If you’re feeling both excited and perhaps a little stressed while organizing the details of your shared vacation family home, you’re not alone. There are some projects and items on a to-do list that never seem to get taken care of, and it’s quite easy for things to be overlooked. Some projects are forgotten, and more important details arise. This is all very natural and to be expected, but between multiple homeowners, group texts and emails just don’t do the job anymore. That’s where backporch® comes in!
Time
Saving time is part of the reason we’re here! Less time planning means more quality time together. The shared calendar allows guests to coordinate when they’re planning a trip, so there’s no crossover or confusion if someone wants to have the house for the weekend. With the calendar, you can save holidays in advance, so there’s transparency and ease when planning out the year. Everyone wants Christmas, New Year’s and Spring Break so we suggest dividing those dates up equally. Use the up the river, down the river technique (a 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1 pattern) so that the person who picks last gets to pick 2 times in a row. Having a visual calendar for all creates less confusion on occupancy. It makes it easier when planning with children, because vacations with/without the cousins will indicate what activities to plan, food to bring, etc.
House Rules and Community
Perhaps you’ll feel a bit of nostalgia from your college days, but sharing a home (just like you would with a roommate) means there must be house rules set in place. This fosters a sense of responsibility to one another, and will eliminate any future confusion. These regulations are efficient when agreed upon together. Once the house rules have been communicated, keep them in the backporch app under the property info feature. These are really useful when noting the rules of the town or surrounding cities as well. Beyond rules, use the backporch app to leave useful information for guests. For example, you can record the closest convenience store or where to get hunting supplies. Guests who are family friends can also view these, so even when a non-owner is occupying the home, everyone on the property knows the household policies and surrounding areas.
Chores and To-Do Lists
Once the house rules are established, don’t let the chores get lost! Backporch app creates accountability among house guests. If a chore cannot be done or there’s a missing cleaning supply, let the next guest know! This is an important point with cleaning. Are you responsible for cleaning out perishable food items, if someone isn’t staying there for a couple of weeks? Perhaps there’s a cleaning service you need to book once you leave. Covering those costs and figuring this out via text messages creates confusion. With the projects feature, you can assign tasks, make comments and mark items as complete.
The same goes for to-do lists. When they’re written down in separate places, it’s hard to know what’s actually getting done, or who’s responsible for what. This way, there’s no miscommunication, and the house is stocked up and set up for vacation mode for the next guest. An issue that always comes up is a broken item. If there’s a broken appliance (dishware, lamp, drawer, etc.) it doesn’t seem like a huge deal to record, although common courtesy is to fix or replace the item that is no longer working. However, if a gas appliance isn’t working, or a faucet is leaking, these items need to be addressed ASAP. Use with the projects feature, you can mark broken items as high priority to make sure what needs to get done gets done.
We’d love to hear how backporch has helped you and your family coordinate tasks and household maintenance. Feel free to contact us directly or give us a shout out on social media. We’re always looking for ways to improve our app!