Property Care & Home Watch on San Juan Island
For owners who aren’t here year-round. Scheduled visits, photo reports, and one person who answers the phone.
- Licensed & bonded
- WA L&I #SANJUJI741OT
- Insured
- Locally owned in Friday Harbor
A house left alone on an island doesn’t fail dramatically. It fails quietly — a slow drip under a sink for four months, a gutter that overflowed in November and soaked the fascia all winter, mice that found a gap in October. By the time you arrive in June, the cheap fix became the expensive one.
Property care is a standing arrangement: I come by on a schedule, walk the property inside and out, fix the small things on the spot, and send you photos and a written note every time. When something needs a specialist, I line it up and meet them at the house so you’re not coordinating a plumber from Seattle.
Gutter cleaning and moss treatment and seasonal winterizing are the two jobs that get forgotten most, and both are built into the plans.
What a visit covers
Inside
- Water intrusion check at every fixture, under every sink, at the water heater
- Running taps and flushing toilets to keep traps from drying out
- Heat, power, and thermostat check
- Signs of pests or rodents
- Doors, windows, and locks secure
- Refrigerator, freezer, and any running appliance
Every visit
- Photo report, sent same day
- Written note on anything I noticed
- Immediate text if something needs a decision
Outside
- Roof and gutter condition from the ground
- Deck, railing, and stair check
- Storm damage and downed limbs
- Gates, fencing, and outbuildings
- Anything the wind has moved
- Vehicle and boat trailer check if you’ve left them
What a walkthrough is, and isn’t. Checks and reporting are inspection, not trade work. If a check turns up something that needs an electrical or plumbing license, I document it, call you, and bring in a licensed contractor — I don’t take a run at it myself.
The plan
One visit a month
Monthly Property Check
From $300per visit, once a month
A full walkthrough inside and out, a photo report every visit, and up to an hour of small fixes handled on the spot — the loose railing, the sticking latch, the screen that blew out in a storm.
One visit a month, and nothing more frequent. A monthly rhythm catches the failures that actually matter out here — water getting in, animals getting in, wind moving something — and it keeps each visit long enough to be a real walkthrough instead of a drive-by. If you think your place needs eyes on it more often than that, call and I’ll tell you honestly whether it’s worth your money.
Larger and more complicated properties are quoted above that starting figure. A house with a dock, a generator, an irrigation system, several outbuildings, or a long private drive is simply a longer visit, and I’d rather price it right after seeing it than quote a number I have to walk back.
Work beyond the included hour is billed at my standard hourly rate, discounted for anyone on a monthly plan. Seasonal jobs — gutters, winterizing, pressure washing, spring open-up — get folded into the visit where they belong rather than billed as a separate trip. Standard hourly rates and minimums are published here.
On scheduling: you get a visit every month, not a fixed date on a calendar. I’ll tell you ahead of time if a month needs to move. Weather and ferries make precise dates a promise nobody out here should be making.
Photo: A photo report example — a phone screen showing the photo set from one visit, held in natural light.
Shot list item 11. This is the single most persuasive image on this page for an absentee owner.
Property care on the outer islands
Most of the houses on Decatur, Blakely, Waldron, Stuart, Center, Crane, Henry, Johns, and Brown sit empty for most of the year, and none of them are a drive away. There is no ferry, so a check means a crossing in my own boat. That changes the shape of the arrangement rather than the work itself.
Outer-island property care is billed as boat days rather than monthly plans: $1,295 all in per full day, which covers the boat, the fuel, the crossing, and the tools I bring. Because a day on the water is the expensive part and the checks themselves are not, a boat day usually covers several houses. If two or three owners on the same island are on a schedule together, one crossing serves all of them and the cost is split rather than repeated. That is the honest way to make off-grid home watch affordable, and it is how I would rather do it.
Weather sets the calendar. A monthly promise I cannot keep in January is worse than a schedule that says: I go when the water allows, I tell you the day before if it does not, and you get the photo report either way. See the outer islands I cover, one page each.
Vacation rental owners
If you rent the place out, property care covers the gap between your cleaner and a contractor. Cleaners flag problems; they don’t fix them. I handle the between-guest repairs — the broken blind, the missing screen, the door that won’t latch — usually same or next day, before it becomes a review.
Door, window and trim repair is most of that work.
Common questions
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. Registered with Washington L&I as a general contractor, #SANJUJI741OT, bonded and carrying general liability. Ask and I’ll send the certificate. A general contractor registration doesn’t cover electrical or plumbing work, so I coordinate a licensed contractor for anything in those trades.
How do you get in?
Whatever you’re comfortable with — lockbox, smart lock code, or a key. I recommend a battery-powered smart lock so access is logged and codes can be changed. I’ll install one.
What if you find something serious?
You get a call, not an email. Then photos, an honest assessment, and options. I don’t start significant work without your say-so.
Can you meet other contractors at the house?
Yes, and it’s one of the most useful things I do for off-island owners. A short meet-in fits inside the monthly visit when the timing lines up. A dedicated trip just to let somebody in is billed hourly.
Next step
Start a Property Care Plan
Tell me about the house and how often you’re here. Call (360) 317-0203 or send the details.
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