Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make a home manual. This will let
Speaker 1: any visitors to your space know how to make themselves
Speaker 1: at home. It also increases the chances that your home
Speaker 1: is treated well. If you have ever stayed in a
Speaker 1: short term vacation rental, you probably found a welcome note
Speaker 1: with lots of instructions like where to find the beach
Speaker 1: towels and how to log on to the wireless network.
Speaker 1: If you have ever left your home in the care
Speaker 1: of a house sitter, you may have been the one
Speaker 1: writing the welcome note about how your home works. You
Speaker 1: probably explain things like what day trash and recycling get
Speaker 1: picked up, where to find the fuse box, and which
Speaker 1: knives don't go in the dishwasher. Depending on the age
Speaker 1: and life experience of your house sitter, you may have
Speaker 1: also left requests like please use a coaster for cold
Speaker 1: drinks on the coffee table. When you have house guests,
Speaker 1: even if you will be at home the whole time
Speaker 1: with them, you probably do a live version of this
Speaker 1: welcome note. You might show them where to find extra
Speaker 1: pillows and blankets, and how to stop a quirky toilet
Speaker 1: from running. You might invite them to make themselves coffee
Speaker 1: if they get up before you, and show them where
Speaker 1: to find the coffee maker, beans and cups. With occasions
Speaker 1: like these in mind, it can be helpful to create
Speaker 1: a comprehensive digital how to manual for your home with
Speaker 1: information visitors may need to know. That way. Every time
Speaker 1: you are welcoming an overnight guest or house sitter to
Speaker 1: your home, you are not starting from scratch. You can
Speaker 1: add to your digital how to manual over time based
Speaker 1: on questions guests and house sitters ask you, as well
Speaker 1: as things that don't go the way you intended them to,
Speaker 1: so you can ensure they go better the next time.
Speaker 1: Once your digital how tool manual is created, any time
Speaker 1: you have a visitor to your home, you can copy
Speaker 1: and paste the relevant sections into a welcome note, especially
Speaker 1: for them. Your house guests don't need to know what
Speaker 1: day the recycling goes out, for instance, but a house
Speaker 1: sitter probably does. For house guests, you can print their
Speaker 1: personalized welcome note and leave it in their room. For
Speaker 1: a house sitter, it may be convenient to email the
Speaker 1: note in advance, since they may appreciate a reminder of
Speaker 1: how to use the alarm before they let themselves into
Speaker 1: your home for the first time. There really is no
Speaker 1: place like home, and nobody will treat your home exactly
Speaker 1: as you would. But with a home manual tailored to
Speaker 1: the audience and occasion, visitors will probably have fewer questions.
Speaker 1: Your guests won't think they broke that toilet, though, perhaps
Speaker 1: if you are explaining too much in a home manual
Speaker 1: about anything, you will just go ahead and get it fixed.
Speaker 1: That might be a wise decision too. If you make
Speaker 1: a home manual, I would love to hear what you include.
Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.