“These homes run like a well-oiled machine,” Jenny Greenwood Huber, owner and founder of Heritage Estate Management, said. “At this level, it’s usually a business in its own right.”

Heritage Estate Management provides household staffing and property management services for West Coast estates in places like Beverly Hills and Malibu, where the Carters’ new home is located.

When it comes to property management, that could mean bringing in temporary housekeepers who give the home a genuine sparkle while the owners are out of town for a few weeks.

There could be up to 50 people working at one property at a time. Of course, that amount of hands-on-deck adds up.

A full-time staff of housekeepers, chefs and nannies

“That’s like a hotel at that point,” Huber said. She would recommend at least 10 rotating housekeepers, two to four housemen, a full-time gardening crew, three to four rotating chefs, multiple butlers, chauffeurs, and nannies and tutors if there are children.

According to Huber, housekeepers and housemen can make US$30 to US$35 per hour, chefs make US$50 to US$100 an hour and butlers and nannies earn upwards of US$100,000 a year.

Huber calls in temporary employees for jobs like limestone maintenance

Huber’s clientele, often big-business owners or venture capitalists, can afford to pay others to manage their pricey homes.

This kind of service does not come cheap.

For property management, Huber said her company charges clients a flat rate of US$175 per hour for under 20 hours a month for property management, and US$150 per month for 20 hours or more.

Some clients want visits a couple of times a month with annual maintenance, like cleaning and sealing of limestone, while they’re out of town. Other clients prefer more regular visits, like once a week.

According to Huber, her staff could work 20 hours to 50 hours a month at a single estate. On the low end, that costs owners roughly US$36,000 a year.

Huber noted that the largest house she’d ever staffed was a 70,000 sq ft secondary residence.

“When they came into town, we would have 20 people added in a temporary capacity,” she said. “It was housekeepers, butlers, ladies’ maids, chefs and all of that, and it would be for three weeks. Just a massive team alongside the skeleton team that we helped put together.”

Even only three weeks worth of work comes to about U$75,000 at US$30 an hour, not including weekend work or overtime – a costly expense for a second home.