Top 12 House Manager Skills to Put on Your Resume

A compelling resume for a house manager position should spotlight a mix of practical, people-focused, and tech-savvy skills that prove you can run a household smoothly while anticipating needs and solving problems fast. Choosing the right strengths to emphasize can sharpen your application and nudge you ahead in a crowded field.

House Manager Skills

1. Budgeting
2. Scheduling
3. Negotiation
4. Inventory Management
5. QuickBooks
6. Microsoft Office
7. Event Planning
8. Staff Supervision
9. Smart Home Technology
10. Property Maintenance
11. Conflict Resolution
12. First Aid/CPR

1. Budgeting

Budgeting, for a House Manager, means planning and directing how money moves: tracking income, prioritizing expenses, and keeping cash flow steady so the home runs without surprises.

Why It's Important

It keeps spending intentional, prevents waste, and protects funds for the big stuff—repairs, events, travel—while keeping the day-to-day humming.

How to Improve Budgeting Skills

Enhance budgeting with a simple rhythm:

1. Track Spending: Log every household expense. Use tools like Mint or a detailed spreadsheet for clarity.

2. Set Clear Goals: Short term and long term. Think monthly supplies, seasonal projects, annual maintenance.

3. Create a Framework: Apply the 50/30/20 rule (needs, wants, savings) or a similar structure and stick to it.

4. Review and Adjust: Check progress weekly. Shift funds as patterns emerge.

5. Build an Emergency Buffer: Save three to six months of core household expenses.

6. Use the Right Tools: Consider YNAB for goal-based budgeting and Empower’s personal finance dashboard for tracking spending and investments.

Steady tracking. Consistent reviews. Fewer surprises.

How to Display Budgeting Skills on Your Resume

2. Scheduling

Scheduling is the backbone: mapping out tasks, appointments, vendor visits, travel, and routines so the household flows without friction.

Why It's Important

It saves time, reduces conflicts, and makes sure everything—from school pickups to HVAC servicing—happens when it should.

How to Improve Scheduling Skills

Raise your scheduling game with a few smart moves:

1. Leverage Tools: Use a shared digital calendar with alerts. Consider task boards for visibility.
2. Prioritize Ruthlessly: Identify critical tasks and place them in peak focus hours. The Eisenhower Matrix helps.
3. Communicate Early: Keep household members and staff in the loop. Confirm times. Share changes fast.
4. Delegate Wisely: Assign tasks by strength, skill, and availability. Track ownership clearly.
5. Build Routines: Standardize recurring tasks to cut decision fatigue.

How to Display Scheduling Skills on Your Resume

3. Negotiation

Negotiation is the art of securing fair terms with vendors, contractors, and service providers while keeping relationships healthy and long-term.

Why It's Important

It cuts costs, raises quality, prevents misunderstandings, and keeps projects on track.

How to Improve Negotiation Skills

Sharpen your approach:

1. Prep Thoroughly: Know your must-haves, price ranges, and alternatives.

2. Build Rapport: Friendly, professional tone. Strong relationships bring better rates and faster responses.

3. Listen First: Learn the other side’s constraints. Offers get better when both needs are surfaced.

4. Be Clear: State terms, timelines, and quality expectations without fuzziness.

5. Seek Win-Win: Aim for value on both sides. You’ll get better service later.

6. Know When to Walk: Keep your best alternative in mind and use it when needed.

How to Display Negotiation Skills on Your Resume

4. Inventory Management

Inventory management means knowing what you have, where it lives, how fast it’s used, and when to restock—without clutter or costly overages.

Why It's Important

It prevents waste, saves money, and ensures essentials are on hand when needed. Last-minute scrambles vanish.

How to Improve Inventory Management Skills

Build a simple, durable system:

1. Organize by Zones: Group items by type and usage frequency. Label clearly for quick grabs.

2. Track Quantities: Use a spreadsheet or an app like Sortly to monitor counts, expiration dates, and reorder points.

3. Audit Regularly: Weekly or monthly checks keep records honest and spot leaks early.

4. Right-Size Stock: Base reorder levels on actual use. Reduce bulk storage unless there’s a clear savings.

5. Lean on Tech: Barcodes or mobile scanning simplify updates. Tools like Tody can flag items tied to cleaning and maintenance cycles.

6. Vendor Relationships: Maintain a short list of reliable suppliers with clear return policies and consistent quality.

How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume

5. QuickBooks

QuickBooks is accounting software that centralizes expenses, invoices, payments, and reporting—handy for clean household books and fast answers.

Why It's Important

It streamlines tracking, supports budgets, and produces accurate reports, so decisions come from data, not guesswork.

How to Improve QuickBooks Skills

Make QuickBooks work for a household, not just a business:

1. Customize Accounts: Create categories for utilities, groceries, maintenance, events, travel, and capital projects.

2. Build a Real Budget: Set monthly and annual budgets and compare actuals to plan.

3. Automate Bills: Enable recurring payments for routine expenses to avoid late fees.

4. Reconcile Frequently: Reconcile bank and card accounts weekly to catch errors early.

5. Use Reports: Review cash flow, budget vs. actuals, and vendor spending to spot trends and savings.

6. Secure Access: Enforce strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. Limit user permissions.

How to Display QuickBooks Skills on Your Resume

6. Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Teams—covers documentation, tracking, communication, and planning in one familiar toolkit.

Why It's Important

It organizes the chaos: budgets in Excel, procedures in Word, calendars in Outlook, notes in OneNote, updates in Teams. Everything connected.

How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills

Turn the suite into a system:

1. Customize Toolbars: Add your most-used commands for fewer clicks.

2. Use Templates: Standardize budgets, checklists, and schedules to speed setup.

3. Level Up in Excel: Learn SUMIFS, INDEX/MATCH or XLOOKUP, and PivotTables for clean reporting.

4. Keyboard Shortcuts: Save minutes daily; they add up fast.

5. Centralize Notes: OneNote notebooks for rooms, vendors, projects, and events.

6. Automate Workflows: With Power Automate, trigger reminders or route approvals for purchases.

7. Own Your Inbox: Use Outlook rules, categories, and flags to triage and track.

8. Collaborate in Teams: Shared files, chat, and channels keep everyone aligned.

How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume

7. Event Planning

Event planning covers everything from intimate dinners to large gatherings—logistics, catering, guest flow, staffing, decor, entertainment, and contingency planning, all tuned to the host’s standards.

Why It's Important

It safeguards the host’s reputation and ensures guests feel cared for—on time, on budget, without frantic scrambling behind the scenes.

How to Improve Event Planning Skills

Build events on strong foundations:

1. Start with Discovery: Nail down preferences, dietary needs, tone, and must-haves before you book a thing.

2. Plan in Detail: Use task boards and timelines. Tie budgets to line items, not hunches.

3. Use Lightweight Tech: Manage RSVPs, guest lists, and reminders with simple tools that your clients actually use.

4. Curate Vendors: Keep a vetted roster for catering, rentals, florals, and entertainment—and track performance.

5. Design for Flow: Think arrivals, transitions, acoustics, accessibility, and temperature. Guests remember how an event felt.

6. Have Plan B (and C): Weather backup, power contingencies, first-aid readiness, alternate menus.

7. Debrief After: Gather feedback, review costs, and update checklists for next time.

How to Display Event Planning Skills on Your Resume

8. Staff Supervision

Staff supervision means leading household employees day to day—hiring, onboarding, scheduling, training, coaching, and performance reviews—while maintaining high service standards.

Why It's Important

It keeps operations smooth, morale steady, and standards consistent. Issues get solved early, not after they’ve grown teeth.

How to Improve Staff Supervision Skills

Lead with clarity and consistency:

1. Communicate Expectations: Define roles, service standards, and escalation paths. No guesswork.

2. Train Regularly: Short refreshers on procedures, safety, and tech keep performance sharp.

3. Give Useful Feedback: Frequent, specific, balanced. Recognize wins. Address gaps with action plans.

4. Set SMART Goals: Make objectives measurable and time-bound. Review progress on a cadence.

How to Display Staff Supervision Skills on Your Resume

9. Smart Home Technology

Smart home technology covers connected devices—security, HVAC, lighting, shades, sensors, appliances—that can be automated or controlled remotely to improve comfort, safety, and efficiency.

Why It's Important

It saves energy, tightens security, and lets you monitor and manage the home from anywhere. Less manual work, more oversight.

How to Improve Smart Home Technology Skills

Build a robust, future-friendly setup:

1. Strengthen Connectivity: Solid Wi‑Fi with mesh coverage prevents device drop-offs.

2. Simplify Control: Use a platform with clean interfaces and broad device support (HomeKit, Google Home, SmartThings).

3. Automate Intelligently: Program routines for occupancy, schedules, and seasons. Smart thermostats and presence sensors help.

4. Harden Security: Unique passwords, MFA, VLANs or guest networks for devices, and timely firmware updates. Add professional monitoring if appropriate.

5. Prefer Open Standards: Choose devices compatible with Matter and Thread for better cross-brand reliability.

How to Display Smart Home Technology Skills on Your Resume

10. Property Maintenance

Property maintenance is the routine care and timely repair of systems, finishes, and grounds. A House Manager coordinates all of it—preventive work, vendor scheduling, inspections, and records.

Why It's Important

It protects value, prevents safety hazards, and avoids costly emergency repairs. The home looks good. Operates better.

How to Improve Property Maintenance Skills

Bring structure to the upkeep:

1. Inspect on a Schedule: Walk the property and document issues before they escalate.

2. Preventive Programs: Service HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and life-safety systems on a cadence.

3. Seasonal Checklists: Gutter cleaning, irrigation checks, roof inspections, winterization—timed to climate.

4. Use Management Software: Centralize work orders, vendor contacts, warranties, and service history.

5. Build Your Bench: Keep trusted contractors on call with clear scope, pricing, and response expectations.

6. Educate Occupants: Share simple care guidelines and clear reporting channels.

7. Emergency Ready: Maintain an emergency plan, shutoff maps, and priority vendor list for urgent issues.

How to Display Property Maintenance Skills on Your Resume

11. Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the skill of spotting tensions early, hearing all sides, and guiding people toward practical, respectful solutions.

Why It's Important

It keeps the household harmonious and operations efficient. Small sparks never become fires.

How to Improve Conflict Resolution Skills

Develop calm, structured responses:

1. Active Listening: Let each person speak without interruption. Summarize back to confirm understanding.

2. Lead with Empathy: Acknowledge feelings. It lowers defenses and opens options.

3. Communicate Clearly: Be assertive, not aggressive. Focus on behaviors and impacts, not personalities.

4. Collaborative Problem-Solving: Define the issue, generate options, test for feasibility, agree on the plan, and set follow-up.

5. Mediation Basics: Establish ground rules, remain neutral, and guide both parties toward shared outcomes.

6. De-escalation Techniques: Keep voices low, offer breaks, and redirect to facts when emotions spike.

How to Display Conflict Resolution Skills on Your Resume

12. First Aid/CPR

First Aid/CPR covers immediate, life-preserving actions—stopping bleeding, treating injuries, performing CPR and using an AED—until professionals take over. In a home, readiness matters.

Why It's Important

Rapid, correct responses save lives and reduce the severity of injuries. Confidence under pressure changes outcomes.

How to Improve First Aid/CPR Skills

Stay current and hands-on:

1. Get Certified: Take an accredited First Aid/CPR/AED course and keep it active.

2. Practice Regularly: Refresh muscle memory annually—manikins help.

3. Keep Up with Guidelines: Protocols evolve. Review updates from your certifying organization.

4. Stock and Check Kits: Maintain a well-labeled, complete first-aid kit. Replace expired items.

5. Write an Emergency Plan: Post emergency contacts, list medical conditions and allergies, map exits and meeting points.

How to Display First Aid/CPR Skills on Your Resume