These notes are for anyone who spends part of the year here and part somewhere else. For short answers, try questions from Sun City West neighbors, or follow a home watch visit from start to finish.

The small things you do on the way out the door, from the thermostat to the blinds to the buckets of water, decide how the house looks when you get back in the fall.

The Posse, your neighbors, the CC&R department, and a home watch service each look after a different part of an empty house. Here is how they fit together.

Many Sun City West houses were built in the 1980s and 1990s. Here is what we pay closest attention to in a home that has a few decades behind it.

After months away, a few simple steps in the first hours and days will tell you whether the house kept well, and catch small problems before they grow.

Not all home watch services work the same way. These seven questions help you compare them fairly, and tell you who will actually be walking through your house.