The small things that turn a 4.9 into a 4.7 are almost always preventable.
StayReady is a subscription maintenance service built only for short-term rentals. We inspect on a schedule, fix what we can while we're standing there, and document all of it — so your property stops quietly getting worse between guests.
Nothing breaks. Everything slips.
Properties rarely fail all at once. They decline one unremarkable degree at a time — and because no single item is worth a service call, nobody calls. That slow, cumulative decline is what we call performance drift.
Drift is invisible to an owner who visits twice a year and invisible to a cleaner working a four-hour turn. It is entirely visible to a guest who paid $480 a night, and it shows up in your reviews six to eighteen months after it starts.
The drip
A shower head starts weeping in March. By July, three separate parties have mentioned it. One of them mentions it publicly.
The screw
A deck fastener backs out a quarter inch each freeze-thaw cycle. Nobody notices until a board flexes under someone.
The filter
A dishwasher filter goes two years uncleaned. The review doesn't say "filter." It says the glasses came out cloudy.
The wall
An entry wall absorbs eleven summers of luggage. Your photos still show year one. Your guests don't.
Three things worth more than the subscription
You hear it from us
Not from a guest at 11pm, and not from a five-star review with one paragraph you wish wasn't there. Issues surface on our schedule, in writing, with photos, while they are still small enough to be cheap.
Your rating stays an asset
Ratings are pricing power. A single maintenance-driven three-star review can cost more in a season than a year of preventive service — and unlike a repair, you can't undo it.
Your property has a file
Model and serial numbers, warranty dates, condition scores, and dated photos accumulate from the first visit forward. It's the paperwork you'd want in an insurance claim, a contractor conversation, or a sale.
Three moving parts. That's the whole system.
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Start with a baseline
One long visit, 266 points across 14 zones, an asset inventory, a full photo record, and small fixes handled on the spot. Everything after this is measured against it.
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We come back on a schedule
Quarterly visits placed on Door County's real transitions — spring open, peak, shutdown, freeze — not on an arbitrary calendar. Routine work is performed during the visit, not quoted for later.
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You get a report you can act on
Within 24 hours: what passed, what we fixed, what we flagged, what needs scheduling, and how each zone is trending against your baseline.
Ten founding spots. The baseline costs you nothing when you commit.
We're opening with ten Door County properties. For each, the Baseline Readiness Assessment — normally $349–$1,200 — is $0 due at signing: the fee is waived when you commit to a plan, and its full value is applied to your first year of service. In exchange we ask for candid feedback, and a testimonial only if the work earns one.
Ten is not a marketing number. It is how many baselines one person can complete properly before the season starts. When they're taken, the next window opens after peak.
What you walk away with
- — A 266-point condition record, zone by zone
- — Dated photo documentation of the whole property
- — An asset inventory: makes, models, serials, ages
- — Small fixes completed during the visit
- — A prioritized list of what to address, and when
- — The full assessment fee applied to your first year when you subscribe
- — Not continuing? You pay only the assessment as quoted
We perform the work, not just note it.
An inspection that produces a to-do list has moved the problem, not solved it. On every StayReady visit, a defined list of routine service is actually performed — filters changed, dryer vent cleaned, coils vacuumed, dishwasher filter pulled and washed, disposal serviced, garage door lubricated, fasteners set, bins washed out.
Consumables we stock — HVAC filters, batteries, bulbs, caulk, softener salt, fasteners — are installed as part of your visit, with the parts billed at our cost and never marked up. Anything beyond that is quoted before it's bought.
Priced so one prevented problem covers the year.
The entry plan — two visits a year, timed to the season.
- Spring Open + Fall Shutdown
- Full 266-point protocol on both visits
- Routine service performed during each visit
- Photo report within 24 hours
Preventive coverage for owner-managed properties.
- Quarterly 266-point inspections
- Routine service performed during each visit
- Seasonal open and shutdown
- Photo report within 24 hours
For properties running a full season with real guest volume.
- Everything in Asset Guard
- Priority response for guest-impacting issues
- Follow-up repair execution and vendor coordination
- Cleaner coordination and platform-ready documentation
Waterfront, luxury, and high-turn homes.
- Everything in Guest-Safe
- Monthly mini-checks between quarterlies
- Hot tub and water feature service
- Asset refresh planning and execution
All plans begin with a one-time Baseline Readiness Assessment ($349–$1,200 by size and complexity) — waived on commitment and applied to your first year for the founding ten. Month-to-month. No long-term contract.
Built by an owner, first for his own properties.
Dana Vanden Heuvel has owned and maintained residential and commercial property in Door County for more than fifteen years, and has operated short-term rentals here for the last five-plus — through frozen pipes, failed water heaters, an August hot tub outage, and the specific dread of a Sunday-night message that starts with "just so you know."
The 266-point protocol behind StayReady wasn't designed as a product. It was built to stop making the same mistake twice on his own homes, then written down carefully enough that someone else could run it exactly the same way.
"I built this checklist for my own properties first. StayReady is what it became once I stopped trusting my memory."
What we don't do
A narrow service is a better service. StayReady does one thing, and refers the rest to Door County people we'd use ourselves.
Not included — by design
- Turnover cleaning and laundry
- Guest communication, booking, or revenue management
- Air duct cleaning
- Licensed electrical, HVAC, and plumbing work
- Roofing, tree work, and major construction
- Property management — you keep full control of your property
When one of these is needed, we identify it, document it, and hand you a vetted local name. We don't mark up their invoice.
Find out what your property is actually doing when you're not there.
Ten founding spots are open: commit to a plan and the Baseline Assessment fee is waived — applied in full to your first year of service.