Leaving the house empty for months at a time

[Olive6001]

Are any of you int his situation? I don't want to rent out my house or have anyone else living in it. The last time I went on a long trip, some neighbors were supposed to come in and watch things. Stuff still went wrong of course. Those neighbors have moved and there's no one here I trust enough to have them in my home.

What about leaving cars parked for six to eight months? How do you keep the battery charged if you don't want anyone driving it?

Thanks,
Nikki

[Birdie]

Remove the battery and store it in garage with a slow charger thingy hooked up to it. You can get them at WalMart, AutoZone, O'reilly's, Harbor Freight, or online. That's the car...course having someone who can move the car and do a walk thru is, I think, a better idea. If you don't have anyone in mind step out of the box and think if there is a real estate person. There are some RVing sistahs not far from you. Not sure how you feel about that. Maybe a retired military person would hire out for a once a week or every two weeks.

Course, Nikki, you could just sell it and hit the road!!!

We have had a nice winter down south of you couple hundred miles. Come on down and we can talk about it! Would love to see you on the road again. Is 67* right now.

[Olive6001]

Birdie! Thanks for the info. Good ideas and more to think about. I'd love to see you but doubt I can afford to camp in RV parks for more than one or two nights. Dry camping keeps me on the road. Not ready to sell the Fit because I really like it. PM me where you are. If it's less than 300 miles and not too expensive and I can get a spot near you, I'll come visit for a day or two.

Also, my phone is trashed and I lost most of my address book. I can receive texts. Please text me so I have your number. If you don't have mine, PM me and I'll give it to you. Same goes for anyone who had given me a number in the past. PM me and I'll send an email addy. Actually that's probably better than texting me. I'm never sure what this phone is going to do. I can't always use even the numbers I can still see in the address book.

Nikki

[IrishIroamed]

Nikki - My Dad heads to Florida (usually November thru mid-April and has been doing it for about 30 years. Here are some things I know he does.

Disconnect car battery (he leaves it in the car in the garage) and jumps it with his other car that he drove to FL when he gets home.
Lowers his thermostat to around 62*
Shuts off all water at sinks, toilets, etc, but leaves all cabinet doors open so heat can get to the pipes and the pipes don't freeze. Also puts plastic wrap over the toilets so the water doesn't evaporate (dunno why he does that one tho). He can't shut it off at the main because he has base board heat.
Leave a lamp on a a timer. Luckily my cousin lives 4 doors away and if he sees the light doesn't go on , he goes and checks out the house.
He used to have the phone shut off, but now only lives with a cell phone.
Forwards his mail.
Also has a VFW friend drive past the house if he's in the neighborhood.

Big thing tho is make a list. Even after 30+ years, every year he forgets something (personal phone book, this year it was his tax papers), that I have to go get & send to him.

I'd also suggest you make sure someone trustworthy has a key. Just in case.

If I think of anything else he does, I'll let you know.

[Acadianmom]

When we had my mother-in-laws house I would turn the breaker off to the water heater if no one was there. The water heater is what burns the most electricity if you have one that is electric. I don't know how you would turn off a gas water heater or if it wasn't in the house where it wouldn't freeze. I would turn off the main water coming into the house if I could. But you really would need someone to check on things sometime.

My son got me a camera with wifi that I can access from my computer. I can put it in the living room when I'm gone to make sure Harold is in the house at night. When it was suppose to freeze I put it in my motorhome pointed at the thermometer in there to make sure the heat was on. Of course you would have to have wifi at your house. You could probably have several cameras in different rooms. There are companies that do this but they have a monthly fee. I have a friend that put up her own cameras because they have teenagers coming and going. She can see what is going on at her house from work. I like the looks of the door bell with a camera that they are advertising on TV. If I had a smart phone I would consider getting one of those. If someone rings the bell it goes to you phone. You can see who it is and they don't know if you are home.

Martha

[MandysMom]

We were lucky in that we had trustworthy neighbors in 08 when we traveled for a few months. We had them move our car from one area of drive to another. We had timers to randomly turn lights on and off after dark. Never thought of plastic wrap on toilet but great idea. If water evaporates the trap gets dry and let's sewer gas into house! Not pleasant! We had neighbor flush each toilet every week or so. Some police departments if you let them know will have their verified volunteers (sometimes retired officers) just drive by randomly watching for anything unusual. Worth asking police if they know a retiree who would do that.
Velda

[WickedLady]

I turn off the water heater in case something happens to the water supply. That way the heater does not burn up.
Most police departments will do a drive-by if you let them know you will be gone for an extended period.

[JudyJB]

Definitely turn off the water heater. Friend of mine had one go bad and leak, but luckily she had turned it off, so much less water to leak out.

Also, you might want to replace your doorknob and lock with one with a combination. Most have two combinations you can set. You can give one to the person checking your house, if you find one. The big reason to have a combination is that you can call it in to anyone else in case of an emergency. For example, if a neighbor or the police call you about something in the house, you can give them the combination.

This is MUCH safer than hiding a key!!! And the combination can be changed as often as needed by someone you trust.

Wonder if a realtor would be willing to handle this and how much they would charge????

[Irmi]

We have a friend that watches our house and she and her husband also start our vehicles and drive them a few miles every week, relocating their position in our driveways. I think I have four lights on timers. We drain the water out of our pipes and run the pink antifreeze through the system to keep things from freezing. All water is turned off and the water heater is also turned off. This is the fifth winter we have done this and so far, so good.

[mitch5252]

..
Pull the breaker on the hot water heater
Pull the breaker on the water pump.
Drain all water from house pipes.
Turn thermostat low (or high, depending on season).
Stop mail and newspapers (some larger post offices will only "hold" for a short time. In that case, have a neighbor pick up mail).
Put car battery on trickle charger (I use Battery Tender Jr.)
Put a couple of lights on random timers.
I have most bills on "auto pay".

Depending on where you live, you can put your house on "House Watch" and the local police will drive by more frequently and investigate if strange car in driveway (you told them before you left what cars could be in driveway).

Not a lot more you can do, so make sure your homeowner's insurance is paid up-to-date!

And most importantly - HAVE FUN and don't worry - that's why you have that danged expensive insurance!
..

[Olive6001]

Many thanks to all who replied. So much good advice. You ladies are just wonderful.

Nikki

[gingerK]

Here's my 2 cents: some pet sitters offer a house check service. They will go to your house and check everything, pick up mail if you haven't stopped it, move drapes/blinds, rotate lights on and off, water any plants, they can even put out some "trash" for garbage day pickup. A good pet sitter is bonded and insured but if you go this route ask if they carry coverage for house sitting with no pets. Some insurance companies automatically include this with the pet sitters regular coverage but others it is an extra charge for this. The cost here in the midwest is quite minimal because they are not dealing with your animals, just doing a safety check on your house. Their visits can be singular or multiple, whatever suits you, and can be staggered so they are not coming and going at the same time every day.

[snowball]

When we had my mother-in-laws house I would turn the breaker off to the water heater if no one was there. The water heater is what burns the most electricity if you have one that is electric. I don't know how you would turn off a gas water heater or if it wasn't in the house where it wouldn't freeze. I would turn off the main water coming into the house if I could. But you really would need someone to check on things sometime.

My son got me a camera with wifi that I can access from my computer. I can put it in the living room when I'm gone to make sure Harold is in the house at night. When it was suppose to freeze I put it in my motorhome pointed at the thermometer in there to make sure the heat was on. Of course you would have to have wifi at your house. You could probably have several cameras in different rooms. There are companies that do this but they have a monthly fee. I have a friend that put up her own cameras because they have teenagers coming and going. She can see what is going on at her house from work. I like the looks of the door bell with a camera that they are advertising on TV. If I had a smart phone I would consider getting one of those. If someone rings the bell it goes to you phone. You can see who it is and they don't know if you are home.

Martha

I like the sounds of that doorbell as well it gives one a sense of security I would think! lots of good ideas there
I don't know what they would charge but perhaps a security company would have a deal where they would have some one check
on the house periodically and not on a routine way make sure you have the mail and news papers stopped or if you know of a trusty
person have it delivered and they pick up would make one think someone is home I think
sheila

[snowball]

Here's my 2 cents: some pet sitters offer a house check service. They will go to your house and check everything, pick up mail if you haven't stopped it, move drapes/blinds, rotate lights on and off, water any plants, they can even put out some "trash" for garbage day pickup. A good pet sitter is bonded and insured but if you go this route ask if they carry coverage for house sitting with no pets. Some insurance companies automatically include this with the pet sitters regular coverage but others it is an extra charge for this. The cost here in the midwest is quite minimal because they are not dealing with your animals, just doing a safety check on your house. Their visits can be singular or multiple, whatever suits you, and can be staggered so they are not coming and going at the same time every day.

a really good idea as well
wouldn't have thought of it
sheila

[gypsyrose1126]

I leave my house empty for several months while working. My neighbors keep an eye on it, but have never had to go into the house. I hire a service to mow the lawn in the summer and I forward or stop the mail. I turn the hot water heater to vacation and turn the thermostat down. That is about it -- I have done the same thing for the past 8 years with no problems. The longest I was gone was for 17 months, but I did try to get home 1 time a month or at least every 2 months.