How to close your home for the season: a complete checklist

The expensive vacant-home disasters — 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 — are almost all preventable. What separates a worry-free season from a five-figure surprise isn't luck; it's a boring checklist, executed 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 exactly the 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; if you're 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, and it's the simplest risk to remove: shut it off at the main. Then work through the details — set the water heater to vacation mode or off per the manufacturer, check washing machine hoses (a common failure point), and 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, and in humid regions make humidity control the priority: a sealed, unconditioned house in a humid summer grows mold with remarkable speed. Unplug non-essential electronics, and 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 to let air circulate.

Security and street appearance

Walk the perimeter like a burglar would: every door and window locked, ladders and tools stored, and nothing valuable visible through windows. Put a few lights on staggered timers, keep exterior lighting working, and resist announcing 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 eliminates the need for a human to walk the house. Weekly or biweekly is the common cadence for an empty home — 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 are what satisfy insurance requirements and what 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 can see every report from anywhere — reassurance on demand, instead of wondering.