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Who’s Watching Your Home?
How often do we say, in the face of
a close call, “Boy, somebody’s looking out for me!”
If you live here at the beach and
go away for a winter, a week or between weekends, somebody can be looking
out for you—all the time.
That’s because Rehoboth’s own
Bill McManus and his staff at Beach Home Watch can be on the job for you.
Bill, a former financial planner
and corporate trainer and his partner David Nelson did what lots of folks
from the Washington, Baltimore or Philadelphia areas have done—four
years ago they exchanged the stress, traffic and corporate worlds they
inhabited for a simpler life in Rehoboth Beach.
Trading on his experience in the
business world, Bill’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and he began
thinking about the kinds of services people here could use, and whether he
might be able to fit the bill.
After hearing disastrous tales of
people returning to the beach from the city only to find gallons of water
coursing through their living rooms from broken hoses, or damage claims
denied by insurance because nobody had been home for over thirty days, he
saw a need for Beach Home Watch.
So, Bill got into the peace of mind
business. He put together a comprehensive property watch service for
second homeowners, and partnered with a concierge service to provision
beach homes for weekends or vacations.
As part of Beach Home Watch, Bill
sends his team to inspect pools and spas, check out appliances, heating
and cooling, make sure home plumbing and electrical systems are okay,
check for storm damage, and even water the newly planted trees. Each
client can work with Bill to design a tailor-made checklist to meet their
needs and Home Watch will provide the homeowner with written reports on
the date and time of the inspections.
“You really have to trust
somebody to watch your property,” Bill says, noting that his business is
professional, licensed, bonded and insured.
Beach Home Watch can do
twice-a-month inspections, with staff making sure the toilets aren’t
running up a water bill or there are no squatters in the house.
“Actually, in a resort area this
can be a problem,” Bill says. Lots of folks tell tales of people
returning to their homes only to find someone making themselves at home in
a place that isn’t theirs.
In fact, this reporter once had a
whole family camping out on weekdays in her condo. They were pretty tidy,
but nevertheless it was creepy when it was discovered.
So Beach Home Watch can be on the
look-out for uninvited guests, from teams of squatters to annoying
wildlife, to gallons and gallons of gushing or seeping water.
“That’s another big problem,”
says Bill, noting that clients have told him about situations where water
hoses or appliance connections have broken and have not been discovered
for more than a month. Locally, weekenders or Snow Birds have had their
homes deluged, ruining carpets and furniture—and in some cases requiring
the removal of rooms full of soggy drywall.
According to Bill, nearly all
insurance policies have a clause stating that you must occupy your home at
least every 30 days. If a loss occurs and the insurance company can prove
that no one was in the property, the company has the right to deny the
claim, causing great financial loss.
In fact, if there is a problem,
Beach Home Watch produces written reports with the damage documented. Lots
of times that can be the difference between a claim paid and a claim
denied. “We will provide peace of mind,” says Bill, but if there is a
problem, the service will prevent lots of hassles, too.
But how about a cold martini?
“That’s when their partnering
concierge service kicks in. Kathleen Liebel, who operates Concierge by the
Sea, is teaming up with Beach Home Watch on the provisioning side of the
equation. Customers can have their refrigerators stocked with tonic and
lime, wine and cheese or whatever will make their arrival at their beach
home a celebration.
Need the dry cleaning picked up,
the liquor cabinet stocked or the pumpkins exchanged for holiday
decorations? Beach Home Watch can do it.
For further peace of mind, Bill
McManus is not just someone who has come to town to make a buck. He’s
involved in the community through CAMP Rehoboth, Rehoboth
Beach Main Street, and Team
Rehoboth for the Gay Games. In fact, Bill is currently making plans to put
together a fantastic Team Rehoboth for the 2010 games in Cologne Germany.
I’m sure he’d like to hear from athletes (and we use this in the
broadest sense, as this reporter is going to Cologne on a Rehoboth golf
team!)
As we get into the “off
season” (if there is one anymore around here!) residents and weekenders
are planning trips to sunny Florida or the Caribbean. If travelers want to
sleep better at night, Beach Home Watch is available to shoulder the
stress. Call Beach Home Watch at 302-227-2104 or go online to www.beachhomewatch.biz.
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