Who maintenance oversight is for
This service exists because in Greece, the gap between a problem and a contractor on site is rarely the contractor's skill. It's the logistics: finding the right tradesperson for the specific job, getting them to call back, agreeing a fair price you can verify, supervising the work, and then paying them. For an absentee owner, every one of those steps is harder. Maintenance oversight collapses all of it into one relationship — yours with us. We handle the tradespeople. You see the work documented, sign off, and pay one transparent invoice.
The members who get the most out of this service share a common situation: a property they care about, a small list of jobs that keep getting deferred because organising them from abroad is exhausting, and a growing concern that deferred maintenance is eating asset value silently. Maintenance oversight is what unblocks all that.
Who this is not for
Maintenance oversight is not a maintenance company. We don't have plumbers on payroll. We don't carry stock of parts. We coordinate, supervise and document — we do not perform the work ourselves. If your property is mid-renovation with daily on-site contractor activity, what you need is Renovation Oversight, not standard maintenance coordination. If you have a single one-off repair and don't need ongoing oversight, hire a local tradesperson directly — we're designed for owners with recurring small-to-medium needs and a desire for one accountable point of contact.
The contractor problem — why this service exists
Most owners we onboard tell the same story: they tried, over the years, to build their own contractor network in Greece. They found a plumber who was excellent, then he stopped answering the phone. They found an electrician through a neighbour, then the neighbour moved away. They worked with a Polish-Greek handyman who quoted reasonable prices, then quotes started arriving 50% higher with no explanation. The recurring pattern: contractors in Greece are often good at the work and inconsistent at the relationship side — invoicing, scheduling, accountability when something goes wrong.
Our contribution is not finding better contractors. It's owning the relationship layer on the owner's behalf. We hold the phone numbers, we know which contractor is currently reliable for which type of work in which area, we get written quotes in advance, we attend the work in person, and we document everything in a way that survives the next inspection, the next insurance renewal, or the eventual sale of the property.
How the supervised-work process runs
- Issue identified. Either we flag it during a regular home check, or you flag it to us directly. We confirm the scope: what's broken, what's at risk if untreated, what's the urgency.
- Quote requested. For non-urgent work, we get at least one written quote from a vetted contractor — sometimes two if the scope is larger or specialist. We forward to you with our plain-English read on whether the quote is fair for the work, in your area, in this year.
- You approve. Email or WhatsApp reply, "yes go ahead" or "decline" or "get a second quote". Urgent work follows the written authorization limit and escalation process recorded for your property.
- Work scheduled and attended. We coordinate the contractor's site visit. We are physically present for the duration of the work, or for the portion of it that needs supervision — particularly start (so we see the original condition documented) and end (so we sign off completion).
- Documentation. Photos before, during, and after. The original contractor's invoice. A summary line for your records. Filed in your member portfolio so it's available years later if you sell the property or file an insurance claim.
- You pay one invoice. We forward you the contractor's original invoice — no markup, no commission, no padding. Our supervision fee is the membership fee you already pay. You see exactly what the contractor charged. We've kept the relationship simple deliberately.
What we typically coordinate in a year
Across an average member property, a typical 12-month maintenance picture might look like: two AC servicing visits (spring and autumn), one boiler service (autumn), one plumbing call-out (the slow leak under the sink we caught on the March visit), one electrical call-out (a tripped circuit nobody could explain remotely), one pest treatment (preventive), two appliance repairs (a washing machine on its last winter and a refrigerator door seal), and one painting job (interior touch-ups between summer stays). Total contractor spend: roughly €1,400-€2,800 across the year, depending on property and findings. All documented, all approved, all attended.
Pricing
Maintenance oversight is separately quoted unless your signed service agreement expressly includes a defined maintenance-coordination allowance. The quote identifies Estia attendance or supervision charges separately from the contractor's cost.
All contractor invoices pass through to you at original cost. We do not mark up contractor work or take referral commissions. See full plans →
Frequently asked questions
Do you have your own tradespeople, or do you find them on every job?
Both. We maintain a working list of contractors we've used repeatedly across Athens, Thessaloniki, the Riviera and several regional pockets — plumbers, electricians, AC technicians, painters, locksmiths. For specialist work (e.g. Maniot stone-house restoration, swimming-pool servicing on the Athens Riviera), we go to the regional specialists. The list is curated, not theoretical.
What if you find a contractor I already work with is overcharging?
We tell you. We won't refuse to work with them — that's your call. But our role is to give you a market-aware comparison and an honest view. If the quote is materially above current market, we say so, in writing, with our reasoning.
Do you mark up contractor invoices?
No. The contractor's invoice is what you pay, at the price they invoice. We earn nothing from your repair spend. We earn the membership fee. This is deliberate — markup creates a conflict of interest between our oversight role and your wallet.
Can I use my own contractor?
Yes. If you have a plumber or electrician you trust, we can supervise their work on the same basis — quote review, attendance, documentation. The independence of our oversight is the value, regardless of who does the work.
What's the emergency threshold?
There is no universal default. Your written authorization limit is agreed during onboarding and recorded with the escalation contacts and response arrangements for your property.
How quickly can you respond to a problem?
Timing depends on location, access, contractor availability and the type of issue. The response arrangements for urgent matters are agreed individually and recorded during onboarding; the public website does not promise a universal arrival time.
Who sees the documentation?
You. Always. We provide the full file to your insurance adjuster, your accountant, your lawyer or any future buyer on your written request, free of charge.
Where we coordinate work
Maintenance oversight runs in the same geographies as our home checks: Athens incl. the Riviera, Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Pelion, Evia, the Peloponnese, Kalamata & the Messinian Gulf, and the Mani.
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