Questions and Answers

Our service costs you nothing. In addition, our no cost service is designed to alleviate many of the carrying costs associated with a vacant property since many of these costs are paid by our subcontractor who is the resident Property Caretaker. You are however, required to maintain a Homeowner Fire Insurance policy and pay for any pool or hot tub maintenance services you already subscribe to which is no different then what you would provide if your home was vacant.

While there is no cost for our service, there is no fee paid to the Homeowner. Rather, Homes In Transition collects a small fee from our Caretakers each month which allows us to ensure the care, maintenance and showability for your home during the term of our Caretaker's occupancy and its eventual return to you ready for closing.

For many reasons your property may need some remedial work to make the home habitable or get bring it to a condition you would like us to maintain. We have a staff General Contractor that is licensed, bonded and insured that can perform any type service or repair your property may require to return it to top form so we can help your Realtor get it SOLD!

Due to the difficulty in repairing the damage that can be created by even the best of pets moving into an unfamiliar environment we do not allow pets unless expressly allowed in writing by our property owners. Fish and small birds are generally exempt from this rule on a case by case basis. That being said, if you own a house that had pets, or is likely to be sold to a pet owner, it makes sense to allow pets. Keep in mind, your former home is now just a house on the market for sale and many (84%) of buyers have or want pets.

A house with empty bedrooms is likely to get low ball offers -- a house that is a home, with children in it -- has LIFE in it. It is the contractual responsibility of the Caretaker to make sure the children's room or rooms are kept "Show Ready" and we Reward our Caretakers (with Gift Certificates) for doing well in our unannounced Show Ready Inspections and charge them a re-inspection fee if they have not lived up to their responsibility when we return within 48 hours to make sfure the problem is resolved. 

On balance, a family looking for a 3 or 4 bedroom house will more likely be INSPIRED BY a well maintained, child filled, Show Ready Home... than a house that is empty, dusty and lifeless. After all, they ARE looking for a HOME -- aren't they?

Any time you have property, you have potential liabilities. Homes In Transition works to limit your exposure by... placing several buffers between you and potential liabilities.  We have our million dollar blanket policy and every Caretaker has their policy as well. Your REAL Liability comes in if you DON'T have someone living in your Vacant Home... not only have you breached your insurance policy and the premiums you've been paying -- have NOT been purchasing insurance... you are fully on your own, with a breached policy and no buffer.  Let us help you with this huge problem -- with our FREE service -- could it get any better? Yes, we also have a 100% Guarantee!

Homes in Transition offers you, the property owner... a WONDERFUL COST EFFECTIVE solution for the interim care of your vacant home... while it is either on the market for sale or during that term... where the property is in transition and empty.

Our service is good for you, it’s good for the community, and it’s good for people in transition.

Our Service provides stability and integrity of the neighborhood as a result of the care, maintenance and security our Caretaker’s provide as well as an opportunity for well qualified individuals to maintain their "standard of living" at a fraction of the cost they might otherwise be forced to incur.

Our service goes beyond providing a means by which you can maintain reasonable insurance costs or a means of enhancing the value of your treasured asset.

Unfortunately, every standard home insurance policy has a clause in it -- that states in one way or another:

It is the responsibility of the party of the first part (that would be you) to inform the party of the second part (that would be them -- the insurance company) in the event that the house becomes VACANT. Most insurance companies will only cover you an additional day -- to thirty days... then the policy is NULL AND VOID.

Let me ask you -- would you insure a vacant house?  

Well, here is the acid test... have your agent fax or email you confirmation of coverage that states in writing that your PRIME ASSET is actually covered as a Vacant house... that will put your mind at ease and please contact us and tell us which company is doing this for you...

Yes, that is a possibility but here is your risk.  

OK, here are some items to consider, items that our Caretaker Program -- removes from your monthly check writing session:

Homes In Transition can solve ALL these problems for you and it won’t cost you a dime, if our services do not manage to help get your property sold in less than 91 days... we work for FREE from that point on! HIT has a great Diminishing Fee policy that you can study in greater detail in the next tab but "in essence" we arrange to provide you an enormous value, working diligently to help get your property sold and cover our costs at closing -- when your property joyously sells immediately because of our Homes In Transition Advantage... for greater details -- please read the Diminishing Fee Tab.

Absolutely NOT !

That's a great question !

Our Caretakers are NOT renters, they are subcontractors and as such have no RENTER or TENANT protections.  

Besides, they love our program, we shift them to another location and they continue to live in another great house for the unheard of price of only $500/month.  They SAVE so much monthly that THEY become Homeowners because of our program, they can build up their nest eggs!

On the other hand, if you decide to become a landlord, have a renter in your house, have the expenses of maintaining your house for the renter, discover that your RENTER is not making it easy for a Realtor to show the property... you have a problem... especially if they don't keep the house in Show Ready Condition for you...

It's counter-productive for many renters... so they sabotage the showings in many subtle ways... even with the prerequisite 24hr notice, many renters will generate excuses -- "reasons" for why the house cannot be shown... maybe even until next month. The law gives them that protection -- while you continue to make mortgage payment after mortgage payment.

If you then evict your renter for that kind of behavior, you might have a REAL MESS on your hands... that could completely RUIN your closing and maybe even the entire deal.

Another excellent question!  We have a 100% guarantee -- in writing -- that your house will be returned to you in as good or better shape as it was at the time of entering our program -- there will be no finger pointing.

We know more about our Caretakers than their Mothers do... seriously...

The cost for our nationally recognized service is based on what we call a “Diminishing Fee”. 

The best part of our Diminishing Fee, if you even incur one, is that it’s PAID AT CLOSING! 

No upfront costs -- means your available cash can be used for more important things.

Our fee diminishes to zero after 90 days but we provide YOU with ALL our HIT Caretaker services from DAY ONE!

The HIT Real Estate Marketing Advantage helps you get tens of thousands of dollars more than your Vacant House would have without our services... we place the proper Caretaker, with the right kind of furniture into your house... then our IRIS certified decorator makes sure the house is STAGED to sell... if your newly "Show Ready" property sells in less than 31 days, HIT will collect $1,500 at closing, if it sells in less than 61 days, only $1,000 at closing and less than 91 days, only $500...

We will be successful in bringing you a quick sale in 90 days of occupancy or less -- or your fee diminishes to zero with no further cost to you! 

Even if you wildly overpriced your property and it has no chance of selling at that price -- our Caretaker maintains the property and pays the utilities, we continue to stage the property, inspect the property so that it remains in "Show Ready" condition from 9am to 8pm every day.

That’s right, we feel confident the service we provide through our Property Caretaker’s will give the current marketing plan of your VACANT house, the punch it needs to be competitive with all the other Occupied Homes in your market, making it possible to get the maximum return on your investment!

Property Utility Issues
Fees are for the Greater Albuquerque Area -- effective 4/2010 and subject to change

Gas Service
Gas utility service is provided to individuals occupying the property, not the property itself.  Unlike the Water, if the bill is unpaid by the previous occupant, that payment or non-payment of that bill does not impact new service being established in the name of our Caretaker.

Gas meter in place and service is on

A $30 charge will be assessed to first bill to read the meter and continue service in name of Caretaker.  Access to house not required.

Gas meter in place but service is off

A $63 charge will be assessed to first bill to reconnect service, , read meter and light at least one pilot light.  Access to the house is required.

Gas meter has been removed less than one year

If the gas meter has been removed for less than one year  see meter in place but service is off above.

Gas meter has been removed for more than one year

Property owner will need to  a licenced plumber to pull a permit to perform a check of the gas system, make any necessary code required upgrades and perform a pressure check.  Upon receipt of a satisfactory pressure check, the Building authority will provide a passing inspection and notify GCNM the property is suitable for a new meter which may take a couple of days to set.  Once GCNM has been notified see “meter in place but service is off” above

Electric Service
Electric utility service is provided to individuals occupying the property, not the property itself just like the Gas utility service.  Unlike the Water, if the bill is unpaid by the previous occupant, that payment or non-payment of that bill does not impact new service being established in the name of our Caretaker.

If property has had Electric service within the last year
For a fee of $19 that will be added to the first bill PNM will transfer existing service to new Caretaker.  PNM will come out and install an new meter if necessary for the same fee so long as meter has not been removed or off for over one year.

Electric Meter off or removed for more than one year
Property owner will need to hire a licenced electrician who must pull a permit and go through the house to ensure the electrical system is up to code.  He will be required to retrofit any deficiency before obtaining a passing service inspection from the local Building Authority.  Once a passing inspection is received, a Service Upgrade Form can be completed by Electrician and submitted to PNM for new service.  Again a $19.00 fee will be due for the new meter set.

There are some circumstances in which additional fees may be required by PNM.  It is strongly recommended a call be placed to PNM prior to hiring an electrician to resolve any additional fees prior to getting an inspection.

YES, HIT's Services are completely free to you immediately and the seller after 91 days

(*see Homeowner Diminishing Fee explaination). 

We only ask that once the Vacant House is put into HIT's program,

that it stay in the program for the entire time it is on the market for sale. 

The Seller will incur a flat $500 fee if the Seller decides to return the house to vacant status

-- or decides to let a relative live in it, rent it or any other reason than the sale is consumated. 

Which is only fair, because HIT has incurred substancial costs to Background Check a proper Caretaker to the property, after interviewing them, reviewing their furniture, inspecting the property after the Caretaker has moved in, taking the time to properly Stage each room and weekly inspections in the first month to make certain the Caretaker is keeping the house in "Show Ready Condition".

Should the Seller decide to remove the property from our care, our costs will need to be covered and we will be assisting the Caretaker to relocate to another property under our care.  In general, it is expected that the Caretaker will be dedicated to the property they move into until it is sold.

HIT decided early on, that the service we provide can be free afer 91 days to the

Homeowner and free for the realtor and still be a wonderful value to the Caretaker. 

We build our business on fairness principles and the principles of the more people we assist,

the more successful we will become. 

We have yet to have any complaints from Caretakers -- that think we charge too much ($500) for a house... and we have NEVER gotten a complaint from a Realtor or Homeowner about all the services we provide for them.

Well, it could and has happened in the past. 

We can be certain because we video our home inspections

prior to the Caretaker moving into the house. 

Our videos have, in every circumstance, proven to both

the Homeowner and the Caretaker when the damage occurred. 

The Caretaker is responsible for the proper repair of any damage that can be attributed to their actions. The Homeowner is responsible for things the Caretaker could not be expected to fix, i.e. a leaking roof or a broken pipe.

If a Caretaker has children that decide to write on the wall with a permanent marker, then the Caretaker is responsible for painting that wall again, if the carpet has grape juice or red wine spilled on it... a professional cleaner will need to remove the stain.

However, when you consider the TEN's of Thousands of dollars of LOSS avoided by dodging the infamous "Low Ball Offer" -- literally, a $350K house has $70K at risk - and that buys a whole lot of paint and carpet cleaning.

But, read the next two tabs and you'll feel even better about it.

YES, the Caretaker must have a $300K liability policy and their own Renter's Insurance (even though they are not renters).

The Caretaker has been very carefully screened and interviewed.

We know the history of Civil Litigation involving the Caretaker -- on a Local, City, State and National Level, we know the Criminal Background on the Local, City, State and National Level, we check the Caretaker against the Sexual Predator Database, we also do a full Credit History and then personally interview them.

We only bring "Good Citizens" into our program,

we know more about our Caretakers than their own Mothers do...

Could a Caretaker snap and rampage the house, doing untold damage?  Sure, but compared to the much higher odds of that happening if the house were to remain Vacant... it's not as likely.

Besides, the Homeowner retains a policy that would cover the house if damaged by a renter... that is pretty typical.

The Homeowner will BE ABLE to have the house insured with our Caretaker residing.

And, Homes In Transition also has Insurance... so the property is covered -- actually covered 4 ways... click the next question for how...

YES, HIT has a Million Dollar Policy that covers anything not covered by the Caretaker's and Homeowner's policies.

Besides, we have a Guarantee.

So, to review, the Property has Homeowner, Renter, HIT Insurances and has the HIT guarantee... the house is covered four ways. And, the house is going to sell faster and for more money... some people would say that the house is insured six ways!

EVERYTHING is guaranteed!

We have a 100% guarantee, that states that we will return the house to the seller in as good or better condition than when we filmed our Property Inspection Video prior to the Caretaker's occupancy. 

The Seller also gets access to the Property Inspection Video as soon as it is uploaded

to our system and it is available on line for review.

Now, naturally -- HIT is not going to be replacing items that broke or wore out -- like a hot water heater, microwave or dishwasher but will bring items damaged by the caretaker back to the condition it was in prior to the caretaker beginning to care for the property.

Realtors, you are our strategic partners -- we have a wonderful program for you.

• We have Seller Education emails, videos, mailers and handouts. 
• We have Video Emails of Introduction that we can put together for you -- very powerful tools that explain our program, to your Sellers, so that YOU don't have to... and we always try to make our videos funny and entertaining, rather than dry and boring. 
• We will link our powerful website to your website and for those that are looking for RELO experts we even have a special section. 
• We have advanced tools, like the video overlay you see on our pages and if you would like that kind of technology on your site... we can help you with accomplishing that as well... 
• We want your success to be excellent -- you'll gladly give us testimonials and letters of recommendation.

The cost for our nationally recognized service is based on what we call a “Diminishing Fee”. 

The best part of our Diminishing Fee, if you even incur one, is that it’s PAID AT CLOSING! 

No upfront costs -- means your available cash can be used for more important things.

Our fee diminishes to zero after 90 days but we provide YOU with ALL our HIT Caretaker services from DAY ONE!

The HIT Real Estate Marketing Advantage helps you get tens of thousands of dollars more than your Vacant House would have without our services... we place the proper Caretaker, with the right kind of furniture into your house... then our IRIS certified decorator makes sure the house is STAGED to sell... if your newly "Show Ready" property sells in less than 31 days, HIT will collect $1,500 at closing, if it sells in less than 61 days, only $1,000 at closing and less than 91 days, only $500...

We will be successful in bringing you a quick sale in 90 days of occupancy or less -- or your fee diminishes to zero with no further cost to you! 

Even if you wildly overpriced your property and it has no chance of selling at that price -- our Caretaker maintains the property and pays the utilities, we continue to stage the property, inspect the property so that it remains in "Show Ready" condition from 9am to 8pm every day.

That’s right, we feel confident the service we provide through our Property Caretaker’s will give the current marketing plan of your VACANT house, the punch it needs to be competitive with all the other Occupied Homes in your market, making it possible to get the maximum return on your investment!

to Homeowners of vacant property. In addition, we provide an opportunity for those, like yourself, to maintain the standard of living you have become accustomed to without the high cost of a rental situation or qualification for a mortgage.

Our Caretakers come to us with a wide variety of reasons for wanting to be a part of our team. As one of our highly valued Caretakers, you must have the means by which to pay the monthly Caretaker fee and a one time deposit of $750.00, the property maintenance costs such as utilities and any applicable association fees.

You must have a reasonable background with a clean criminal history and you must have furniture of the kind a quality to adequately furnish the home if it is on the market for sale. Some of our Caretakers have less then perfect credit, or have lost the roof over their head for what ever reason. We will make every effort to accommodate your situation so long as we feel confident you can perform to a high degree as one of our Caretakers.

In general, our Subcontractors are required to perform the general maintenance and upkeep of the property as if it were their own home, pay the utilities and applicable association fees. Should the home be on the market for sale, we will require that you allow access to the property during show hours through the use of a lock box provided by the Realtor and maintain the home in a show to sell condition seven days a week.

Do you want to keep your furniture and live in a house -- or sell it and be an apartment dweller?

The benefit from all this of course is that you get to live in a nice home for a very low cost. Sound tough, it can be, but to pay $500 a month for a home that would otherwise cost you many times more, is a great incentive. We are not landlords or property managers, therefore, this is not a rental or lease situation.

If the home is on the market for sale, as most are, your privacy can and will be disturbed during the show hours of the property. When the property sells, you will have to relocate. While most of the properties go through a traditional closing period prior to sale, generally several weeks, the worst case (very rare) scenario may require you to be relocated in as little as five days.

To take advantage of this exciting program as one of our valued Subcontractors, you will need to complete the Subcontractor Application and provide pictures of your furniture and décor. Once we determine your eligibility in our program we will ask that you pay a one-time, non-refundable Application Fee of $95.00, at which time we will perform a routine background check. Upon receipt of acceptable results we will conduct a one-on-one interview with you and your family and provide you with a selection (if available) of properties you have been matched to and enter into a Service Agreement.

To help with the moving between homes in our program, we offer a Moving Service to which you can subscribe that will provide moving assistance between homes in our program. For the maintenance challenged Caretaker, we also offer a maintenance service to which you can subscribe to handle the miscellaneous tasks that become part of your responsibilities as one of our Caretakers.

In General, we are not aware of any tax consequences.  However, without knowing your personal tax situation we always advise seeking advice from a tax professional for your specific situation.

Caretakers are not typically issued a 1099 certificate at year end. We issue Hitter Bucks for excellent work and while some Caretakers may be earning quite a few of these reward dollars, their value in any given year will be typically be below the $600 per year threshold necessary to issue a 1099-MISC. If however, you do accumulate more than $600 in Hitter Bucks, Homes In Transition will issue a 1099-MISC.

Our Property Caretakers are not liable for taxes on the property but if the property is located in a development that has association fees, the association fees are paid by the Caretaker for the pro-rated duration of the occupancy.  As a Caretaker you do not have any financial relationship to the true owners of the property, beyond providing proof of rental liability insurance in the amount of $300,000.

Yes, your application is the first step.  Next, we determine if you would be a good fit for the Caretaker program, Your Caretaker Supervisor then reviews your wants and needs, your furniture and suggests various properties that would be a good match for you.  The Subcontractor Service Agreement details the relationship and responsibilities of a Caretaker and outlines the guidelines that are mostly common sense but makes good policy to spell out clearly... Things like... don't paint the house, remove a wall to make the bathroom bigger or tear out all the shrubbery because you don't think it looks good... Our Property Caretakers enjoy our houses at $500/month and simply have to keep the status quo... they don't leave dishes piled up in the sink, don't have piles of clothes on the floor, don't leave the house without making the beds... it's all very easy and natural for many people already, we just have it spelled out in the Agreement for people that may forget that they are living in a great place for $500/month -- for a reason.

Yes, we can arrange that.  Homes In Transition is adding video testimonials to our website so that you can hear directly from those existing and former Caretakers that have benefited from the Caretaker lifestyle -- exactly what drew them to the program and their advice to people considering the pro's and con's of becoming a Caretaker. By and large, the pro's far outweigh the con's as you can well imagine, when you are living in a house for only $500/month.

Before you become a Subcontractor Applicant, you will need to pay a registration fee of $89 to process your application and perform a background check. As a Subcontractor you will be obligated to pay for the general maintenance of the property, the utilities, and a low monthly fee of $500.00 per month.

What is the term of the lease?

Moving is a hassle, is there an alternative?

Are my pets allowed?

Is smoking allowed?

What does “provide general maintenance” mean?

Comps... Comparables, the Foreclosure or Short Sale next door -- YIKES

Neighborhood Associations -- Change your bylaws!

Could entire neighborhoods be wiped out -- YES, here is HOW!