Keep Your Home Safe Inside and Out
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Home Watch?
Home Watch is best described as a visual inspection, of unoccupied home or vacant property looking for obvious issues, while the owner is away.
Is Home Watch a security service?
No, Home Watch provides a visible presence in your home to help detour criminal activity and report any identified concerns to help you maintain the integrity of your home.
Why do I need a Home Watch service?
Anything can happen to your home at any time. The HVAC system could fail, monsoon storm damage, water leaks, or break-ins. A Home Watch professional looks for potential issues, takes preventative and proactive measures to protect your home and property.
My alarm company provides security for my home. Why do I need a home watch service too?
An alarm company monitors entry into your home or fire alarms, but they do not monitor potential problems that can occur due to leaky pipes, mold, pests or storm damage. We monitor the areas that could be a potential problem and work to identify those problems in a timely fashion, notifying you immediately for guidance should anything be out of the ordinary.
Are home watch services expensive?
When you compare the high costs to repair the damage that is caused by a water leaks, power outages or storm damage with the cost of our home watch services, the value becomes obvious.
What should I expect if you do find an issue during the inspection?
We send a status report upon completion of each visit to your home. If there is an emergency, we will contact you immediately to discuss what occurred and consider what course of action is needed. We work with you to mitigate the issue to prevent further damage, in the quickest and most cost-effective way possible.
What is included in the home visit report?
The home inspection report is the summary of your home inspection visit, which includes a detailed report of the inspection. It will list any observations and make recommendations as needed. It will also include pictures of various areas of the house, external and internal.
Do you provide home maintenance services?
SafeHouse Property Services does not provide home maintenance services. I have a large resource of contractors and vendors that I have worked with and can recommend as fair and reliable. We are happy to coordinate access, monitor and provide oversight to your property while the work is being done.
Does a home watch company offer other services?
Home Watch companies provide a slightly-different range of additional services. SafeHouse Property Services offers a wide range of concierge services. If you need something that we do not offer, we will work with you to identify reputable and reliable company to help you.
Should we turn off the water heater when we leave?
Yes, either unplug the water heater or turn the circuit breaker off. There is no need to run the water heater.
How should we set the temperature and humidistat?
The air conditioner should be set on “cool” and “auto” with a temperature of 80 degrees. The humidistat should be set at 65% or as directed by the manufacturer. Heat should be set at 50 degrees.
How can we prevent insect infestations while we are away?
Make sure there are no open food containers of any type left in cupboards or closets. Containers should be hard plastic containers or in the refrigerator. If you use a service, have them spray inside just before you leave and place mouse traps, and sticky pads around the house.
How does keyholding work?
What if you don’t need Home Watch Services but need someone to hold onto a keys for special circumstances while you are away in case of an emergency? When requested by you we are able to unlock your home to meet vendors / contractors to allow access, show them what needs to be completed, and monitor repairs to completion.
Should we empty the refrigerator abd turn it off?
It is always a good idea to discard all perishables. You can turn it off, or if you choose to leave it running, it is a great place to store foods items such as dried goods, wine, or clothes with elastic. Remember to shut off the ice maker.
*Clothing that has elastic (underwear, socks) or Lycra/spandex will not do well in the AZ summer heat. If you are storing these place them closer to the ground where it will be cooler, of in the refrigerator to take up the extra space.
Do I need to do anything special with the dishwasher and garbage disposal?
No special preparation is necessary. I will run the dishwasher through a short cycle to prevent the seals from drying out and to prevent unpleasant odors. I will also run the garbage disposal briefly each visit for the same reasons.
Will you monitor service companies (such as a pool service or lawn care while we are away?
Yes, any problems will be promptly reported to you, with pictures, in your inspection report.