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For the past 20 years I have owned my home, but spent 6 months to a year - almost every year) living in a rented home or apartment located in another part of the country.
For most of that time security has been a concern, but not an issue.
I retired a year and a half ago and have gotten used to the idea of being home all the time, but an special opportunity has come along and I am thinking of going across the country again.
If you own a seasonal home in a moderately populated area, how do you handle security - for when you are in the other place?
I have neighbors in each location keep an eye on each house when it's empty. I also have interior surveillence cameras that I can pull up on my computer or smartphone. The cameras also send push notifications when they sense movement.
A relative used a property management place. They checked on it physically. try getting a camera to know you have a gas leak or that your basement is taking on water.
the local police also knew to keep an eye on it.
Sometimes Neighbors would report any disturbances which was a plus.
When we lived in Denver, we owned a mountain home that was about 2 hours away. We didn't do anything special for security, we didn't even know any of the neighbors (most of whom were also not using the homes as their primary residence). We would turn off the water, lock the place and that was it. When we put the house on the market and moved back to Texas, however, we used a local property manager. He would go in and check on it every other week. Also, we had a "smart" meter the gas company had hooked into the phone line which would indicate an alarm if the house temperature went down below X degrees. In the area where we were, at least, the property manager was not an easy find, believe it or not. He said very few people did what he did, and our realtor confirmed that. I was surprised, as I would think this would be a very common practice in those situations.
My in-laws own 2 homes and they live in each for exactly 6 months a year, so they are not second or vacation homes per se, but rather, 2 primary residences. They continue to pay their cleaning ladies to go in and check on the homes when they are unoccupied. I believe they even do it on a weekly basis, though I personally think biweekly would be sufficient.
try getting a camera to know you have a gas leak or that your basement is taking on water.
That's just downright silly. No one in their right mind will leave a seasonal home without turning Both of those off at the meter.
Maybe someone, somewhere, has a meter inside the house (not in any of the 4 I've owned, or the hundreds I've inspected while shopping), or a faulty shutoff at the meter. But those are absolutely exceptions, the minority situations.
I don't own 2 homes, but spend 1~2 months a winter with my parents and my house is vacant. Neighbors are worthless (renters, they change every 4~6 months), so I use cheap webcams inside along with a motion detector targeting the only hallway, all with push notification to me. I also run lights and radio on timers that mimic our normal use and have family that drop in about once a week to just walk around.
It's always uncomfortable, just a situation I don't like. But I live in a Really poor town with heaps of unemployed/drug use and break-ins/thefts are nearly constant. If you live somewhere nicer, maybe it's not such a worry.
A relative used a property management place. They checked on it physically. try getting a camera to know you have a gas leak or that your basement is taking on water.
the local police also knew to keep an eye on it.
Sometimes Neighbors would report any disturbances which was a plus.
The water is shut off, but I leave the gas on. I have neighbors at both locations keeping an eye out.
Security? I keep my insurance paid up and the house is in a low crime area. Also, I don't leave anything of much value there.
Neighbors will watch, but the houses closest to mine also have occasional residents.
You can get security cameras that you can watch online. You can call police from wherever you are. Often police do not get there in time to stop the burglary.
Turn off the water meter, turn off the ice maker, turn off the water heater, set the heat on low. Maybe pay someone to keep the lawn mowed to make it look more like someone is living there.
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