A property caretaker is a person, group, or organization that cares for

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists disti ...

for rent-free living accommodations.Dunn, Gary
"Property Caretaking Rent Free"

Escape Artist Magazine and Website
Accessed May 2010.

Duties and functions

The caretaking profession includes positions as housesitters,

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

sitters,

bed & breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

and

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

sitters, property managers, estate managers, and hosts at resorts or campgrounds. Caretakers are sometimes used by property owners who are unwilling or unable to hire a professional management company. Many homeowners who rent their properties may hire caretakers instead of property managers in order to save money. Caretakers are not licensed by any state or local authority and are often relatively cheaper than their professional counterparts. In the UK, a number of buildings have a live-in caretaker whose part-time responsibilities might include letting tradesmen in, taking in parcels and signing for letters, holding keys, vacuuming the common areas, washing the communal steps and windows, etc. The caretaker will often live in a flat rent free.

History

Caretaking is historical, rooted in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

tradition of land maintenance. In 1868, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' defined a caretaker as "a person put in charge of a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

from which the tenant has been evicted." Today that definition has been expanded to cover a multitude of landowner/caretaker relationships. The number and diversity of these relationships has increased during the past decade. The property caretaking field has been covered by '' The Caretaker Gazette'' since 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Property Caretaker Property management

Duties and functions

History

See also

References