What yearly home maintenance is a must down south?

[beachangel]

My house in Surfside has the tubes inside the walls. Taexx.Trouble is, you can only use the company who installed them because they are the only ones with the key to open it. The company we have is $98 every 3 months and he does a complete job, also spraying outside and removing any bees nests etc.The benefit is no pesticides are sprayed inside. Now if you want a regular exterminator that comes in and sprays inside the house that's cheaper, about $ 60.
I have never seen a mosquito or a roach ( palmetto bug) outside my house in over 5 years. But I am very close to the ocean.

[vrexy]

I use a regular exterminator. They come 4 times a year and charge $50 or maybe $60, I can't remember which. No spraying inside my house - they spray the perimeter and only outside around the edges of my house. I don't have any bug problems at all. My house is a couple blocks from the ocean and I have a lake in my backyard.

Most of the people I know use the regular exterminators. I don't know if they use the perimeter service or have them spray inside - never thought to ask them.

There are quite a few exterminator companies in the area and from what I've heard they all charge about the same.

[tj1994]

Where exactly in the south are you considering? For reference I live in Warner Robins which is located in central Georgia near Macon. As far as buggers go we spray about every 3mo (2× a year) and we dont spray in the months of Nov.-Mar. Because in this part of Georgia the overnight lows during this time are typically in the mid 20s to the low 40s w/days in the low 40s-60s most buggers are dead during this period and we dont have problems. We pay about $150 per treatment for exterior pest and termite control and have no bug problems at all. All developments in Georgia typically have city or county sewer systems you usually only find septic tank systems in very rural areas or homes that could not afford to have city or county systems ran to there homes. Our water bill is about $55 per month for a 3 person home. Keep in mind rates are higher during the day than at night! Other maintenance you can consider is home hurricane protection even in inland areas the weather can still be pretty nasty. (Ex hurricane Irma) just have your trees trimmed away from your home and storm shutters installed if your going to live on the coast. Have your HVAC system checked yearly you'll be using it most of the year. If your home has forced air heating it may have a gas pilot that rarely needs to be relit (by a professional only). Lawn maintenance is a must from late-March to late-October.