Who we look after

Two kinds of homes.
One quiet promise.

For

The home you can't always be at.

The lake house on Saratoga Lake. The camp on Ballston Lake. The second place in Glenville the family uses six weekends a year. While you're in the city, the gutter is filling, the package is sitting on the porch, the pipe is freezing, the lawn is going on without you. We're there in your place — walking the property twice a month, opening it in May, closing it in October, sending you a photograph the morning after every storm. The same crew, the same key, the same eyes on your home.

Owners in NYC, Boston, and Albany, with second homes throughout the Capital Region.

For

The home that's getting harder to keep.

The four-bedroom in Niskayuna where the kids grew up. The house in Glenville with the long driveway and the deck that needs staining. The one place that holds fifty years of a life — and has slowly become more than two hands can manage. We do the ladders, the lifting, the weatherstripping, the moved couch and the changed lightbulb. We bring the plumber when the plumber is needed. We come back next week, and the week after that, until the house is being looked after the way it deserves.

Aging-in-place homeowners and the adult children who quietly arrange this on their parents' behalf.

N° 02 — The Work

Three pillars,
one trusted family.

We do three things, and we do them with the attention of a household that cares deeply about the home it is keeping. Inside, outside, and the work of overseeing every other tradesperson who steps onto the property.

01
Outside.

Grounds, gardens, mowing, beds, snow plowing, gutter clearing, exterior cleaning, soft-wash, deck refinishing, fence and gate repair, outbuilding upkeep. Tended on a fixed cadence so the property looks the same in November as it does in June.
Read on
02
Inside.

Light handyman performed quietly between visits — caulk, fixture replacement, doorknobs, drywall patches, paint touch-up, weatherstripping, smoke and CO detector batteries, picture hanging, and the moving of furniture and heavy objects when a room needs to be rearranged or a rug rolled up. Plus the seasonal work of opening and closing a second home: water on, water off, leak checks, package receiving, mail collection, occupancy walk-throughs.
Read on
03
Oversight.

When the work is bigger than us — plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, tree removal, fine carpentry — we bring in licensed trades we trust, meet them at the property, and supervise the work on your behalf. One phone call. One point of contact. One bill.
Read on

N° 03 — Pricing

Looked after,
by the month.

Three monthly retainers, transparently priced. Each is a fixed agreement covering a defined cadence of visits and a clear scope of work. Materials and licensed-trade invoices pass through at cost, with the receipts attached.

The Watch

Per month · twice-monthly visits

From $385/mo

Two scheduled walk-throughs each month. Interior and exterior check, leak and temperature monitoring, mail and packages, vendor key access, written photo report after each visit. The right fit for a property that already has its trades arranged — and an owner who'd sleep better knowing someone has eyes on it.

Priced for properties up to 3,500 sq ft. Larger or remote properties quoted on request. Includes one annual seasonal opening or closing.

The Keeping

Per month · the full practice

From $895/mo

Everything in The Watch, plus the full grounds program (lawn, beds, gutters, snow), the inside-the-house handyman (caulk, fixtures, paint touch-up, small repairs), and the coordination of every licensed trade who works on the property. The right fit for most second-home owners and most aging-in-place homeowners — one fixed monthly fee, one family looking after the whole property.

Priced for properties up to ½ acre and 3,500 sq ft. Larger lots and homes quoted on request. Includes both annual openings and closings.

The Standing

Per month · weekly stewardship

From $1,650/mo

Everything in The Keeping, plus a dedicated weekly visit, project management for renovations and improvements, on-call response within four hours, and a single-point-of-contact relationship with one of the family. The right fit for estate-grade properties, complex households, or owners who want a true caretaker rather than a service provider.

By invitation. We hold no more than eight Standing relationships at any time.

Or — build your own

Don't need mowing? Already have a plow?

Tell us what you need and what you don't — we'll build a custom monthly package around it. Some clients want only the interior watch. Some want grounds without snow. Some want a weekly visit but no handyman. We'll write up a fixed scope and a fixed price within two working days. No surprises.

Custom packages start at $250/month. The same insurance, the same family, the same standards — sized to the home you have and the help you actually want.

Build a custom package

Roster Capped at 40 homes between us

Visits Same crew year after year

Insured $2M GL + CCC general liability with care, custody & control

Payment Monthly ACH auto-debit, first of the month

Inquire about stewardship

Rates valid through Dec 31, 2026.

N° 04 — The Arithmetic of Keeping

What it actually costs to let things slide.

A retainer feels like an expense until you run the numbers. The housing-finance industry has been running them for years. A $200 roof patch becomes a $20,000 roof replacement in a single season. A $150 leaky pipe becomes $7,000 in water damage. Across the broader picture, deferred maintenance costs three-to-five times more than the preventive care that would have kept it from happening — and that’s before resale day, when an appraiser walks the property and decides what your house is actually worth.

3–5× The cost multiplier on deferred repairs versus preventive care. Industry analysis, Strada Real Estate
5–15% Resale discount on homes with visible deferred maintenance — 15–25% if a major system has failed. Real-estate appraisal industry, HAR.com
$11,605 Average insurance payout for a home water or freezing claim. One in sixty insured homes files one each year. Insurance industry, via Peaks Property
1–4% Of a home’s value, every year, is what Fannie Mae and the major insurers tell homeowners to budget for upkeep. Most never do. Fannie Mae · State Farm

On a $600,000 home, the rule says you should be reserving $6,000–$24,000 a year for upkeep. The Keeping starts at $895/month — and includes the eyes, the calendar, and the coordination most homeowners never quite get around to. We’re not arguing the math is close. We’re arguing the math is already on the side of someone keeping the house.

A kept summer property in the Capital Region — lawn freshly mowed, beds edged, the late afternoon light warming the back of the house. — Niskayuna · A summer evening, after the work

N° 06 — The Practice

A small, family-rooted practice for the homes we know by name.

The Keeping House began with a grandmother. A house she'd lived in for most of a lifetime, and the slow realization that keeping it the way she'd always kept it had quietly become more than two hands could manage.

It wasn't one thing. It was the lightbulb that had been out since spring, the storm door that wouldn't quite latch, the gutter section sagging at the back of the house, the tree limb over the driveway that needed coming down before winter. And it was the four phone numbers it took to handle them — a plumber who didn't know the plow guy, a handyman who didn't know the yard, four invoices a month, and nobody who knew the house. We did the work ourselves, the way you do for family. And then we kept doing it, for hers and a few others, and the shape of a practice quietly took form.

We hold a deliberately limited roster of homes across Saratoga and Schenectady counties. Each property receives a recurring rhythm of visits from the same family, year after year, so that the rake knows the flowerbed, the wrench knows the faucet, and the homeowner doesn't have to remember which company plows and which company opens the camp. We treat every property the way we treat our own — owner-operated, fully insured, quietly performed — through every season the Northeast offers, whether the owner is in residence or two hundred miles away.

The Oles Family

Founders & Stewards

N° 07 — Beginning

How a quiet relationship begins.

A first conversation is not a sales call. It's a slow walk through the property and an honest read of what the home actually needs. The questions below are the ones we hear most often before the first key changes hands.

01
Do you do a walkthrough first?

Always. Before any agreement is signed, one of the family meets you at the property for an unhurried walk — inside, outside, basement, attic, mechanicals, the small things you want kept an eye on. We listen more than we talk. The visit takes about an hour and is offered at no cost or obligation.

You'll receive a written summary within two working days: what we observed, what we'd recommend on day one, and which tier (or custom shape) seems to fit. No pressure to decide.
02
Is there an onboarding fee?

The walkthrough is free. After that, the first month's retainer covers a one-time intake visit — we document the home (rooms, mechanicals, shut-offs, exterior, outbuildings), photograph everything, label the keys, build the maintenance calendar, and meet any trades you already work with. No separate setup invoice.

Standing-tier clients receive a full property binder — printed and digital — within the first thirty days.
03
How quickly do you respond when something happens?

For the routine — a question, a scheduling change, a quote request — within one working day, usually the same day. For a real problem (a leak, a failed furnace, a tree down) we are on the property within four hours during business hours, and by the next morning overnight. Standing clients have a direct cell number and a four-hour guarantee, day or night.

After every visit — routine or emergency — you receive a short written report and photographs the same evening. You always know what we found and what we did.
04
What does the first month actually look like?

Week one: the intake visit — we document everything, set up your file, and confirm the visit cadence. Week two: first scheduled walk-through, with a written report. Week three: any agreed day-one work (fresh weatherstripping, the light bulb that's been out since spring, the gutter section that's been on your list). Week four: second walk-through, plus a thirty-day note from us — what we've learned about the house, what we'd suggest for the season ahead, and any small adjustments to the scope.

After that, the rhythm settles: scheduled visits, written reports, one invoice each month, and the same family answering the phone.

Other questions are welcome — most are answered in a short conversation.

Begin a conversation

N° 08 — Where We Tend

A handful of towns,
tended deeply.

Glenville
Schenectady
Niskayuna
Saratoga Springs
Ballston Lake
Burnt Hills
Saratoga Lake
Ballston Spa
Clifton Park

We work within roughly an hour of Glenville. If your property sits a little farther afield, do write. We make exceptions for the right places.

N° 09 — Inquire

Begin a quiet conversation.

By telephone (518) 288·7980

By correspondence [email protected]

Office Glenville, New York

A house, kept.A family, on call.Year-round.

The home you can't always be at.

The home that's getting harder to keep.

Outside.

Inside.

Oversight.

Looked after,by the month.

Don't need mowing? Already have a plow?

What it actually costs to let things slide.

A small, family-rooted practice for the homes we know by name.

Do you do a walkthrough first?

Is there an onboarding fee?

How quickly do you respond when something happens?

What does the first month actually look like?

A handful of towns,tended deeply.

Begin a quiet conversation.

A house, kept.
A family, on call.
Year-round.

Looked after,
by the month.

A handful of towns,
tended deeply.