Weekend condo/vacation owner hacks

[marymack]

We are buying a small vacation home near Berkshire East (Western MA). We live 2hrs and 15 min away. We are very excited, and hope that ultimately it makes getting away for the weekend easier, so we go skiing (and whitewater kayaking in the summer) more often. For now we plan to be there on weekends/vacations and a bit more over the summer. We do not plan to rent it at this time.

I would love to hear what systems you have in place to help ensure you have a relaxing time at your vacation home. Any tips for things like minimizing the chance of forgetting important things at the wrong house, minimizing food waste, not getting caught up cleaning and doing home maintenance whenever you are at your vacation home etc.

Some things we have already considered:

Organizing as many duplicate items that can stay out there, run laundry before we leave on Sunday.

Have a large lockable bin to transport trash home in since the transfer station is open only on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Stocking freezer meals and doing grocery pick up on the drive in on Friday nights.

Having wifi enabled thermostats to adjust temp remotely.

Have a list of "check out tasks" we must complete each time we leave like putting away all dishes, wiping down counters and toilets and turning off the water.

What else?

 

[Christy]

We are pretty new to this too.

Do you not lose power ever? We can't keep perishables because our rural location loses power regularly. (Or maybe you mean bringing frozen food and eating it each visit).

Our place is stocked with essential toiletries and a basic wardrobe so we don't have to think about what to bring back and forth.

The best thing we've done is make friends with neighbors. They are a great source of info.

We have a big note the former owners left us about turning the water on and off. We keep it by the front door so we don't accidently run in and use the bathroom before turning on the water.

 

[marymack]

We are pretty new to this too.

Do you not lose power ever? We can't keep perishables because our rural location loses power regularly. (Or maybe you mean bringing frozen food and eating it each visit).

Our place is stocked with essential toiletries and a basic wardrobe so we don't have to think about what to bring back and forth.

The best thing we've done is make friends with neighbors. They are a great source of info.

We have a big note the former owners left us about turning the water on and off. We keep it by the front door so we don't accidently run in and use the bathroom before turning on the water.

Oh, I hadn't considered the risk of the power going out… Its pretty close to a main road, but I guess we will have to be prepared for that as well. I guess totally stocking the freezer wouldn't be a good idea, maybe a couple of frozen pizzas and then bring things we will use that weekend. I guess I'm just trying to avoid packing and unpacking a cooler every weekend, but maybe that is inevitable.

Thanks.

 

[Christy]

That's the main hassle for us too, but we return to blinking clocks regularly (even in summer, since the electric coop will cut power when it's windy to prevent fires) so the oat milk and parmesan make a lot of trips back and forth...

 

[elemmac]

I would love to hear what systems you have in place to help ensure you have a relaxing time at your vacation home. Any tips for things like minimizing the chance of forgetting important things at the wrong house, minimizing food waste, not getting caught up cleaning and doing home maintenance whenever you are at your vacation home etc.

Keep extra clothing "needs" at your condo (socks, underwear, extra raincoat, etc)...just in case.

Food waste...we bring a cooler back and forth with any leftovers, and perishables.

Lists work for me (when I make them) to not forget things.

Oh, I hadn't considered the risk of the power going out… Its pretty close to a main road, but I guess we will have to be prepared for that as well. I guess totally stocking the freezer wouldn't be a good idea, maybe a couple of frozen pizzas and then bring things we will use that weekend. I guess I'm just trying to avoid packing and unpacking a cooler every weekend, but maybe that is inevitable.

We don't have "regular" power outages, so keep some frozen foods, as well as dry goods there...especially when going back and forth regularly in the winter. If you don't think you get regular outages, you can always use the ol' frozen cup of water with a coin trick. Freeze a cup of water, put a coin on top, and keep it in your freezer. If you the coin stays on top, you're good to go, if it becomes frozen on the bottom, you know the cup thawed due to a long power outage (i.e. everything in your freezer is probably spoiled).

 

[RachelV]

You got most of what I do, really.

For food, I'm just careful to only leave non-perishable things up there. I usually take a cooler back and forth... I can often not shop up there if I can throw eggs and one pre-made dinner and a few other misc things in a cooler. I take any perishables back down when I leave. I leave a pretty good selection of snacks and frozen stuff up there.

Laundry.... I keep a big rubbermaid up there with my sheets, then strip the bed when I leave but don't necessarily wash the sheets. I wash them every time I have a load of other stuff to do, also. I leave all my ski stuff, some PJs, and some random other clothes up there.

Tidying up on the way out... I regularly let friends use the place, and especially during the winter someone other than me is almost always up weekly. That means when you leave, someone else can always show up to what you left behind, which has honestly been fantastic motivation to keep the place cleaner that I otherwise would. But it's not much! Wipe down the kitchen, do dishes, take out the garbage, wipe down the sinks and toilets, sometimes vacuum.

It feels a little wasteful but it makes sense to duplicate some things for the activities you do up there all the time and would otherwise be taking back and forth every time. For me that really just means bike helmets and trail sneakers and some dog stuff. My ski gear lives up there only.

Honestly, throwing a bunch of stuff from my home fridge into a cooler and packing up some clothes to head up takes me 10 minutes. Cleaning up the condo and throwing stuff back from the condo fridge to the cooler on the way out takes maybe 30 minutes. The first few times are going to be annoying but you'll get in a routine with it pretty quick.

 

[RachelV]

Also, this thread isn't exactly the same, but you might find some tips that are helpful in the thread about letting friends use your vacation home:

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/letting-friends-use-your-vacation-home.28601/

 

[Jilly]

I've been a cottage owner for many years now. It's really a 3 bedroom house in the woods, by a lake. Fully furnished with all the amenities, including washer and dryer. I leave stuff like butter/marg, some of the condiments and maybe eggs. The freezer usually has at least a 1lb of hamburger, some chicken breasts. There is an issue with power supply during storms. Usually in the winter I clean out the fridge and unplug it. I can't take up the water, as it's buried. So I need a heated line to the lake So the heat is on low and the pilot light is on for the fireplace.

It wouldn't take much to have it up and running like what happen in 2020 and the country shut down in March. Just called the internet company to start me up early.

As for the condo at Tremblant. I have a rubbermaid too with sheets and towels and kitchen linens. This bedding etc is for me. If you come I ask you to bring your own. I don't have laundry facilities in the unit, so I have to take it home. You might as well take it to your home. I don't ask for much beyond that if someone comes to visit for a time. There I leave non-perishable too. Same idea as the cottage for the freezer, pound of hamburger for spaghetti sauce, some chicken breasts and usually some frozen veggies. Again some condiments. I always have a few cans or tetra pak of soup too. Being on the resort at Tremblant, I hate to get the car out to go to town for anything. So most weekends I just bring everything from home. It's only if I'm there for a week vacation, that I'll do a grocery run.

 

[Amie H]

We have a 3 BR cabin and acreage in central WI. We invest in large glass bottles of peppermint oil and have small saucers/shallow containers of it left out with peppermint-oil soaked cotton balls or wood chips to deter mice.

ALL food (including spices) except canned goods goes in closed-lid large plastic totes. Again, mouse-proofing. I keep some pasta and rice in locking-lidded large glass jars that I display on the kitchen counter.

We don't let anyone borrow or rent our cabin but we sometimes host friends while we are there. I have plenty of towels and beach towels, and more locking lidded plastic containers with first aid items, OTC medicines (advil, pepto, etc.) and toiletries (sunscreen, toothpaste, unopened toothbrushes and razors, etc.

I save brown grocery bags and use them to transport home items for recycling. We also bring home our trash in double-bagged kitchen trash bags. We turn our empty kitchen trash can upside down before we leave so that mice don't go in there due to odors, then get stuck and we arrive to find a mouse corpse in the kitchen can.

 

[MsWax]

My tips:
- I make a list each week of food, toiletries, etc. that are needed
- I buy everything during my weekly shopping trip at home for both "home" and the "vacation house"
- We bring a cooler there and back every week to transport perishables (but do leave stuff at the vacation house...we didn't lose power that often). I put a cup with water in the freezer and a quarter on top to see if things got warm enough to thaw when we did lose power.
- We bring trash home with us every week
- We outsource as much as possible (house cleaning, plowing, yard maintenance)

We turn the water off when we leave.

We did get a generator this year. A few years ago we lost power right before X-mas and the temps were below zero. My husband spent the holiday there, alone and in the dark, feeding the wood stove to keep the house warm enough so the pipes wouldn't freeze. After that we prioritized getting the generator!

 

[Trailside Trixie]

We've been doing this for going on 7 years now.

I'm now a machine when it comes to coming and going.

Morning of the day we take off I put out our travel/fridge bags. Plus a tote for dry goods. As I go through the day I put stuff in there. 2 hours before leaving I pull out all fridge/freezer stuff and pack them up.

Morning of I pull out my tote/suit case and pack whatever clothes I'm taking

I put my tote bag ready to receive my work and personal laptops.

One by one as the bags are ready I line them up and this way they are easy to grab to load in the car.

I keep duplicates of most things so the condo has skis, clothes and food in the fridge/freezer/pantry. I monitor the fridge/freezer and if we aren't coming up for a bit ie in the summer I keep the fridge a lot emptier.

I keep a list on my phone titled to/from condo. On here is what I put what I need to bring with me to each place so I don't forget.

We don't rent our place out so we keep a lot of stuff up. We've got doubles of everything including electric tea kettles, coffee grinders, slow cookers, etc.

One of my favorite things to do is get the slow cooker going when we leave the condo in the am so that when we come back from skiing we have dinner.

Controlled thermostats are great so we can adjust the heat in CT when we're in VT.

When we're staying in VT for longer times ie during christmas I bring up extra hello fresh meals or just stock up in general so that we're not going out to eat every day.

I keep skis/poles and extra clothes up there. This way I only bring my boot bag back and forth. I do this because we have local skiing in CT and I love to midweek ski.

 

[mustski]

We travelled back and forth every weekend for years and now travel back and forth seasonally. I always leave food in the freezer and use the water cup/coin trick as mentioned above.

Make a packing list and use it every time. That way you wont' forget anything
Leave the heat at 55 degrees so your pipes don't freeze and turn off the water if you can.
If you don't want to cart down smelly food trash, freeze it. It wont' smell and it will take time to thaw.
Keep medication duplicates up there - even if it's only a few pills. That way forgetting is not an emergency.
Make sure you have an alternate heat source if you lose power while you are there.

 

[tothetrail]

Lots of great ideas here! One thing I do before leaving from the second home is to take a photo of the fridge and pantry contents. I also have doubles of everything there, but if it's been a few weeks/months between visits I can't always remember what food was left.

 

[marymack]

Lots of great ideas here! One thing I do before leaving from the second home is to take a photo of the fridge and pantry contents. I also have doubles of everything there, but if it's been a few weeks/months between visits I can't always remember what food was left.

Oh what a great idea! I wouldn't have thought of that!

 

[skinnyfootskis]

Also, freeze a water bottle that is 3/4 full upright and then lay it down…if you check it and it has changed you know you lost power long enough to make the water freeze sideways…or vice versa.

 

[ride_ski]

We go back and forth, but are about an hour away. We bring cooler back and forth since shopping is much easier in our primary location. We do have a fridge with all condiments at the ski house. I make a list before leaving of items that need to be replenished and usually remember to look at it. I will admit that there are times that I end up with 3 of something at one house and none at the other. We also keep a large rubbermaid tub in one place in our primary home. Anything that needs to go to the ski home gets put in here during the week. I find it helpful that when I think of something to bring up, that I immediately grab it and put it in the tub. We bring that and a cooler back and forth every time (along with a computer bag for DH and I), and a small bag that has some clothes and our cats).

 

[gourmetJo]

We don't rent our house out so we leave personal items at the house. I went through my closet and found things to leave in VT that I wouldn't miss on an everyday basis. I keep a pair of boots, pajamas, sweatshirts and all my ski stuff at the house.

Now that we go to the house frequently I leave eggs, almond milk, and some yogurts in the refrigerator. I usually keep only a few things in the freezer like ravioli and sausage so I have something to cook in a pinch. Usually it's just me and my husband (kids are grown and flown) so we don't need a lot. I have a pantry that I leave things like coffee, crackers, pasta, snacks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and some canned goods. When my kids join us for the weekend I just bring a few extra groceries that I buy when I do my weekly shopping. It doesn't take to long to throw those things in the cooler.

We always vacuum, clean the bathrooms, wipe the kitchen counters, run the dishwasher and clean the stove before leaving. Heat gets turned down to 55.

We've had our house for about a year and the house, although in great shape needs some updating. We don't want to feel like we have to work when we are at our happy place so we've been doing small projects in the off season. Last spring we sanded one of the bathroom cabinets, removed the wall paper and painted over the course of 2 weekends. In between doing the work we went on a hike or out to dinner. That way it doesn't seem like all you did was work on the house and then go back home to start the work week again.

We have a keyless entry lock on the front door that way if you forget the key you can still get in. As a back up we do have a key in a lock box outside the house.

 

[Verve]

Congrats! It’s such a joy to have a second little home close to what you love to do Careful or you’ll move in forever like I did.

This is perhaps less relevant to you but I share my spot two other women and we often have friends cycle through. To avoid doing unnecessary amounts of sheets we have a cute little sign in sheet on the fridge of who slept in what bed last and folks can swap out sheets if they want or just let it ride. We also ask guests to bring up their own sheets if they have the right size. People don’t think to offer but most do have them and are happy to if you ask.

 

[tika55]

Couple of things we have done so far, but only a few months in:
- I have a closing checklist for peace of mind (eg doors, windows, trash, etc)
- Spread out cleaning so I'm not always working (mop one month, bathroom cleaning next month)
- Do laundry pretty much constantly when there
- Leave the washing machine open when you're gone to avoid musty smell
- We pay the trash company to pick up at the garage rather than at the street
- Definitely have duplicates of basics and toiletries
- Duplicates of chargers
- Send a note on status when I leave if I'm there without my husband e.g. what I cleaned, what's in the fridge, did I check the mail etc

 

[bsskier]

Written Checklist IN
Written Checklist OUT
Anything not done is the responsibility of the last person out. You can charge them an ASF (Aggravation Service Fee) if they fail to comply.