Ask HN: How do the ultra rich maintain homes when they are not occupying them? - DiogenesNacho
======
bsvalley
Surprizingly, most don’t. You need to run the water, maintain a standard
temperature in the house throughout the year, flush regularly, use all the
appliances, etc. You can’t just have your gardner coming once a week, your
cleaning lady twice a month, you need someone to live in your house to make
sure it works properly. It’s like an engine in a car or a motorcycle, it needs
to run to stay healthy, otherwise it needs to be conditioned for storage
purposes.

So, to answer your question, family members, friends, etc are what ultra rich
people use in order to maintain their real estate portfolio. Not only
personnel. Personnel is useful for an occupied house only.

------
GFischer
Not sure about Europeans or Americans, but here in Latin America they have
butlers, "ama de llaves" (best translation I can find is housekeeper) or
groundskeepers living 24/7 at the property (not in the house proper, usually
on a separate house).

------
greenyoda
The same way they maintain them when they _are_ occupying them: they have
staffs of workers to clean, maintain the grounds, provide security, etc.

~~~
muzani
Yeah, most ultra rich people have a business and maintain it like a business.
Everything is automated without them being around. They might even have a
person dedicated to managing the hiring and firing security guards, pool boys,
maids, lawn mowers, etc.

------
demygale
The book Empty Mansions has an extreme account of this.

