Wht to do with my home?

[Keith_Haw]

Sense my dad passed away the middle of last year the DW and I have been trying to travel more. The problem that bothers me though is leaving the house empty for 1 to 2 months at a time. My question is for y'all that do the "snow bird" or seasonal travel thing, what do you do about your home while your gone?

[GaryWT]

If we ever get to that point I tell my wife we will sell the house and get a condo so it is less noticeable that we are away.

[AYRTIME]

Your home insurance policy may require a house check once a week or even every couple of days.

[danoren]

Shut everything you can (use common sense),have someone come once in a while to check things out.
Use an alarm system if you have one and connect it to give a signal to your cell or some one you trust, and "pray"...

[ronfisherman]

We travel up to 6 months at a time. As does my sister and her husband. Both of us have neighbors watch our houses. Big difference is they live in AZ we live in MI. They travel in the summer. We travel in the winter.
We both have burglar alarms and shut the water off.
They set AC at 90°. We set heat at 50°. We both put RV antifreeze in our drains and toilets. We blow out the water lines as a added protection if furnace fails. We also have a whole house standby generator. We also have a monitor on telephone to notify if there is a extended power failure or temperature drops below 45°. Has not gone off in 9 years.
This year I am going to work on a monitor system that will work with my smartphone.
Neighbor picks up our mail.

[charlysmom_dad]

When we're gone for 3 or 4 months, we'll have the water shut off by the city. That way, we don't get a water bill. We also put lamps on timers throughtout the house.
We put a new battery in the thermostat, and set the heat at 60.

If we go away for amonth, and we're not worried about the pipes freezing, we'll leave the water connected.

[rhagfo]

Had a similar discussion with a construction Site Superintendent, spends a lot of time away from home and wife work with him.
They have neighbors that watch the house, and cleaner service that comes in I think twice monthly.

[Aridon]

It's just a house and it's not going to go anywhere while your gone.

Shut of the water, secure valuables and enjoy yourself.