these homes are unattended or unoccupied when pipes freeze and burst, water can be leaking for days or weeks before anyone would know.

Continuous Home Oversight

Because we know there is a lot going on in the outside world and your time is valuable, the care and oversight of your second home asset can’t always be top of mind. When you’re not there to watch out for your home, you need to make sure someone else is. 

Things that a home care management firm should specifically be checking for:

• Frozen pipes
• Water or other damage to the home
• General disrepair or other problems
• Temperature control and home security
• Vandalism/Evidence of trespassers
• Systems and appliance checks
• Wi-Fi and AV checks
• Leaks and smells
• Repairs and maintenance items
• Pest control
• Trash removal

Your property is an important asset – so is managing it

It’s important to realize that property is a major asset within a portfolio – and property management helps protect the value of this asset. For example, you wouldn’t invest $10 million into a fund and then just leave it without any observation or without someone reporting on its progress. Luxury property management should be treated in much the same way.  We understand the values that are the most important to high-net-worth individuals – time and convenience. With every detail being handled by our team plus unlimited access to our extensive network of vetted partners, clients don’t need to be concerned about looking for service providers or dealing with external contractors.

We know you have high standards – that’s why we do too

With Luxury Simplified Home Services, each property gets its own dedicated property team available everyday.  Our reputation for integrity and trust is built upon attending to the details and our staff are locals with deep roots in the community who care about getting it right. Our focus is on quality not quantity, ensuring that we consistently meet the highest standards. Our proactive approach and focus on planned management ensure that preventative maintenance, where required, will reduce breakdowns and consequential disruption to a client’s home. We work with trusted partners who are experts in their field so clients are never exploited by supplier networks when services are in peak demand.

What Should you Expect from Private Home Care Management

Private home management services should include an array of service offerings, including but not limited to:

• Cleaning and Housekeeping Management – Arrange and manage cleaning services and supplies to service your home according to your individual needs. Regular and seasonal housekeeping to a high standard ensures the best experience for you and your guests.
• Maintenance Management – Inspections are fully documented ensuring reliability and accountability. When any problems arise in our clients’ properties, such as leaks or cracks, we are there to deploy our vendors immediately. Any problems are promptly reported to you so that repairs are conducted to fix the problem with minimal disruption of your property.
• Contractor Service Management – With your property management contract, you have access to our network of proven suppliers and vendors ensuring that you will receive the best care and value for services provided to your home.  We will help secure bids for contract services including interior and exterior painting, carpet cleaning, drapes and upholstery maintenance, audio-visual, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, appliance repair, roofing, pool maintenance, and landscaping.
• Express, Freight Shipment & Package Handling Management
• Accounting Services & Bill Pay – Upon request, receive invoices and statements and schedule payment of local utilities and expenses associated with your home.

High Touch Concierge Service 

Luxury Simplified Retreats has built a reputation for excellence in vacation rental management and concierge guest services for nearly 10 years. With the introduction of Luxury Simplified Home Services we now offer the opportunity for owners of select homes and residences in Palmetto Bluff, and the Charleston SC area, to receive our comprehensive property management services without being part of our rental portfolio. This means that second home owners seeking five-star property management can enjoy all the management advantages and white glove hospitality service that comes from being a part of the Luxury Simplified portfolio. 

With our experience as luxury vacation specialists you will also have access to the best Concierge team in the area to help you plan the perfect stay in your home.  They will assist in making dinner reservations, arranging private instruction, ground transportation, booking tee times, spa appointments, fishing, horseback riding and any other activities that might make your stay more enjoyable.

At Luxury Simplified Home Services our goal is to ensure that your experience of owning a home in the lowcountry is about the moments shared with loved ones and the memories created, not the challenges of maintaining an investment property that may not incur year round use. Professional home care ensures that your Palmetto Bluff home is protected from day-to-day risks and unexpected maintenance problems. To do this takes a diligent and skilled team of property management specialists with the resources and experience to handle it all with ease.

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