Home management for international property owners.
Comprehensive oversight of your Hout Bay or Atlantic Seaboard home while you're abroad. Vendor coordination, monthly photo reports, emergency response, key holding — under one named contact.
Owning a Cape Town home from abroad sits somewhere between a holiday and a part-time job. Rock House Gardens home management exists to take the job off you. One named contact. One monthly statement. One PDF of photographs that tells you exactly what your property looks like right now.
For international owners specifically.
WhatsApp and email replies in your timezone, pre-scheduled video calls, ZAR invoicing with SWIFT or Wise. Most home-management clients sit in London, Berlin, Geneva, Singapore, Sydney and the US — the routine is built around long distances and time gaps.
How home management works while you're abroad.
- Onboarding (first 7 days). Walk-through with photographs, vendor list, key drop-off, smart-lock codes registered, escalation chain agreed in writing, pre-approved spend limit for genuine emergencies.
- Weekly visits. Same team, same day each week. Garden, pool and exterior checked. Service log entered.
- Monthly report. One PDF (or shared folder), with photographs from every visit, a written summary, any flagged issues, and what we plan to do next.
- Vendor coordination. If a contractor is needed (electrician, plumber, security tech, Wi-Fi installer), we get quotes, coordinate the visit, and supervise the work — billed at cost plus a small coordination fee.
- Emergency response. 90-minute response in working hours, 4-hour response overnight. We arrive on site, photograph, triage, and either fix or coordinate the right vendor.
- Annual review. One in-person video call each year to review the previous 12 months and agree the next.
Monthly reporting and what you'll receive.
- 4–5 weekly site visit summaries
- 30+ photographs (exterior, garden, pool)
- Written narrative — what was done, what we noticed
- Pool chemistry log
- Garden service log
- List of any flagged issues + our recommendation
- Vendor activity (who came, what they did, what they charged)
- Next month's schedule
- Monthly invoice in ZAR with line items
What's included.
- Weekly walk-through inspections
- Garden and pool oversight (own service or coordinated)
- Vendor coordination (electricians, plumbers, security, Wi-Fi)
- Monthly photographic report (PDF or shared folder)
- Emergency call-out and triage
- Key holding (locked, labelled safe, access logged)
- Mail and parcel collection
- Bill payment on your behalf (with prior arrangement)
- Single named contact, WhatsApp + email + Zoom
Optional add-ons.
- Vehicle storage and start-up monitoring
Pricing.
From R4,500 per month for a standard property. Final pricing depends on property size and whether garden and pool oversight are included. Properties with substantial grounds or multiple buildings usually fall in the R8,000–R15,000 range.
All home-management invoicing is in ZAR with monthly statements. SWIFT and Wise are both accepted. 14-day payment terms.
Frequently asked.
How does the monthly photo report work?
Each month, the team uploads photographs from each weekly visit — exterior, garden, pool. The report is delivered as a single PDF (or shared Google Drive folder if you prefer) with a written summary, any flagged issues, and the next month's schedule.
What counts as an emergency call-out?
Burst geysers, electrical failures, security alarms, storm damage, suspected break-in. We respond within 90 minutes during working hours and within 4 hours overnight, including triage, photographs to you, and coordination of the right vendor.
How are payments handled?
Monthly invoice in ZAR, 14-day payment terms for international owners. SWIFT transfers and Wise are both accepted. Bills paid on your behalf (utilities, vendor invoices) are listed separately on the monthly statement.
What happens if you can't reach me in an emergency?
We agree an escalation chain at onboarding — usually a backup contact (family member, attorney, agent) plus pre-approved spend limits for genuinely urgent repairs (e.g. burst pipe). Nothing material happens without authorisation; the protocol is written down before keys are handed over.
Related services.
Home management normally bundles in garden maintenance and pool service. Combined invoicing.
Want to talk over Zoom?
Reply to your enquiry and we'll send a calendar link in your timezone.
Book a video call