Hiring a Contractor for a House You Don't Live In

A house in the Lowcountry is a fine thing to own from four hundred miles away, right up until the air handler quits in August and you’re standing in a parking garage in Charlotte trying to approve a repair from your phone.

Plenty of people own that way here, with the owner’s weeks on the calendar and renters in the rest. Getting work done on a house you can’t walk through takes a little more paper and a lot more patience than getting it done on the one you sleep in.

Know What Your Insurance Says About an Empty House

Start with the policy, not the contractor. Many homeowner policies carry a vacancy clause, and the window is “often 30 to 60 consecutive days,” according to GEICO, with exact terms varying by policy. After that, coverage for things like vandalism, glass breakage and some water damage may not apply. (GEICO) A house with furniture in it may count as unoccupied rather than vacant, which can matter, as one insurance law firm explains. (Merlin Law Group)

If a renovation means the place sits empty for a stretch, call your agent before the first wall comes down. The South Carolina Department of Insurance answers questions too, at 803-737-6180. (SC Department of Insurance)

Hire Someone to Be Your Eyes

A home watch company is the closest thing to being there. The National Home Watch Association describes the work as scheduled visual inspections of a home while the owner is away, with a call to the owner the moment something looks wrong. Its accredited members carry liability insurance and bonding and pass criminal background checks on their principals. (National Home Watch Association)

Their job is not to manage the contractor. It is to tell you whether the contractor showed up, whether the job looks like the photos, and whether the water heater they swapped is leaking on the new floor. That is worth more than it sounds.

Paper That Travels Well

Everything that applies to hiring at home applies double when you’re away. Ray Croft covered what the contract should say and how to check a license. From a distance I’d add:

• Photos at each payment. Before, during and after, in the contract.
• Payments tied to finished work, confirmed by your home watch company or property manager, not just by the contractor’s text.
• A key plan. Who has access, for how long, and how the lockbox code gets changed afterward.

Mind How You Pay

The FTC has heard every version of the long-distance scam, and its advice is blunt. Scammers “often insist that you can only pay by using cryptocurrency, wiring money… using a payment app, or putting money on a gift card.” Don’t. And “resist the pressure to act immediately.” (FTC) Its home repair flyer adds: don’t pay by cash or wire, and don’t start without a signed contract. (FTC) A real contractor will take a check or a card and won’t need it before lunch.

If the House Is Also a Rental

Hilton Head’s short-term rental rules mean the owner or a local agent has to be reachable by phone at all times during a rental and respond to a complaint within an hour. The Town also requires an annual permit and business license and keeps a safety checklist that includes a fire extinguisher, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and a 60-minute shutoff valve on propane grills. (Town of Hilton Head Island) Schedule the noisy work between guests, and make sure whoever answers that phone knows a contractor will be on site.

Owning From Away

Owning a house you only visit is an act of trust. You trust the roof, the neighbors, the storm track and the people you hire. The ones worth trusting won’t mind being checked on. The good ones will send the photos before you ask.