What Snowbirds Should Know About Home Watch in Southwest Florida

Every May, a good share of Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, and Naples locks the door, sets the thermostat, and heads north until November. That leaves a house sitting empty through the hottest, wettest, stormiest six months of the year, in a climate that grows mold in a week and rusts a hose bib in a season. Here’s what actually goes wrong in an empty Florida home, what your insurance company expects you to do about it, and what a home watch visit covers.

What goes wrong in an empty Florida house

• The A/C quits. A tripped breaker, a clogged condensate line that trips the float switch, or a failed capacitor shuts the system down. Indoor humidity climbs past 70 percent within a day or two, and mold starts on the cool surfaces: closets, leather furniture, cabinet backs, and the underside of mattresses. By the time you’re back in November, it’s everywhere.
• Water leaks run for months. A supply line to the toilet, a water heater tank, or an ice maker line fails and water runs until someone notices. Nobody notices. Six weeks of water on a slab home means flooring, drywall, cabinets, and a mold remediation.
• Storms. A tropical storm takes a few tiles or a screen panel. The lanai fills with debris. A roof leak starts at a lifted shingle and drips into the attic insulation for the rest of the season.
• Pests. Rodents in the attic, palmetto bugs, wasps in the soffits, and ants in the kitchen all move into a quiet house.
• Break-ins and squatters. An obviously vacant home is a target. Mail piling up, a dead lawn, and a car that never moves are the tells.
• Small things that become big things. A pool pump that stops. A garage door left an inch open. A tree limb on the roof. A sprinkler head spraying the stucco.

What your insurance company expects

Most Florida homeowners policies have language about unoccupied or vacant homes. It varies by carrier, but commonly the policy limits or excludes certain losses (often water damage and vandalism) if the home has been unoccupied for more than 30 or 60 consecutive days without being checked. Some carriers specifically require periodic inspections by a responsible party and want the water shut off at the main when nobody’s home.

Read your policy’s vacancy or unoccupancy clause before you leave, or ask your agent. If a claim gets denied because the house sat unchecked for four months, a home watch service would have been the cheapest insurance you never bought.

What to do before you leave

1. Shut off the water at the main, or at minimum at the water heater, toilets, washer, and ice maker.
2. Set the A/C to 77–80°F and, if your thermostat supports it, a humidity setting around 55 percent. Change the filter and clear the condensate drain line before you go.
3. Unplug the water heater or set it to vacation mode.
4. Empty the fridge or set it to a mid setting; prop open the dishwasher and washer doors.
5. Bring in or secure anything on the lanai and around the yard that could become a projectile.
6. Arrange lawn and pool service, and stop the mail or have it forwarded.
7. Leave keys, gate codes, alarm codes, and a contact list with whoever is checking the home.

What a home watch visit covers

A home watch visit is a scheduled walkthrough by someone who knows what a problem looks like before it becomes one. On each visit we:

• Check the exterior: roof line, soffits, screens, doors, windows, and signs of forced entry or storm damage.
• Walk every room: temperature and humidity readings, water on floors, ceiling stains, odors, pests, and signs of mold.
• Verify the A/C is running and cooling, check the condensate drain, and change the filter as needed.
• Check under sinks, around the water heater, and at the washer and refrigerator for leaks.
• Run water at fixtures to keep traps filled so sewer gas stays out, then re-secure the main if it’s off.
• Test the garage door, confirm the alarm is armed, and check that the electrical panel has no tripped breakers.
• Photograph and send you a report after every visit, so you have a dated record for your insurer.

If we find something, you get a call, not a surprise. We coordinate with your A/C, plumbing, or roofing contractor to get it handled and follow up to confirm it was. More about our home watch service.

Why a home inspector for home watch

A licensed home inspector is trained to spot the early signs: the slightly soft baseboard, the sound of a condensate pump that’s about to fail, the ceiling stain that’s a shade darker than last month. That’s the difference between a $150 fix in July and a $15,000 claim in November. We hold Florida home inspector and mold assessor licenses, so if something does go wrong, the assessment and documentation your insurer will want are already in the same hands.

Storm season

Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, which is exactly when the house is empty. Ask about a pre-storm visit to secure loose items and photograph the home’s condition, and a post-storm assessment to document damage for your insurer and get a contractor out fast. That timing is when the difference between a checked and unchecked house is largest.

Home watch in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, and Naples

Brick and Mortar Inspections provides scheduled home watch visits for seasonal residents across Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties. Call or text 239-560-8611 or contact us online to set up a visit schedule before you head north.