A property caretaker is a person, group, or organization that cares for
real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a
barter
In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...
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 /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...
sitters,
bed & breakfast and
innsitters, property managers, estate managers, and hosts at
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
s 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.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
tradition of land maintenance. In 1868, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' 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 fo ...
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.
See also
*
Concierge
A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...
*
Porter
*
Doorman (profession)
A doorman (or doorwoman/doorperson), also called a porter in British English, is a person hired to provide courtesy and security services at a residential building or hotel. They are common in urban luxury highrises. At a residential building, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Property Caretaker
Property management