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Property intendance
Someone local who holds the keys, walks through the house on a schedule, and picks up the phone when the syndic writes.
An empty house does not fail dramatically. It fails slowly, and always in the gap between visits: a slow leak behind a wall, a roof tile that came off in February and let water in until May, a registered letter from the syndic that sat in the box until the deadline passed.
The point of paying someone locally is not the walk-through itself. It is that the problem gets found in week two rather than month five, when it is still a plumber's morning instead of a ceiling.
Who this suits
Owners of a second home along the wine road or around Strasbourg who are here a few times a year, and non-resident owners who need a real person at the address for the syndic, the insurer and the occasional emergency.
One local thing worth knowing
Property in Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin is registered in the livre foncier, a survival of the German period, rather than in the system used across the rest of France. For day-to-day intendance it makes no difference. It matters when you buy, sell or inherit, and it is a good reason to use a notaire who works with it every week.
Keys and inspections
We hold a set, walk the property on an agreed rhythm, and send photographs. Extra visits after storms or an alarm call, without waiting to be asked.
The syndic and the post
Copropriété notices, assemblée générale papers and anything else that arrives in the letterbox, read, summarised and forwarded.
Tradespeople
Finding them, letting them in, watching the work and checking it afterwards. You approve anything beyond routine spend before it happens.
Before you arrive
Heating on, shutters open, water running, fridge not empty. The house awake rather than merely unlocked.
Indicative rates
| Service | Rate |
|---|---|
| Keys, post and a monthly walk-through | from €120 / month |
| Full intendance with technical follow-up | from €250 / month |
| Call-outs and one-off jobs | hourly |
Depends on size, distance from Strasbourg and how often you want us there. A fixed monthly figure is confirmed after a first visit, which we do not charge for if the property is inside our normal radius.
Common questions
Do you do the repairs yourselves?
No. We find the artisan, let them in, watch what they do and check it afterwards. Doing the work ourselves would mean carrying trade insurance we don't have, and you would be worse protected, not better.
What happens if something goes wrong while you're away or on holiday?
You are told in advance who is covering and how to reach them. A property care contract where the only contact disappears for three weeks in August is not worth paying for, and August is exactly when the storms come.
How do I know you actually went?
Photographs with the date on them, every visit. Not a tick in a spreadsheet.
Can you manage it while it's rented out?
We can handle access, contractor visits and the practical side alongside your letting agent. We cannot collect rent or manage a tenancy as an agent, because that requires a carte professionnelle under the Hoguet law.
The house is in a village nobody has heard of. Is that a problem?
Only if it is south of Colmar or more than about an hour out. Tell us the commune and we will answer honestly rather than take the retainer and visit rarely.