These are the questions we hear across kitchen tables and over the phone every spring, answered as plainly as we can.
The NHWA sums up home watch as looking a property over for obvious problems. Put simply, we let ourselves in on a regular schedule, look the house over carefully inside and out, and tell you what we found. Unlike a house sitter, nobody moves in, and we do not make repairs ourselves. When something needs a tradesperson, we arrange it. Our Sun City West visit walkthrough follows one from the curb to the lock.
A kind neighbor is a gift, and we would never talk you out of one. The trouble is that in Sun City West many neighbors keep the same calendar you do and are gone the same months. Even the ones who stay rarely want to run every faucet, flush every toilet, read the breaker panel, and write it all down twice a month through July. That routine is what we are here for.
Please keep the Posse Vacation Watch. It is free, and the volunteers of the Sheriff's Posse of Sun City West do a real service for the community. Their checks cover the exterior, including doors, windows, and irrigation, roughly every two weeks. They do not come inside, and inside is where an empty house usually gets into trouble. The two fit together well. We wrote more about that in who watches what while you are away.
Cameras watch the doorway. They cannot smell a musty closet, see a stain spreading on a ceiling, or feel that the vents are blowing warm. We also make sure your detectors and sensors are actually working, so the system you are paying for does its job.
Our routine is to keep the thermostat at 85 degrees on cool, with the fan on auto and the ceiling fans turning slowly. That is warm enough to spare the air conditioner and cool enough to protect the floors, cabinets, and furniture. If your A/C company has recommended something different for your system, let us know, and that is the setting we will keep.
It is the thing every Sun City West snowbird worries about, and with good reason. When we find the system down, you hear from us that day, with photos of the thermostat and the unit, and we can call your A/C company and let them in. The more often we visit through June, July, and August, the shorter that gap can be.
Yes. Arizona's monsoon arrives in mid June and hangs around until the end of September. If a strong storm crosses Sun City West between visits, we drive past afterward to look over the outside, and you hear from us if anything looks wrong. If you want a guaranteed look the very next day, ask us about adding next day storm checks.
Monsoon winds can pick up cushions, umbrellas, and light chairs and send them into a window or over the wall. Many owners have us carry them into the garage before storm season and set them back out before they come home.
A great many snowbirds do, and it is a sensible choice. If you do, we open it only long enough to run the drains on each visit, then shut it again before we leave. If you would rather leave it on, we are more careful than ever about looking under sinks and around the water heater.
Beneath every sink, tub, and toilet, the pipe bends in a way that keeps a small pool of water sitting in it, and that water is the only thing blocking sewer gas. In a closed, dry house it slowly evaporates, and once it is gone, odors and even insects can find their way up. A half minute of water down each drain and flushing each toilet keeps those seals full.
Weeks of dry, conditioned air can dry out rubber seals and leave wood and grout brittle. Setting out buckets of water in the larger rooms, and smaller ones by the dishwasher and washer, keeps a little moisture in the air. We refill them on each visit.
Yes. We make sure it is still sitting in bypass or vacation mode the way it should be, and if you have a reverse osmosis system under the sink, we look it over for leaks.
A quiet house with nobody walking through it is exactly what bark scorpions like. We look for them on every visit, along baseboards, in the garage, and in the bathrooms, and we tell you what we see. For spraying, your pest company is the one to call, and we can open the door for them.
We look for droppings, chewed wiring, nesting material, and disturbed insulation in the garage and around the house. Pack rats in particular like the wiring in parked cars and golf carts, which is one more reason we look in the garage every time.
They do. Most Sun City West homes fall under the community's own CC&Rs, which are handled by the CC&R department at the R.H. Johnson Recreation Center, while the rest belong to a separate HOA. Enforcement usually begins when a neighbor sends in a complaint, so a weedy yard or a trash can left in view can bring a notice even with nobody home. We keep an eye on both and let you know.
Sun City West is unincorporated, so there is no city government or city police. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office handles law enforcement, with help from the Posse volunteers, and PORA, the Property Owners and Residents Association, speaks up for residents with the county and the utilities. Having someone local who can be at your door the same day matters more here than in a city, and that is the role we fill.
Yes. We can look after the golf cart and the car in the garage, water the houseplants, and meet your contractors. Many of our Sun City West owners spend their winters at the rec centers and on the courses, and we like to have the cart ready to go the day they get back.
We cover the whole community, from the streets around R.H. Johnson and Beardsley to the homes out by Kuentz and Palm Ridge. See the service area page or just send us your address.
Short, plain notes, organized by where we were in the house, sent after each visit. When something needs attention, photographs come along so you can see exactly what we saw. You also get a message when we arrive and another when we leave. Most people read it over their morning coffee in under a minute.
It might. Many homeowner's policies have vacancy terms that change coverage when a house sits empty for a long stretch, and some insurers ask for proof that someone is checking on it. Our dated reports give you that record. Your policy is the final word, so it is worth a call to your agent before you leave.
That depends on the house and how often you want us to visit, and you can stop any time. Ask for a free quote and you will hear from us within one business day.
Two to three weeks before your flight is ideal. That gives us time to walk through the house together before you go. Our note on putting the house to bed before you fly is a good thing to read in the meantime.
Give us a call or drop us a note about your house. We are always happy to talk it through.
