Home Owner: Busy Professional

You’re proud of your professional accomplishments and don’t mind working extra hours if needed. You realize that the same project management skills you’ve developed at work are key to juggling your varied roles, from work to family and home. Maybe you’re beginning to wonder when you’ll find more “me time” as there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. When we get overwhelmed, we tend to work harder and longer hours. Often this leaves us exhausted and we’re too tired to realize that something needs to change, that it’s time to “work smarter, not harder”.

When you buy a car, you should learn how to add a quart of oil and change a tire, as these are routine things you’ll need to do many times. When you buy a house, you should learn enough about your basic home systems to handle routine maintenance like changing your furnace filter periodically.

The homeowner skill that is most critical is learning how to identify when you have a problem, i.e. when the furnace is clicking on too often or there’s a spark when you plug in the iron. There are also recurring maintenance tasks that require a professional, i.e. annual tune-ups of your boiler and hot water heater to insure they’re running efficiently. By creating a project plan for home maintenance and assembling your team of home professionals, similar to the teamwork you rely on at work, you’ll save yourself time and make home ownership more enjoyable.

Pick the home owner projects you enjoy like gardening, and hire professionals for the other tasks like lawn mowing. If you’re juggling a career and family, use a handyman service several times a year to tackle your punch-list. Maybe you’d like to spend more time with your kids at night? Do the math and learn how a personal chef can put healthier meals in your freezer, for less than you’re spending eating out several days a week.

You can buy frozen dinners at the grocery store, but you can’t find reliable home professionals there. They’re busy at their trade whether it’s plumbing, painting or interior decorating. That’s why we created the Association of Women Home Owners, a community of home owners and the home professionals who support you. With your personal recommendations, we are building a directory of home professionals you can meet online. You can research your projects here, and find professionals who you get to know before you call for help.

Every homeowner should have a strategy (most don’t) for managing their home maintenance, repairs and remodeling projects. For busy professionals, this is more critical as you have less time to deal with unexpected problems. Here are several articles to help you avoid common problems and prepare ahead for emergencies you can’t avoid like weather related damage. The goal is for you to complete two (2) home management worksheets and tape them inside your kitchen cabinets for easy access.

• Picking a Home Management Strategy That’s Right for You -
  The best home maintenance strategy is one you’ll follow through on so be honest. Routine maintenance is necessary to avoid costly repairs like an interior ceiling that falls down when you wait too long to repair/replace a leaky roof.
• Building Your Home Management Team -
  A big reason home owners delay needed repairs is they don’t know who to call. We’ll help you decide which home owner projects you want to do personally, and then you’ll know who needs to be on your team. Find your team members and add them to your worksheet.
• Working with Your Home Professionals -
  Open, two-way communications can avoid most problems. Our checklist helps you identify what’s important to you. Review the checklist with your home professionals and give them a copy, to begin building the foundation for a successful partnership.
• Your Home Maintenance Schedule -
  To save you time, we have a one page checklist of common home maintenance activities organized by quarter (spring, summer, fall and winter). For each project you’ll identify the month you want to complete the work and who (you or a member of your team) will do the work.

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