Landlord and investor FAQ

If the home will sit empty through an Indiana winter, including Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Monticello, Brookston, and Delphi, a winterize visit is the practical step. Shut water at the right valve, drain lines that are accessible, look for leaks you can already see, confirm the heat runs, and set it back. Pipes in an unheated vacant house are a common burst risk.

Welcome Home does that as a one-time vacant visit: vacant winterization and summer reopen. It is a best-effort checklist. It is not a freeze warranty. You stay responsible for the property, the utilities you leave on or off, and your insurance. This is not legal advice. An occupied rental uses the quarterly maintenance plans, not this seasonal visit.

Welcome Home’s standard setback on a vacant winterize is 55°F, unless you direct a different temperature. The furnace or boiler has to actually run. We confirm that on the visit and write the setpoint in the photo report.

Some insurance policies expect heat left on in a vacant building. What your policy requires is between you and your insurer. We do not publish a legal minimum for Indiana, and this is not insurance advice. The temperature we set, unless you say otherwise, is 55°F.

This is general awareness for Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Monticello, Brookston, and Delphi. It is not the current HUD or city checklist, not a code official’s determination, and not legal advice. Confirm the rules for your unit. The inspector makes the call.

Items that often fail a look: smoke detectors missing or without power, a carbon monoxide detector missing where one is typical, GFCI outlets that do not trip in the kitchen, baths, garage, or outside, missing cover plates or exposed wiring, a loose handrail or missing guard, a bedroom window painted shut, no heat, no hot water, a toilet that does not flush, an active leak, peeling paint on a building that looks pre-1978 (we flag it; we do not test for lead), obvious pests, and storage blocking an exit.

A prep walkthrough, photo report, and punch list are on the inspection prep page, with a Lafayette overview on inspection prep in Lafayette. That visit is not a pass guarantee.

Care ($79 per unit each month) and Priority Care ($129) are quarterly visits, every 90 days, while someone lives in the unit. Care covers an HVAC filter swap, a smoke and carbon monoxide battery check, a GFCI spot-check, and a visit report. Priority Care keeps that visit and adds spring and fall sump and drain checks, an exterior light check, priority scheduling, a discounted repair hourly rate written in the agreement, and one waived emergency or same-day trip fee per unit each subscription year when we can schedule it and you approve the repair on that visit. Labor and parts are still billed. A night or weekend call can still carry an after-hours premium.

Vacant winterization is the seasonal visit for an empty unit: shut it down for winter, or reopen it for the next lease. The two sit beside each other. A landlord can keep Care or Priority Care on occupied doors and book a winterize when a door goes empty. Details are on the maintenance subscription page and the winterization page. Local context is on landlord maintenance in Lafayette and vacant winterization in Lafayette.

Locked prices for the Lafayette area. A single-family house is $199 to winterize, $175 to reopen, and $349 for the bundle (winterize and reopen in the same season). A duplex, one side, is $175, $150, and $299. Multi-unit work on the same trip is $149, $129, and $249 per unit.

Rush is +$75. Heat is set back to 55°F unless you tell us otherwise. Filter media and detector batteries we supply are plus 35% when that applies. Materials you supply are not marked up. A repair found on the visit is quoted, and you approve it before anyone starts. These prices do not include a same-day percent discount. Travel outside the served towns can add a trip fee, and we say so before we schedule. Book it from the winterization page. How that visit fits Lafayette and nearby towns is on vacant rental winterization in Lafayette.

The prep visit leaves a photo report and a punch list. Repairs wait for your approval. Approved work is handled by Welcome Home Property Management, or routed to Welcome Home Improvement when that is the right crew.

Prep is $175. Prep plus small same-day items is $299: detector batteries, cover plates, tightening rail hardware, or a GFCI if the part is on the truck. Anything larger — wiring, HVAC, a re-pipe, lead work, pest treatment, painting, or an appliance — is quoted after the prep. An extra unit the same day is $129. A re-walk is $99. None of those prices is a pass guarantee. Start from inspection prep.

It depends on the lease. We do not treat one rule as true for every Lafayette rental, and this is not legal advice. Read the lease before you assume the tenant buys filters or detectors.

On a Care or Priority Care visit, the usual pattern is a landlord-supplied HVAC filter swap and a smoke and carbon monoxide battery check. A new detector is quoted separately. On a summer reopen, we replace or note the filter. Media we supply is marked up 35% when that applies. Media you supply is not. If the lease is silent, ask before the visit.

Full management is screening, the lease, rent collection, maintenance coordination, and owner reporting on TenantCloud. The fee depends on the property. We do not publish a percentage. Use the owner inquiry and we will talk about that house.

A la carte fits an owner who still self-manages. That is a vacant winterize or reopen, a Section 8 or city prep visit, or Care and Priority Care on occupied doors. Many owners use both: management on some houses, and a single visit on another. The visit pages are maintenance subscription, winterization, and inspection prep.

Stay out of anything unsafe. If you can do it safely, shut the water, cut power to a wet area, and photograph what you see before cleanup hides it. Take only the steps that limit more water without putting you at risk. Then call your insurance company and tell them what happened. Coverage, deductibles, and what the policy asks you to do are between you and the insurer.

This is not legal advice and not insurance advice. After you have documented the damage and contacted your insurer, call or text 765-551-7368 if you want a repair quote. Work starts when you approve it. A winterize visit is for the next empty season. It does not warranty that a pipe will not burst.

Several vacant units on the same trip use the locked per-unit prices: $149 to winterize, $129 to reopen, and $249 for the bundle. That table is the price. We do not promise an extra percent off for booking more than one vacant unit the same day.

Care and Priority Care are priced differently. Three or more occupied units under one owner are about 10% off the monthly rate. Eight or more is a custom quote. See winterization for the vacant table and the maintenance subscription for the quarterly plans.