With April now upon us, many of our neighbors will soon be closing up their Vero Beach home and heading back to their summer home. This is the time when our seasonal residents begin to prepare their home for an extended vacancy and attempt to plan ahead for everything that could potentially happen while they are away. To lessen the stress of your move, we’ve compiled a convenient “Before You Go” checklist that can be downloaded here.
No matter how much precaution you’ve taken while preparing your home for vacancy, it is still prudent to have a local liasion who can make routine checks on your home, and who will be readily available to further protect your home in the event of a catastrophic event such as a hurricane or tropical storm.
Entrusting The Care Of Your Vacant Home To A Neighbor: Pros And Cons
Many people entrust the care of their home to a neighbor. The problem with this arrangement is that your neighbor is not likely trained or experienced in property maintenance and despite him or her having the absolute best of intentions, your neighbor is not likely to perform the commonly overlooked checks and tasks that are crucial to the overall health of your plumbing, mechanical systems and general well-being of your home while you are away. You’ve undoubtedly heard the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? This is especially true of your vacant home, where the smallest issue can quickly become catastrophic and extremely costly if left undetected and/or unmitigated. A neighbor is much more likely to notice damage AFTER it has occurred, rather than identify a potential hazard and rectify the issue before the damage is sustained. Also, if and when there is a threat of a widespread and/or catastrophic event in the area, your neighbor’s home is also at risk to the same perils as your home. Having to tend to your home in addition to their own is a rather hefty undertaking for one to bear, and often with limited time to prepare. With severe weather events, it’s very common for phone lines and communication to be interrupted, leaving you hoping for the best but otherwise unable to reach your neighbor to check in on the condition of your home. Lastly, many Homeowners insurance policies include a vacancy clause, which affords the insurer the right to deny coverage if damage occurs while the home is vacant for more than 30 days. If your policy contains this clause, having a neighbor in charge of your vacant home will not satisfy the underwriter’s requirements and should there be a loss while you are away from your Vero Beach home, coverage will likely be denied.
Alarms And Home Monitoring Apps For Your Smartphone: Pros And Cons
For those who are tech-savvy, there are several apps that can be downloaded and used to monitor your home from your smartphone. The features vary from product to product but generally speaking, these apps can alert you if there is an extreme change in temperature in your home, if carbon dioxide is detected, or if a door or window appears to have been breached by an intruder. Many of these apps even have a camera feature so you can view the interior of your home right from your phone. While these apps are very convenient and priced affordably, the downside is that they work reactively rather than proactively, meaning that any notification you receive is going to be AFTER the problem has already occurred and may have already escalated to major damage. Once a notification is received, depending on the nature of the alert, you still have to find a local authority or contractor to remedy the situation for you and attempt to monitor their progress remotely.
Benefits Of A Professional Home Watch Service:
Oceanside Home Watch, LLC is the perfect solution to give you peace of mind while you are away. Before you leave your Vero Beach home, you will have the opportunity to meet with Art and Peter for a free in-home consultation to learn how our service works and to get answers to any questions you may have. While you are away, our professional staff will complete a comprehensive, weekly inspection of the interior and exterior of your home and provide a copy of our report to you. We will also take notes and pictures of anything that stands out and we will contact you if something needs your attention. If something does require your attention, we’ll work with you and trusted local service providers to resolve the issue in the best way possible.