If you are leaving your home vacant for any reason make sure someone will look after it. If you have decided to hire someone to look after your home while you are away there are precautions you should take to ensure your home is secure. Here is a list of Home Sitting Services that you should be looking for them to do. This list applies to your neighbor, one of your relatives, a close friend as well as a professional home sitting service that you might hire. It is to ensure that there are mo miscommunications and that the insurance companies requirements are looked after.
Home Sitting Services – Checklist
Whether you are leaving for the weekend or all winter, the last thing you want to be concerned about is your homes security while you are away.
- A report after every visit by email, which is very reassuring to many couples vacationing in foreign countries or living at another location while your home is being sold. The status should be provided along with whatever services should be included.
- Pick up your mail and forward it if needed. This includes mail in your mail box at your home as well as at the post office or one of the neighbor hood post office boxes that are available in some communities. It should also include all of the junk mail that is delivered to our homes and if not removed leaves that not lived in look if not picked up
- Check on the security of your home, including alarms, windows and doors.
- Check that there are no water leaks and that the furnace is working properly in the winter time heating your home.
- Water your plants.
- Look after the lawn in the summer including cutting your lawn and watering if needed.
- Monitor subcontractors, such as driveway snow clearing in the winter or lawn cutting services.
- Miscellaneous services such as
- pool care,
- walking the dog or
- feeding the cat.
Insurance Companies
Many insurance companies require someone to visit your home every 48 to 72 hours, while some are comfortable with a visit once a week. Most want the water shut off so that if there is a leak during a vacancy the water damage will be limited.
As an alternative to relying on friends or family, a professional home sitting service is one way to make sure that everything you need is done to keep your home secure and deal with any emergencies. Look for the following service list if you are hiring a company to look after your home.
- Home visits on a schedule you choose
- Reports by email after every visit
- Fulfill your insurance requirements
- Reasonable rates – less than you expected
- Choose only the services you need
- Short or long-term arrangements
- Vacation, Business Trip, Relocating
Who Should You Hire
Another issue is who can you trust. Most family members are trust worthy and if you know your neighbors well enough you can usually count on them to help you out for short-term vacations. A long-term vacation is a different thing and may impose on your friends and neighbors more than you want to. Unless you can return the favor, you might want to consider a professional who is in the business.
Regardless of who you use, it is a good idea to remove anything of value. Jewelry and other valuable items should be removed so that there is no temptation. Also take pictures or a video of your home for insurance purposes and a record of your home’s valuable items. This is good protection for you for a number of reasons:
- Provides a record of your belongings
- Insurance claims need documentation of what you have
- Helps you recall all of the miscellaneous items that you have in your home which are very difficult to remember in times of stress
- Protection in terms of anyone coming into your home and removing items of value, you have a record
Comments are welcome about your experiences when you are away and using the services of a home sitter. For more info on burglar deterrents and property management / home security, click here.