Managing Multiple Properties

Overview

Shipshape supports multiple homes on a single account, making it easy to keep tabs on every property you care about from one app. Whether you have a vacation cabin, a rental property, a second home, or a parent's house you help manage, Shipshape gives you visibility and control without needing to be physically present.

Who Benefits from Multi-Home Management

Managing multiple properties with Shipshape is perfect for:

• Vacation homeowners who want to know their cabin or beach house is in good shape between visits
• Rental property owners who need to monitor equipment health and respond to issues remotely
• Families caring for a parent's home where adult children want to keep an eye on things from a distance
• Snowbirds who split time between two homes and want both monitored year-round
• Property investors with a small portfolio of residential properties

The common thread is simple: if you are responsible for a property but not always there, Shipshape fills the gap.

Adding a New Home

Adding a property to your account takes just a few minutes:

1. Open the Shipshape Home app
2. Tap Menu
3. Select Add Home
4. Enter the property's address
5. Review the pre-populated property details (year built, square footage, home type)
6. Name the home something clear and recognizable

Naming tip: Use names that make each property instantly identifiable. Good examples: "Main House," "Lake Cabin," "Mom's House," "Downtown Rental." Avoid generic names like "Home 2" that you will confuse later.

Once the home is added, you can begin building its equipment inventory, run an AI scan, and connect a service professional in that area.

Switching Between Homes

Navigating between your properties is quick and intuitive:

1. In the app: Tap the home name at the top of the main screen. A dropdown appears showing all your homes. Tap the one you want to view.
2. On the web dashboard: All your homes appear in the sidebar. Click any home to switch to its dashboard.

When you switch homes, everything updates: the equipment inventory, sensor readings, alerts, Home Health Score, and service professional connection all reflect the selected property.

What Each Home Gets

Every home on your account is fully independent. Each property has its own:

• Equipment inventory cataloging all major systems and appliances
• Sensors and gateway (if monitoring hardware is installed)
• Home Health Score based on that property's specific conditions
• Alert history for issues detected at that location
• Service professional who can be local to the property's area
• Home Health Record tracking the complete history of the property
• Monitoring data from sensors specific to that home
• Notification settings that can be customized per property

This means your main home and your vacation cabin are completely separate within your account. An alert at one property does not affect the other.

Remote Monitoring: The Biggest Benefit

For most multi-home owners, the single biggest advantage of Shipshape is remote monitoring. When you are hundreds of miles from your vacation home or rental property, you can still know:

• Whether the HVAC is running normally
• If there is a water leak developing
• What the temperature and humidity levels are inside
• Whether power has been interrupted
• If any equipment is showing signs of trouble

Without monitoring, problems at a remote property can go undetected for days, weeks, or even months. A slow water leak that starts in October at your summer cabin might not be discovered until April, resulting in catastrophic damage. With Shipshape's 24/7 monitoring, SAM detects the leak within minutes and sends you an alert, no matter where you are.

Real scenario: A Shipshape homeowner received a water leak alert at their vacation home while they were 400 miles away. They called their local service professional, who responded the same day and fixed a failed supply line under the kitchen sink. Total damage: a wet cabinet floor. Without the alert, the leak could have run for weeks, causing extensive water damage, mold, and thousands of dollars in repairs.

Connecting Service Professionals

Different properties often need different service professionals, especially when they are in different cities or states. Shipshape makes this straightforward:

• Each home can have its own connected service professional
• Connect a provider who is local to each property's area
• When SAM detects an issue at a specific property, it routes the alert to the provider connected to that home
• You can still receive all alerts yourself, regardless of which provider is assigned

How to connect a provider to a specific home:

1. Switch to the home you want to update
2. Go to Menu → My Provider
3. Search for or enter your service professional's information
4. They receive an invitation to connect with that home

The Web Dashboard

While the mobile app is great for on-the-go monitoring, the web dashboard shines when managing multiple properties from a computer.

Advantages of the web dashboard for multi-home owners:

• See all your homes at a glance in the sidebar
• Compare Home Health Scores across properties
• Review alert histories without switching back and forth
• Access detailed equipment reports and service records
• Manage settings for all properties from one screen

Access the web dashboard by logging in at your Shipshape account on a desktop or laptop browser.

Hardware Requirements

Each home that you want to monitor in real time needs its own set of hardware:

• One gateway per property to connect sensors to the Shipshape cloud
• Sensors specific to each home's systems (HVAC, water heater, electrical panel, etc.)

The hardware at each property operates independently. Your main home's gateway does not need to communicate with your cabin's gateway. Each one reports directly to the Shipshape cloud, and SAM processes the data for each home separately.

Your service professional at each location can handle installation. If you are adding monitoring to a second property, just let Shipshape support or your provider know, and they will coordinate the setup.

Notifications Across Multiple Homes

When you manage multiple properties, clear notification labeling is essential. Shipshape handles this automatically:

• Every alert includes the home name so you immediately know which property needs attention
• Customize notifications per home if you want different alert preferences for different properties
• Critical alerts are always delivered for all homes, regardless of notification settings

For example, if your main home gets a routine maintenance reminder while your rental property triggers a leak alert, both notifications arrive clearly labeled so you can prioritize appropriately.

To customize notifications for a specific home:

1. Switch to that home in the app
2. Go to Menu → Settings → Notifications
3. Adjust preferences for that property

Costs and Subscriptions

Each home requires its own subscription for monitoring features. This means:

• If you want real-time monitoring on two properties, each one needs an active plan
• The free tier is available for any home where you want to maintain a basic equipment inventory without monitoring
• Mix and match as needed. Your main home might have full monitoring while a property you are selling has the free tier.

Contact support or your service professional for multi-property pricing options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a limit to how many homes I can add? There is no hard limit. You can add as many homes as you need to manage.

Can I give someone else access to just one of my homes? Yes. Access sharing is per-home. You can invite a family member to view your parent's house without giving them access to your own home.

What if I sell one of my properties? You can archive the home or transfer it to the new owner. See the Moving to a New Home article for details on transfers.

Do all my homes share the same Home Health Score? No. Each home has its own independent score based on its own equipment, maintenance history, and monitoring data.

Can different homes have different service professionals? Absolutely. This is the recommended setup, especially when properties are in different areas. Connect a local provider to each home for the best service.

What happens if I lose internet at one property? If a property loses internet, the gateway cannot transmit data to Shipshape. SAM will alert you that the gateway is offline so you can investigate. Sensor data that was collected during the outage is stored locally on the gateway and uploaded once the connection is restored.

Can my property manager have their own login? Yes. Invite them as a user with access to the specific property they manage. They can view alerts, equipment status, and home health information without access to your other homes or personal account settings.