Louis Moreto - Coachella Valley Home Watch

How do I prepare my home for a long absence?

If you’re planning for a long absence from your home, hiring a home watch company can be a good idea. This is because home watching services afford you the opportunity of maintaining your home as if you were really present.

Leaving a home vacant for a long time can cause some damages to your property and general wear and tear of certain home facilities.

People vacate their homes for an extended absence for several reasons. Take our own Coachella Valley for example, where the temperature will hit incredibly high levels, often contributing to most residents moving away for prolonged periods during certain months.

Temperature, humidity, pests, and extreme weather come with the climate. If you intend to relocate during these hotter periods, then you must prepare your home for a long absence.

It is important to restate that preparing your home for a long vacation can save you from facing huge repair costs. In fact, the amount you’ll pay for home watch services will be negligible compared to repair costs.

Here are a few tips to prep for a long-term break from your house.

AC Tips

Disregarding the AC on a trip away will contribute to large energy bills. However, some measures will help ease this financial pressure while ensuring that your house isn’t overly humid.

The most significant factor to consider is the duration of your absence. When you leave for an extended period, it is wise to change your thermostat to “switch off your AC” when away.

AC units work at maximum efficiency while running at full capacity, so if the house is left empty for a prolonged time, you will needlessly consume more electricity.

Check with one of our trusted AC technicians for the correct prolonged absence operating plan for your AC.

If you ‘re leaving for a brief vacation, such as a weekend away, you can program your AC to turn on and off so that it operates at a lower speed for lesser periods of time. That would make sure you do n’t get back home to a humid house and reduce the risk of mold and pests.

No matter how long you’re traveling, the following tips will help bring energy costs down.

Clean The Air Filters

Dirt is a sure way to ruin the efficiency of the air conditioner. Before you leave, make sure you replace the air filter.

Shut down the home

Once you depart for a longer time, ensure you shut all doors, windows, blinds, and curtains. This would mean your house is shielded and shaded from the sun, eliminating energy loss and saving money.

Unplug Devices

Disconnecting the appliances decreases the heating and cooling load. Also, objects that are not in use can generate heat over time.

Schedule Maintenance

It’s a smart idea to book your annual AC tuning and repairs before you go for your trip.

Plumbing tips

A pipe burst or leakage of water may do serious harm to drywalls, ceilings, hardwood floors, rugs, and possessions. It is advisable to shut off the water source entirely while you are away from home for extended periods. This can be achieved either by turning it off from the street or on the key valve inside your house.

Meanwhile, turning off the water from the street might need assistance from the water company.

Discharge your water pipes (bathroom, kitchen, sinks) by opening all the faucets and flushing all the toilets.

There could be situations where it is not possible to turn off the water. When your home has a steam heating device, a fire sprinkler, full house humidity systems (for artworks, plants), and irrigation systems, all of them can rely on working water supply.

If the water needs to remain on, take action to prevent the pipes from leaking.

Switch the water off to the washing machines, dishwashers, and ice makers to prevent corrosion or loss of hoses. Switch off the power source and the energy supply to the hot water heater (if it is different from your boiler / central heating system).

Let the electricity stay on

HVAC (heat and cooling devices in the house as well as blowers circulating the air, need electricity). Lighting, alarm systems, timers, etc. require electricity to operate.
Unplug all devices that are not in usage. When the refrigerator is unplugged, clean out all moisture and prop the door to avoid mold formation.

Check all home systems

Let a certified expert examine HVAC and electrical devices and any issues handled.
Installing fresh filters for HVAC.
change the batteries on the smoke detector.
Replace or remove the dehumidifier filter and ensure the water discharge tubes are unblocked
Verify that the backup generator is checked and serviced
Hire an expert to check the roof and clear any leaves and dirt from the gutters.

Stop unneeded subscription, services, and deliveries

Deactivate or forward your mail so that spam mail will not build up, and your bills meet you in a timely way. Most utility companies and financial institutions also provide online account access and internet payment.
Stop excessive subscription systems that can include many items as newspapers or drinking water.

Rodent, insects, and spider prevention

Ensure there are no empty spaces around the doors, the base.
Check for gaps in weather stripping because insects and rodents can squeeze through very small spaces
Tidy up any leaves or debris which would make a place for insects to nest around the exterior of the house.
Ensure the flue at the fireplace is shut.
Get Chimney(s) checked for birds or other animals. The chimney needs to be sealed with a chimney cap.

Hire a home watch service

While all these might seem like a long list of To-do’s, you can hire professional home watchers to prepare your home for long vacations. Coachella Valley Home Watch Services covers all the above-listed things.

One big advantage of hiring Our team is that we’ll do an extensive prep for your home and make sure everything is in the right order even in your absence. This will save you time and energy. Also, your home will be ready to take you back when you are ready to return.

Coachella Valley Home Watch’s focus is your home and your peace of mind! This is a sample of items that we check for every home however, what’s important to you is important to us! We can customize our checklist to include items of your concern and provide reporting specific to them.

Coachella Valley Home Watch serves all of the Valley cities, including Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio, and Indian Wells.

We are the best home watch service in the Coachella Valley and we take pride on focusing on things like Internal and external security, Checking on all aspects of your home, both inside the house and outside, and providing concierge services like starting vehicles, package delivery and preparing your home for occupancy after a lengthy absence.

Call us today to find out how we can help you

Should I Leave My Curtains Open or Closed When Away

It goes without saying that you need to keep your home safe when you go away on holidays or leave your house for extended periods. The big question is – how to leave your curtains when away? In fact, this topic is very debatable. People can leave their curtains either open, half-open or closed.

The reality is, the vast majority of people choose to close their curtains before they leave on vacation or keep them closed at their second home when not occupied. According to their opinions, closed curtains don’t allow burglars to see if there is someone inside your house. And of course, this will deter burglars.

On the other hand, there are so many homeowners who prefer to keep their curtains open when they are away. They believe that it’s not a good idea to close curtains because your friends, relatives, neighbors, or the police can’t see what’s happening inside. It’s also important to note that closed curtains often mean that no one is at home.

Curtains – closed or open?

Clearly, the situations are different and, therefore, they require different decisions to be made. However, the choice is up to you and it largely depends on the way you choose to secure your house and time when you plan to go away. Now, let’s take a closer look at the question from the security point of view and try to come up with the answer.

You don’t need to keep your curtains closed while you are away if you prefer to use a smart home security system to protect your living environment from burglars.

Update your security systems

It’s important to know that the modern home security systems come with indoor security cameras, outdoor security cameras, and video doorbells. If you use a Home watching service, then you can rely on them to see what is happening inside your house. You as the owner can also see on your phone anytime, from whenever you want. You can call the police anytime if such a need arises.

Additionally, a professional home security system comes with motion sensors, lights, smoke detectors, water sensors, door/window sensors, smart locks and alarms. And of course, such components help homeowners increase the security of their properties dramatically.

It’s not recommended to make significant changes to your house exterior before you go on vacation.

Let’s say that you usually don’t close curtains when you stay at home. If so, you shouldn’t close the curtains when you are away as well. Keep in mind that your house may attract the attention of burglars if choose to close curtains and will not open them for several weeks.

We all know that people tend to leave their curtains closed due to hot and bright sun, especially in the Coachella Valley. Bear in mind that you shouldn’t open curtains when leaving your house if you usually prefer to keep them closed.

Is it possible to see expensive items (computers, TV, sound systems) from your window? Is there easy access from the street to peer into your house? If so, it would be better to keep curtains closed. In this case, burglars will see your valuables and they will not be tempted to get into your house.

Keeping the curtains open

People tend to keep curtains open during a day and close curtains when they leave a house. However, your house should never look unoccupied even if the property is empty. That’s the reason why you have to leave your curtains open when you go away in the morning.

On the other hand, people usually close curtains in the evening to block light at night. Also, they don’t want somebody to see them in windows at night. It’s fair to say that curtains offer more privacy to homeowners and provide them with a spacious feeling at night time. That means that you should close your curtains if you are planning to leave your house in the evening or at night. If curtains are open at night, then it’s most likely that there is nobody in a house. And of course, burglars know about this.

Ideally, you should have your curtains both open and closed. So, you can ask someone to look after your property when the house is vacant. This can be your relative, close friend, colleague, etc. The problem with asking these people is that if you have a lengthy absence, it can be a tedious task… unless you use a respectable Home watch service.

There is no doubt that this type of activity will deter burglars and stop them from doing a crime.

When you have nobody, who you can trust, then you can take advantage of professional home watching services. You need to know that home watch service is a solution for the owners of unoccupied properties.

Are you a traveler, who has to leave your property due to business or vacations? Do you get your property repaired and that’s why it’s empty now? Or, maybe, you are going to sell an unoccupied property? One way or another, you need to ask home watchers to care for your home while you are away.

If you use home watch services, you can rest assured that your house will be in the right hands and it will not look unoccupied. When using home watching service, you can ask professionals like Coachella Valley Home Watch to maintain a presence in and around your property.

Additionally, home watch specialists will do a number of inspections to ensure that your home is secure when you are away. Home watch professionals will check your house for all types of problems such as flooding, moisture problems, leaking pipes, plumbing issues, etc. Plus, professionals will check that all of doors and windows in your house are locked, refrigerators as well as heater and air conditioner function properly and so on.

On top of that, home watchers will water flowers in your house, check your mail and do removal of newsletters for you. Would you like to start your cars? No problem, home watchers can help you with that too! If any issues have been found during a home watch inspection, we’ll contact you immediately. We can handle the issue in your house if you wish.

If you would like to learn more how you can use our home watching services to keep your home safe, contact us today! We are always looking forward to helping you with any of your home watch needs!

How Do You Protect Your Home When You are Away?

According to the statistics, a home burglary happens every 26 seconds in the United States. It’s also important to note that a lot of burglaries happen in the daytime when people are at home or at school. Burglaries often happen during the summer months.

And of course, you should do every single thing possible to stop a crime before it happens. That’s why it’s so important for you to get serious about house protection.

Before you choose to go somewhere and leave your property, you need to make sure that you have taken all the necessary protective measures to keep your house safe and secure.

Of course, this is even more important here in the Coachella Valley where you may have a 2nd home here!

In fact, there are many things that you can do to improve your home security. Today, we’ll talk about ways to make your home safer when you are away.

Install Security Cameras to Protect Your Home When You are Away

First and foremost, you have to install indoor and outdoor security cameras in your house. There are different types of security cameras available for your home these days.

If you decide to install doorbell video cameras, you will be able to see everyone who is entering your house.

An intercom system will allow you to speak with a person who has approached your door.

The modern interior and exterior security cameras with remote access make it possible for you to see what’s happening in your house from their smartphone anywhere and anytime. It’s pretty easy to do home watching with cameras of this type.

Install a Home Security System

You can also connect your cameras with a security system. A home security system consists of motion-activated sensors. Sensors are installed on entry doors and on windows.

If the system detects that someone has intruded on your property, then it will make an alarm sound and begin to send alerts to your mobile phone. So, you will be able to call the police in time and stop burglars from intruding into your house.

Some home security systems are connected with law enforcement. In this case, homeowners even don’t need to call the police.

Replace All Old Entry Doors in Your House to Protect Your Home When You are Away

Entry doors are the first defense line in the security of your house. A door should provide your house with reliable protection from unwelcome guests. Additionally, a door should decorate your house.

If your entry door is not strong enough, intruders will find it easy to open or break it in order to get into your house. In this case, it would be better to replace this door with a new one to prevent such a situation from happening. On top of that, good entry doors will make your house more energy-efficient. And with the sweltering temperatures here in Palm Springs and Palm desert, this can be super important.

You must be very selective when it comes to picking entry doors for your house. When choosing entry doors, you should pay close attention to such aspects as security and beauty. Also, you should aim to pick durable doors that require little maintenance.

Give preference to the doors which have been made of strong materials. On top of that, you need to ensure that your entry door will look great in your house.

The question is – which material is best for entry doors? Actually, it all depends on your preferences and budget. Steel doors are very strong and secure. On the other hand, such doors are too expensive. If you are looking for strong doors that will look beautiful in your home, then solid wood doors are worth considering.

Replace All Old Locks on Your Entry Doors

The same can be said about entry door locks. It’s fair to say that your home’s security largely depends on the quality of your entry door locks. That means that you should protect your house with strong locks that can’t be opened outside. If locks on entry doors of your house are not strong, then you need to have them replaced with new ones as soon as possible.

Take Advantage of Home Watch Services to Protect Your Home When You are Away

Do you have an occupied or vacant property? If so, you’ll be responsible for keeping it safe and secure even if you don’t live in your house. That’s why you need to do inspections and check your home for possible issues on a regular basis.

Let’s say that you don’t have time to do a home watch on your own. Maybe you have a house in Indio and its your 2nd home, but you live in Orange County… it’s not so easy to get there to Indio to check up on the house.

If this is the case, you should trust this important task to professional home watchers. All that you need to do is to make use of professional home watching services. Inspectors will perform all the necessary checks for you and this will help you save a lot of time.

If you engage our home watching service for a property, then our highly trained inspectors will do all the necessary checks in your house for you. Highly trained and fully equipped home watch professionals will check all plumbing systems, electrical systems as well as HVAC systems in your home.

This type of work needs to be done to ensure that there are no leaky pipes, mold infestation, pest intrusion, and other problems in your house.

If any problems have been found during the inspection, Coachella Valley Home Watch will notify you about this quickly. So, you’ll be able to take action quickly and prevent more serious problems from happening in the future.

We all know that it’s a lot easier for burglars to enter a vacant property rather than an occupied property. The reality is, burglars have almost no challenges on their way when they are trying to get into a vacant property. So, the owners of unoccupied properties should do something about this.

Another big advantage of home watch service is that inspectors create a presence in a house. If you use a home watching service, your property will not look vacant anymore. Our Professionals will come to your home for checks regularly. And of course, this will contribute to the security of your home.

Coachella alley Home watch services would be the perfect choice for those people, who have a property in other local cities like Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Indio, La Quinta and Rancho Mirage. So, if you need to travel to a property for checks from a long distance, it can be hard. It’s much easier to make use of home watching services to get inspections and checks done professionally.

Call us today and let us show you how we can help you

What is a Home Watch service?

A Home watch service can be described by several names: house watch, home concierge, house check, caretaker, property monitor, absentee house service, and so on.

Irrespective of the name, a Home Watch involves routine inspections of vacant or empty properties while the owner is away. The National Home Watch Association describes home Watch as “a visual inspection of a home or property looking for obvious issues.”

These inspections shall include the basic checking of electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, together with the general condition of the property. Home Watchers scrutinize a house or condo with a skilled eye to make sure everything is in the right condition.

Not only do we keep watch homes that are completed/ built, but the Coachella Valley Home Watch team also keeps an eye on Construction sites and can act as a property management team for local investors too.

We check for leaks, rodents, and mold, all of which may be found in homes left unattended for even the smallest amount of time.

If the home watcher finds a problem or a potential issue, the homeowner will be immediately notified. The homeowner will, therefore, instruct the home watch service provider on the next course of action to take.

Home Watch services provide a degree of security to the vacant home by collecting junk mail and leaflets and establishing a presence in the empty house. Home watchers, therefore, serve as an eyepiece for the homeowner to monitor their property in absentia; thereby giving them a peace of mind.

A brief history of Home Watching Services

Home Watch is a service provided to people with multiple homes. This is quite common in places with a high number of seasonal residents such as North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, and of course all of the Coachella Valley cities including Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indio, La Quinta and Indian Wells.

Originally it was referred to as assistance by “Neighbors Doing Favors.” These were people who lived and worked in the community all year round, so they gave a bit of help to their snowbird neighbors.

As popularity increased, many began to get paid for it and started advertising home watch as a business.

Unfortunately, these people did not run it as a proper business; they could not secure insurance, or have a legal contract with the homeowners. Therefore, they were dubbed “Hobby Home Watcher.”

However, things started to change in 2008, when home watch services started gaining ground.

The first commercial agencies were launched, as well as companies offering specialist training and consulting services.

Seasonal homeowners then learned how to evaluate a company before handing over the keys to their investment property.

The relevance of home watch services

It is unsafe to leave a home vacant for too long. A lot might have gone wrong before the next time the homeowner will come visiting again. Some minor issues that could have been fixed easily can escalate due to a lack of attention.

However, this is completely avoidable if a home watcher is hired to monitor the house. Therefore, homeowners ought to consider the best maintenance for their home based on the Home Watcher’s experience of potentially horrible circumstances.

There are now many trained and qualified home watchers operating businesses but here is why we stand out. Our job is to carry out a routine, thorough home inspection, and detecting any abnormalities. Our trained home watch experts are equipped to access damage at an early stage before it becomes a mess. We have relevant tools needed to fix most of these problems.

When Hurricane Irma struck South Florida in 2017, there was a turning point in the Home Watch world.

The storm was reported to have destroyed at least $ 50 billion, rendering Irma the most destructive hurricane in the history of Florida, exceeding Hurricane Andrew.

Similarly, in the Coachella Valley in February 2019, a massive storm swept through the area bringing unprecedented floods and damage to countless homes in the Valley.

Quite a large number of people didn’t hire a home watch service. The ones that had hired went to a company that didn’t know how to prepare homes before the storms; or were unprepared to help after the storm.

These incidents propelled recognition and the need to hire reliable home watchers.

This then brings us to how you can identify a good home watch company.

Things to consider before hiring a home watch company

Because homeowners entrust their entire property to the home watching company that they hire, it is important that they choose the right company. A good home watch company will pay attention to the property, make sure everything is working properly, give regular feedback to their clients, and report any sign of break-in to the police.

Homeowners must do thorough research on the company they are hiring. They can’t just let anyone into their homes.

1. National Home Watch Association

The first thing you want to consider is if the company belongs to the National Home Watch Association. This body provides accreditation for home watch services based on certain criteria.

The organization awards accreditation to businesses following insurance and bonding requirements. Also, they check if their home watching services are in line with agencies such as the Better Business Bureau and if they seek to adhere to the association’s code of conduct and mission statement.

2. Insurance

In general liability insurance provision, a home watch service should have a minimum of $1 million, and potential clients should ask for evidence of insurance.

3. Request for references

Another important step is to request and contact references. Check to see if people are happy with their home watching services. You’ll be able to find out if they do precisely what their clients want. This way, you won’t be having any surprises.

4. Background in construction or property management

Having a background in construction or property management will make it easier for home watchers to recognize issues and find reliable vendors to fix the problems.

5. Security Backgrounds

It’s not often that you will find a Home Watch Company where staff have backgrounds in security or policing. Our own Louis Moreto has experience as a police officer, where he worked in all areas of law enforcement and rose through the ranks to Chief of Police. This experience has given him the skills and a trained eye to identify problems or areas of concern. When he visits your house, he can point out those things to make your house safer. He can provide you peace of mind that your house is safe when you are away from your desert property.

6. Is the home watch provider licensed to provide handyman services

Many home watch companies also provide additional services like preparing a home for the owner’s return, getting groceries and stocking the fridge, handy work, pet sitting, putting up hurricane shutters, or other tasks.

Homeowners must verify whether a home watch provider is licensed to do handy jobs and other work that needs licensing.

Some homeowners might require home watch services to better control a recurring pest problem.

So, these are the reasons why you may want to be using a reputable Home Watching service here in the Coachella Valley. GIve us a call on tel:7602052072 and let us show you how we can help you

What Does Coachella Valley Home Watch Do? We Give Snowbirds Peace of Mind !

What does Coachella Valley Home Watch do?

Coachella Valley Home Watch makes sure your home is protected and you have peace of mind knowing that you have a professional Home Watch company checking on your home. We currently provide our clients with regular Home Watch Inspection Reports for their homes in Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta and Indio.

What is the Coachella Valley Home Watch Inspection report?

When our certified Home Watch professional goes to the home, they use an iPad in real time to document all aspects of the inspection. The report is then sent to the homeowner electronically as soon as the inspection is completed after each inspection. If there is a “major issue” (something that costs money and/or requires a professional) the client is contacted immediately.

The report does not have the client’s name on it, but has a code that is known by the client and the Home Watch company so that there is no security breach if someone obtains the report.
The report will have any issue noted, what was done to correct it and a photo of the issue so the homeowner knows exactly what is going on at their property.
The report is color coded so that if there is an issue the client can scan the report quickly and immediately know if there is an issue, what it was and what was done to correct it.

Did you know that insurance companies can deny a claim if your house is vacant?

Coachella Valley Home Watch Reports provide documentation that the house is not vacant, but in fact is checked regularly. This is important for insurance purposes, especially if a claim is made.
We maintain copies of all Home Watch Inspections/Reports so we can provide documentation to your insurance company if any issue arises.

Coachella Valley Home Watch provides you with peace of mind knowing your desert home is watched and protected while you’re away.

So grab some peace of mind and call Coachella Valley Home Watch today to ensure your home is protected by a certified professional while you are away.

Author: Louis Moreto