LakeTime Management – ensuring properties’ safety, security

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

November 11, 2024

NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN – As colder weather sets in, many Northwoods vacationers are preparing their secondary homes to withstand the severity of Wisconsin’s winters – a season that can wreak havoc on the structural integrity and functionality of a vacant home.

LakeTime Management – owned and operated by its President and Founder Kelly Cooper – provides a one-stop-shop concierge service to manage all the different things that need to be done to ensure a secondary home is still functional when its owners arrive for seasonal fun.

“When you have multiple properties, it’s nice to keep it organized under one system,” Cooper said. “Let us help you prepare for the winter before there’s a problem.”

Cooper said many of her clients come to LakeTime after there’s already been a “catastrophe” – many of which could have been prevented had the property been properly monitored.

As the business grew, Cooper said she and her team discovered the primary need of most clients is “to have someone manage things for them.”

“Our goal is to build a program so that we’re assisting them to manage their property,” she said. “Setting up schedules and vetting vendors – making sure that the vendors are the right people for the job, whatever those jobs may be.” 

Cooper said there are several things to consider when leaving a secondary home vacant for an extended period of time.

“Housekeeping services, groundskeeping services and the home watch security services that (LakeTime offers) are done in-house, primarily,” she said. “The rest are coordinated through our in-house managers (who) schedule and supervise the services.”

Those out-sourced services, Cooper said, include things like pre-season HVAC and roof inspections, plumbing winterization and regular snow removal so service employees can access the parts of the property they need to when they need to.

“(Property owners) can entrust us to get all of the tasks done in a timely nature,” she said. “And then report back to them when it’s done, or if there’s any issues found, just to keep them in the loop.”

Skilled staff, service professionals

LakeTime Management offers a variety of services and though some clients come in only wanting one or two of those services, Cooper said most leave with much more.

She said she and her team will consult prospective clients so they’re not only aware of what needs to be done to ensure the security of their second home but also how LakeTime can help them manage those tasks as well.

“It’s really nice to have a professional manager that you can trust when you’re away and even when you’re around,” she said.

Though technology has come a long way in providing secondary homeowners some peace of mind, Cooper said “there’s no replacement for getting eyes, nose and ears on the property.”

“The visual (security) systems do not tell the complete story of a home that is actively vacant,” she said. “We know this firsthand, just from being in this business, how many times we have gone to a property and discovered something wrong… using our senses as people.”

Cooper said examples of issues her staff have discovered using their “people sense” are things like the smell of propane – indicating a gas leak – or evidence of pests such as mice and rats – and sometimes even larger animals.

“However great technology has become,” she said, “there really is no replacement for that human factor.”

Cooper said all of her employees are professionally trained to look out for problems such as those, and for clients who LakeTime is providing numerous services for, the homeowners will be assigned a personal home watch professional.

The home manager, she said, will monitor a home’s HVAC, plumbing and security systems and supervise vendors on-site to ensure the work is done safely and that the home remains secure.

“We’re looking for clients who are looking for management services – who want to entrust somebody to take care of their properties,” Cooper said, especially when a client has several properties.

“We’re able to keep it all under one system,” she said. “And that helps them.”

Professional accreditation

Though its roots are in the Northwoods, Cooper said LakeTime Management isn’t just for lake houses.

“Our clients have multiple secondary homes,” Cooper said. “So we’re managing properties that are not just here in the Northwoods – we also can manage (properties) remotely.”

Cooper said her company is able to manage properties across the country in part because of its accreditation with the National Home Watch Association (NHWA).

NHWA accreditation, Cooper said, is obtained when concierge companies like LakeTime “meet rigorous standards of professionalism, reliability and accountability.”

“That provides us with access all over the country to vetted professionals,” she said. “A lot of our clients have properties in Florida or Arizona, California (and) other destinations.”

Cooper said because they have clients who entrust LakeTime with the full-time management of their properties – whether that be in the Northwoods or elsewhere – security is of utmost importance.

“One of the things that I noticed when I started this business is a lot of secondary (homeowners) have too many people that have had access to their property, to their keys, to their codes, their security system, and that they’re not vetted,” she said.

Ensuring those who have access to your house are trustworthy – service professionals, guests and otherwise – Cooper said is another advantage of having a full-time home watch professional checking in on your property.

“If need be, they’re there for you, they’re vetted and the people they use are kept track of,” she said. “That’s an important thing.”

For more information on LakeTime Management, visit laketimeconcierge.com.