Keeping a house in the pind while you are away
Who is actually responsible, which bills keep running whether or not anyone is there, and the maintenance that only matters once a year. The arrangements that stop a closed house becoming a project.
A house nobody lives in does not stay still. It takes one monsoon to find a roof, one summer for a garden to take over, and one missed bill to lose a connection that was easy to keep and slow to restore.
Name one person, not "the family"
The most common failure is that everybody assumed somebody else was handling it. Pick one person who is actually nearby and can get to the house, agree what they are responsible for, and agree how they are paid or thanked for it. Vague obligation between relatives is where this goes wrong, and it costs the relationship as well as the house.
The bills that run whether or not anyone is there
- Electricity, which usually has a fixed component even with no consumption, and can be disconnected for non-payment
- Water and any municipal or property charges
- Internet or a phone line, if you want either working when you land
- Anything on auto-debit from an account you no longer watch
Set up online access to each account in your own name while you are there, rather than relying on somebody forwarding you a photograph of a bill. PSPCL and most utilities let you see and pay a bill online, which is the difference between knowing and being told.
What only matters once a year
Before the monsoon: the roof, the drains, the gutters, anything that holds water against a wall. After it: damp, and what has grown into the brickwork. Once a year: termites, the water tank, the pump, and whatever has been sitting unused long enough to seize.
A short list and a date beats a general intention to look after the place.
The house that is lived in by somebody else
If relatives, a caretaker or a tenant occupy it, write down what was agreed even if it feels unnecessary between family. Who pays what, what happens to improvements, and what notice ends it. The awkward conversation now is shorter than the one in five years.
Put it in the plan
The jobs above cluster into a few visits a year. Roots lets you put them against the months you are actually home, so the trip includes the water tank rather than discovering it on the last morning.