I bought a house. Home maintenance became my second job.

By Tyler Benner, founder of Constance

When the Navy sent me to Norfolk, my HGTV mom talked me into buying a 1933 brick Tudor that hadn’t been touched in decades. It was beautiful but there was also always something broken.

The main electrical panel still had fuses in it and needed replacing. The well-known contractors were easy to find. They were punctual(ish), wore polos, put little booties over their shoes, and quoted me $12,000 to $15,000 to replace the panel and move the exterior meter. I had no idea whether that was the right solution or a fair price, but luckily I didn’t have the money, so I didn’t go with their quotes.

It took me two months to find a local electrician through a friend. He had a different, better solution that ended up costing me $5,500. Finding and managing the whole thing took hours of my time and too much mental energy. Until I found him, I had no one with experience or knowledge looking out for my interests. It felt like the Wild West.

That’s the part of home maintenance I hadn’t understood when I bought the house. The work isn’t just the repair. It’s finding someone you trust, figuring out your options, and managing the whole thing until it’s done. All of that landed on me.

Then I became a renter

When I moved to Boston for school, my wife and I started renting, and I rented out the Norfolk house. Suddenly I was on both sides of the same message. My tenants texted me when something broke, and I handled it. When something broke in our apartment, we put in a request and the building manager handled it.

That difference was hard to ignore. Renters have someone to call. Wealthy homeowners can hire a home concierge. The rest of us get a second job we never applied for.

I don’t want another to-do list. I’ve already got six. A reminder to check the heating doesn’t find the right person, get them out to the house, or make sure they actually did the work.

Why I’m building Constance

I want Constance to be the home manager I wish I’d had: the person you call about your house. We start by walking through it with you, learning what needs attention, what you want kept up, and which pros you already trust. Tell us once that you want the heating checked every fall. Text us when something breaks, even if all you have is a photo and no idea which trade you need. We line up the right people and follow the job through.

You decide how much we can approve without checking with you each time. You pay the pros directly for their work. Constance’s job is the calling, scheduling, remembering, and following up that used to fall on you.

We’re planning to start in Greater Boston in summer 2027. Constance will be $45 a month at launch, including the home walkthrough. If you know exactly what job I’m talking about, join the list. It’s free, and it doesn’t commit you to anything.

Pax, Tyler

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