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As I said earlier I have already been dropping the insurance on a car left in the US for 10 months at a time. When I arrive back in the US I simply get the car reinspected (annual thing anyway so no extra cost), call the insurance and tell them to start covering the car again, and re-register over the internet. Overall it is cheaper than carrying the car on the insurance for 10 months even at the cheapest rates. Whether it is a PITA I can't really say but I don't mind since my wife worked it out with the insurance person a few years ago and now it is down to a single call when we leave and a second call when we return.
If the house would be in a cold climate, you should drain the water lines and water heater (provided the water heater is turned off) just in case the furnace would go out. And it should go without saying that if you turn off the refrigerator the doors should be propped open.
Your neighbors. The ones who will know almost immediately that your house is empty.
If you aren't already on good terms... get there in a big hurry.
Then make a specific request to keep an eye on and walk around to look closer
and give them the name and number of your friend in the area (doing mostly the same things)
Maybe put some lamps on timers around the house to make it looked occupied ?
Best idea and cheap to implement. A neighbor spends the winters in Florida and put a timer on the lamp in her front window and in one of the rear bedrooms. So her house always looks somewhat occupied. Her son lives on the block so he and the neighbors keep an eye on the place. BTW mechanical timers are easier to set up than the electronic timers.
I agree about leaving the electricity on and adding antifreeze to the water lines. No, not the same kind your car uses; they make one specifically for water lines.
I also like the idea of a house sitter. And if you live in a snowy climate, either arrange for someone to plow the drive and/or have someone drive into it to leave tracks.
I'd recommend telling the local police. They can at least try to keep squatters out. Good luck with that one.
OP~ If you turn 'OFF" the water, will you still have homeowner's insurance enforce?
He's not disconnecting from the utility; he's merely shutting off the valve that supplies water to the interior of the house. This is something that should always be done when you are going to be away for any significant period of time.
OP~ If you turn 'OFF" the water, will you still have homeowner's insurance enforce?
Good question; I don't know.
I'm also not sure exactly which type of off you mean. As Cole mentions I have never thought about stopping the water utility. However I have thought about turning the valve where it comes into the house to block the water so that if something breaks/leaks it can only flood what is in the pipes already.
I also like the idea of a house sitter. And if you live in a snowy climate, either arrange for someone to plow the drive and/or have someone drive into it to leave tracks.
I'd recommend telling the local police. They can at least try to keep squatters out. Good luck with that one.
The snowy climate one is good. Luckily that is unlikely to be an issue and even if it was the person dealing with mail and doing an occasional visual check would possibly do the tire tracks.
Squatters is an odd thought to me. We have multiple empty houses in the subdivision that have stood empty for years without any squatters so I tend to discount it for the times when we leave the main home to go to the vacation home/travel. It would seem to be a much bigger deal in a vacation home but it is good to think about either way.
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