The Importance of Second Home Management in Bend, Oregon with Dana Carmichael of Home Fridays
Karen Malanga: Hi, this is Karen Malanga with another episode of House Talk. I’m very pleased to welcome back Dana Carmichael with Home Fridays. She actually owns Home Fridays. And she’s an expert in second home management.
After our big storm this winter, I know, Dana, that you’re super busy. And that’s why I wanted you back today to just kind of go over the in’s and out’s of managing all these second homes in the biggest snow storm over 50 years in Central Oregon.
So, Dana, I’m just going to let you know speak to that and take it away.
Dana Carmichael: Okay! Yeah, Dana here! So, I manage around 90 homes in Bend. And so it’s a big chunk to take off.
My staff do weekly at-home wellness checks. And it really became evident how very important this is when you have a home that’s sitting vacant over the winter in Central Oregon. We probably had 10 to 15 ice dams that caused interior leaking in the homes.
Other things that we pick up are if the furnace not working (which of course can lead to broken pipes). We have been very on top of all of these issues, whatever it is, with our homes; and then from there, coordinate the care for the home just as if we were the home owner.
We really vet our vendors or contractors that come in and work on these homes and help coordinate with insurance and provide secure access by being there with people that are in and out of the home during repairs or mitigation.
So, I really feel like having somebody watch your home while you’re gone can really prevent massive catastrophic damage to a home.
And on top of all the regular winter stuff that we do, we’re just coordinating snow removal for the driveways. And this winter, it was the roof! The decks, decks were a concern with the weight load of snow.
Karen: I noticed some decks that looked—and I never understood how much snow weights. And to my listeners here, I did have to call Dana because I needed some help and advice on snow removal. And what I really appreciated was how clever you were. You were contacting arborists because they had long ladders—and some roofs were tall! I thought that was like a genius move!
Dana: We did get very creative with our snow removal. And not only will we go straight to roofers (and we have a couple of roofing companies we used), but when the crisis really hit in Central Oregon, the roofers, unless they had already been working on your roofs, they were telling anyone about six weeks out. And it ended up not being six weeks for our company. It ended up being more two to three.
So, we did get hands literally on the deck and on the roof with arborists. We pulled in some contractors. I think this prevented some ice dams forming—of course we still had ice dams. But it felt like every home down in Sunriver and Caldera had these massive ice sculptures like we were in the movie, Frozen, or something.
And then, we actually went as far as learning about seam removal with ice dams which we’ve never done before with—we had maybe a couple ice dams last year. So it really was an interesting winter. We learned a lot.
And the seam removal, to me, really seems like the best way to fully remove an ice dam without damaging the roof from getting out there and hammering on it.
Karen: Yeah, we’ve had some home inspections the past week. And now that the roofs are clear, knock on wood, there are missing shingles. And it is probably from people breaking their own roofs trying to get some of that weight off their homes.
I know just from the realtor’s standpoint here, I called on people that I know don’t live here full-time and I drove by their homes. I can’t tell you how much I need a welcome letter from you or a packet to send to these people. I remember calling to this one gentleman. His home is 6000 sq. ft. I couldn’t see one bit of the roof that wasn’t an ice dam.
And so, before you leave today, create some packets for me. But Dana, if someone is listening that does live here part-time in Central Oregon, what’s the best way to reach you?
Dana: Home Fridays, my website has my phone number. We have a great website. We’re on Facebook. My phone number…
Karen: Yeah, I would love for you to give your phone number.
Dana: Oh, okay. It’s 541-317-3088.
Karen: Perfect!
Dana: Yeah, we’re a local, small-staffed company. And we do an excellent job. We all really care about our clients’ homes as they were our own.
Karen: I know you do. That’s why I appreciate you as well. So, thank you again.
Dana: Okay! Thanks, Karen.
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