What do you do when you're gone?

[Elf]

We are planning an extended trip beginning next month. We have someone staying at the house for a while but I'm trying to come up with a plan for after they leave.

What do those of you that keep a Stick house but spend months on the road do with your house while you are away? I can have someone check in on it now and then but am not sure if there is anything else I should do?

Any thought on the subject would be appreciated.

[MaverickBBD]

We did a great circle trip around the United States (all four cornerns). Had a house sitter, my sister. Was planning on being gone six months. About a month prior to our return she informed us she needed another month to get the house ready for our return. When we got home she apologized for the condition of the house. She said it was too much house for her to maintain and it got away from her. She is a busy gal. We were glad to have her. Couldn't have done it without her. Seven and a half months and 15,500 miles. DW said after that "never again". It was breaking my heart having the motorhome sit. Something had to give. The motorhome or the house. After much discussion the house lost. If it hadn't or doesn't close, we are just going to empty it and turn off the water and turn down the heat to minimum and just use it as a "summer cabin". Set the alarm system and have the alarm company respond to alarms. Sister and friends would also be listed as call outs and to come by and check on the place BUT with any luck that won't be necessary as we are scheduled to close on Aug. 19th. Looking back it is tough but I really can't see doing full time or anything close to it and keeping the house. JMO.

[Possum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elf We are planning an extended trip beginning next month. We have someone staying at the house for a while but I'm trying to come up with a plan for after they leave. What do those of you that keep a Stick house but spend months on the road do with your house while you are away? I can have someone check in on it now and then but am not sure if there is anything else I should do? Any thought on the subject would be appreciated.

I'm not sure of insurance rules and nuances your side of the border but on our side (Kanukistan) you better have someone check the home every 48 hours (and be able to prove it) or your insurance company will declare your insurance null and void for lack of an overseer. Although YMMV.

[RickO]

We're just now figuring it out! The stick house we sold to go full time was too big and landscaped with pool, spa, etc... for us to be able to leave it empty while we traveled so our daughter lived there while we were gone.

After two years of full time travel we just couldn't pass up the real estate prices in Arizona near our grand babies and purchased a town house on a golf course.

The exterior maintenance of the town house is taken care of by the HOA. For security I installed double cylinder dead bolts on all four doors into the house. This way, it would be possible for someone to break a window and get in but would still be unable to open any doors and would have to remove valuable through a window... either directly to the street in front or all the way across the golf course.

Good luck...

Rick

[Wayne M]

We have good neighbors that keep an eye on it, neighborhood watch.

• Close and lock all windows.
• Turn off hot water heater
• Turn off water. (I leave the pressure in the pipe, but water is off at outside house valve)
• Since we live in Texas, we set the thermostat at 80 degrees summer, 60 degrees winter.
• Use a timer and set one of your normal lamps to come on at dusk and go off at normal bed time. (keeps the honest people out)
• Notify PD you will be gone from xxxx to xxxx
• Lock the doors. If good neighbors, give a set of keys.
• Close garage door. look over shoulder when pulling away to make sure it closes. Nothing like DW saying an hour later, "Did you close the garage door?" It will drive you crazy.

There may be more, but that's DW's job - isn't it?

[BigSkyBob]

We full time part time in the winter months, about 7 months. We purchased our current home with our daughter in mind as we would be gone during the winter. She has one end of the house and we have the other end so it works well for all when we are home. We couldn't leave during the winter or our summer trips if we didn't have this setup. I wish I had some advise for you but all I can offer is nightmare scenarios we experienced when we leased our prior house. Cost us $25K to repair the inside and outside after one year.

[njs42]

We are gone four/five months at a time. We live in a cul d sac and have only one entry and exit road into our small neighborhood. Even though we are surrounded by suburbia. The chances of burgulary are certainly much less for us than if we were on a main road or in some sparsly populated area. We also do not face sub freezing weather for extended periods. JUst wanted to clarify our situation.

We put most of the smaller valuables in safe deposit. Take a number of other valuables with us.

We have a neighbor enter the house periodically, pick up anything in the drive way or porch, we encourage our neighbors to park in our drive way and come and go. We shut off the water, unplug every non essential electrical device, I shut off at the breaker electricity to my shop tools, we have an alarm system, stop the mail and subscriptions, forward all that stuff. We run the furnace at 45 degrees which means it only comes on after several days of very cold weather; which we seldom have. We have firends in Michigan that have to completely winterize. We have our lawn cared for when needed----the same guy who cares for our neighbors does our during the winter---not much needed but it gives a lived in look.

Some other ideas are: you can get an alarm system that will not only alert you to entry but will alert you if your water heater leaks, or a basement has water in it etc;---it comes right to your cell phone. Depending on how much you want to spend you can arrange a security system that allows you to look at rooms in your home while you are gone----or take videos of anyone who enters. You would need a computer on at home I believe; and the system.

The most important of all of this is someone who will periodically check physically on your home. We always bring a very nice gift home for our neighbors as a thank you---and we get along very well with them to begin with.

[Romeo]

We are dealing with that dilemma now... retiring this November and thinking of going South for the winter.

Having to think about:

1. What do I do with the boat that will sit out all winter with no one to scrape off the snow.

2. Who to use to regularly check the house and remove snow from the driveway and walkway.

3. Who will check the ice dam that builds up over the front door each winter... maybe with low heat it wont build up (????).

4. How does one blow out the water lines.

5. Leave the hot tub running or drain it and try to get all the water out of the new pump (???).

6. Do mice take over when the house is vacant for long periods.

Gads! The list goes on...

Dont want to sell and go fulltime yet... gotta try living in a motor home for a while, first. I'm afraid I wont keep busy without a shop, yard, snow removal, job, etc. Afraid I will get older, faster... probably can't play golf all day, every day...

Too many things to worry about... maybe I will just keep workiing an let my wife retire!

[njs42]

We have someone staying at the house for a while but I'm trying to come up with a plan for after they leave.

In your case you will have to have some reliable person secure your house while you are gone. That adds a dimension not addressed here----you would need to find someone very relaible---or maybe one of you fly home for the transfer, set up the house and fly back to the RV location.

[Elf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romeo We are dealing with that dilemma now... retiring this November and thinking of going South for the winter. Having to think about: 1. What do I do with the boat that will sit out all winter with no one to scrape off the snow. 2. Who to use to regularly check the house and remove snow from the driveway and walkway. 3. Who will check the ice dam that builds up over the front door each winter... maybe with low heat it wont build up (????). 4. How does one blow out the water lines. 5. Leave the hot tub running or drain it and try to get all the water out of the new pump (???). 6. Do mice take over when the house is vacant for long periods. Gads! The list goes on... Dont want to sell and go fulltime yet... gotta try living in a motor home for a while, first. I'm afraid I wont keep busy without a shop, yard, snow removal, job, etc. Afraid I will get older, faster... probably can't play golf all day, every day... Too many things to worry about... maybe I will just keep workiing an let my wife retire!

I'm from the same area and have the same concerns.

I'll need to look into the monitoring systems that can be remotely monitored. My list of things to do does not seem to be getting any shorter. Get one done, find two more I'd like to do. Great learning experience but at some point I'll just have to say enough. I'd like to do that with a degree of peace of mind that all is O.K.

[Larry & Rita]

We live in a retirement community in Washington, Everyone has thier noses glued to the window, they know when we leave and when we get back, that is very reassuring, we make sure one or two have our cell numbers, having two is the best idea because we left our number with one guy and darned if he did'nt pass away while we were gone.
Other than that it's just the normal things, water,elect. and we notify the park manager.
Before we leave I spray bug stuff around the outside two times, seems to work.
We have found out that there is no RELIABLE relative or person to watch for a long period of time.

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romeo probably can't play golf all day, every day...

I don't believe I've ever heard those words used together before.

Rick

[CraigAllegro]

Maybe we should post a list of address', dates and times when people are away?

I've been broken into a couple of times. My lesson was if you walk in and anything looks strange - take a step back and don't touch anything. "CSI" hates all the extra finger prints.