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Tips for Maintaining Your Home Away From Home

Owning recreational land or a vacation getaway offers a chance to break away from your day-to-day life and relax in your own private playground. Whether your property is being used as a spot for hunting or fishing, riding your ATVs, or as a serene second home away from it all, you’ll need to do some basic maintenance to keep it safe and secure when you’re not there. 

We’ve got a few tips to help you be sure your land is ready when you need it.

Keeping Recreational Land Ready for Fun

Recreational land is a type of land that, in most counties, is zoned differently from land that can be used for residential building. If you’re a recreational land owner, you’re likely using it for outdoor activities and sports that you can’t do in more densely populated areas. For example, some avid hunters and fishers own plots of land that allow them to have a temporary “home base” while they engage in their sport. Other recreational land owners use it for family games of paintball, off-roading, or snowshoeing. 

Regardless of your favorite way to use your recreational land, maintaining it properly will help you enjoy spending time there even more.

Basic care: Set aside time during your visits to do things like clear trails of brush or overgrown vegetation. Make sure any signs on your property are visible and legible to help keep hikers or other hunters safe. You may want to consider installing trail cams to help you keep an eye on your property from afar. 

Hunting land: Consider creating food plots or even water sources for game. That can help your land become a go-to source for animals all year round, which in turn, can help you boost your odds of a successful hunt.

Water-adjacent property: If your property has waterfront access to a lake or pond spend a little time checking for and removing invasive plants along the waterline. If your property has a structure like a pier on it, inspect it to make sure it is in good condition and make any necessary repairs.

Motorized vehicle land: In addition to clearing any trails on your property from brush or debris, double check any drainage systems on-site to ensure they’re clear and in good condition. Without good water management, your carefully cultivated trails could erode. 

Protect Your Vacation Home All Year Long

Closing up your vacation home for the season is a lot like getting your full-time home ready for a season change. The difference is you’ll need to take a few extra steps to be confident everything will be safe when you aren’t near the property.

Basic care: Give your vacation home a good deep clean before you close it up for the season. It’s not just about having a welcoming place to come back to. It can also discourage critters like mice from taking up residence in your home in search of food. Triple check that your appliances are off and windows, doors, or other entry points are secure.

Get it weather-ready: If you’re leaving your home for the winter and aren’t planning on heating it when you’re gone, take steps to avoid burst water pipes. Completely drain the pipes and turn off the water before you go. Take a walk around the outside of your house and trim any branches that look like they’re too close to your windows.

If you’re closing it up in warmer months, consider investing in a dehumidifier to help prevent moisture and mold from accumulating when the weather gets steamy. 

Use technology: Smart home technology like remote heating and air conditioning access, security systems, and lighting can help you stay in control even when you’re hundreds of miles from your property. If you’re not interested in going super high-tech, installing basic motion detecting lights outside is another option. 

Hire help: Consider turning to local landscapers to help maintain your property while you’re gone. They can handle things like snow removal in winter or mowing the grass and overgrown vegetation in warmer months.

Just because you might live in the country part-time doesn’t mean you don’t love it with your whole heart. Use these tips to make your getaway property the home away from home you’ve always dreamed of. 


Get help financing your recreational land or second home purchase. Contact us now to connect with a financial professional at Compeer Financial.



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