Close your home for the season: the checklist that prevents five-figure surprises

The expensive vacant-home disasters are almost all preventable: the burst supply line that runs for three weeks, the mold bloom in a sealed humid house, the break-in advertised by a stuffed mailbox. What separates a worry-free season from a five-figure surprise isn't luck. It's a boring checklist, run in the two weeks before you leave, plus someone trustworthy checking the house while you're gone.

Two weeks out: the calls and arrangements

1. Call your insurance carrier and tell them the home will be unoccupied. Many standard policies restrict or exclude key coverage (often the exact water and vandalism coverage an empty house needs) once it's been vacant for 30 to 60 consecutive days. Ask how your policy treats vacancy, whether you need an endorsement, and what documentation of periodic checks they expect.
2. Arrange who's checking the house. A professional home watch service makes scheduled, documented visits. Hiring one for the first time? Here's how to vet a home watch company.
3. Forward your mail and pause deliveries. An overflowing mailbox is the universal signal of an empty home.
4. Keep landscaping, pool service, and pest control running. A maintained exterior reads as occupied.
5. Update your alarm company and utility contacts so someone reachable is on file.

Water: the one that ruins houses

Water does more damage to empty homes than everything else combined. It's also the simplest risk to remove: shut it off at the main. Then work the details. Set the water heater to vacation mode or off per the manufacturer. Check washing machine hoses, a common failure point. Shut off the icemaker line. In freeze-prone climates, either winterize the plumbing properly or keep the heat on with cabinet doors open on exterior walls. Leak sensors and a smart shutoff valve are cheap insurance either way. But they alert. They don't replace someone physically checking.

Power, HVAC, and humidity

Don't kill the power entirely. The HVAC needs it. Set a reasonable setback temperature for your climate. In humid regions, make humidity control the priority: a sealed, unconditioned house in a humid summer grows mold fast. Unplug non-essential electronics. Then decide about the refrigerator: if you're emptying and switching it off, prop the doors open so it doesn't turn into a science experiment.

Kitchen and interior

• Clear all perishables and take out every trash can, including the one you'll fill on departure day.
• Seal pantry goods against pests or take them with you.
• Secure valuables, spare keys, and important documents in a safe, or take them along.
• Leave interior doors and closet doors ajar so air circulates.

Security and street appearance

Walk the perimeter like a burglar would. Every door and window locked. Ladders and tools stored. Nothing valuable visible through windows. Put a few lights on staggered timers. Keep exterior lighting working. Don't announce your departure on social media. If a car stays behind, leave it as the occupied-looking prop it is: parked normally, battery maintained or disconnected.

While you're away: eyes on the house

Everything above reduces risk. None of it removes the need for a human to walk the house. Weekly or biweekly is the common cadence for an empty home, and your insurer may specify one, plus an extra check after any major storm. Whoever does it, insist on documentation. Dated, photo-backed records of each visit satisfy insurance requirements and prove the checks happened. Professional operators who run their service on NestWatch document every visit with timestamped photos and GPS-backed proof, and give you a portal where you see every report from anywhere. Reassurance on demand, instead of wondering.