National Home Watch Month

March 2024 | #NationalHomeWatchMonth

The National Home Watch Association Announces
Inaugural National Home Watch Month

'Home Watch' is not a term known to the general public. Those in the Home Watch industry want to make 'Home Watch' a household name. To do that, we need to educate the general public. So March has been declared National Home Watch Month. During this time, all Home Watch Companies associated with the NHWA have been encouraged to help educate the general public about the Home Watch Industry.

What Does A Home Watch Service Do?

Home Watch is a service that performs visual inspections of a home or property, looking for obvious issues. When looking for a Home Watch company, make sure they have a registered business name, are bonded and insured. You also want to make sure the Home Watch company that you hire has been professionally trained in the Home Watch industry and has the education, knowledge and experience to examine your home, document their findings and provide reports through a secured software portal.

The National Home Watch Association (NHWA) was founded in 2009 to establish insurance requirements, best practices, policies and procedures, as well as ethics for this new service industry not yet officially recognized by any federal, provincial, or municipal government in the US or Canada. All Accredited Members have background checks and are vetted for business practices. You can find a list of accredited members of the National Home Watch Association on their website.

Who Uses A Home Watch Company?

Clients of Home Watch are those who take long extended vacations or own multiple residential properties. While clients are residing in one of their homes, they need a Home Watch company to make regular visits and inspections of the home they are not currently staying.

Why Are Home Watch Visits Necessary?

A lot can happen inside an unoccupied home. Water leak damage is one of the most expensive catastrophes that can happen to a home. If not caught quickly, floors, baseboards, counters, and furniture could all become ruined from water damage. Home Watch visits include looking for water damage and if found, will immediately take action and notify the homeowner.

Tripped breakers can also cause problems. Imagine coming home to find out that you had a breaker trip which caused your refrigerator to stop working. Now all your food is spoiled and you have a big mess to clean up. Coming home to a defrosted freezer would also not be a pleasant thing. A Home Watch inspection would have caught these problems, fixed them if possible or notified you to help resolve together before you returned home.

Thermostats can also malfunction and cause your home to become too hot or too cold. If the batteries in your thermostat go out, you will be unable to control your HVAC system. When you hire a Home Watch Service Provider, you can rest assured knowing that checking your thermostats is one of the items that will be done.

A Home Watch Service can also check your wifi speed to ensure it's working for all your remote access devices. If needed, we can also reboot your router and even meet with your internet service provider if they need to come in to make a repair while you are away.

Inclement weather can also cause damage to your home. Imagine a cold front comes through and freezes your pipes, they burst and now your pool system is ruined. Another potential problem is trees coming down and landing on your house after a large Texas thunderstorm. If you have a Home Watch company looking after your home while you are away, they can check the exterior of your home after bad weather and notify you of any damage done to your property.

A Home Watch Service provides homeowners with the assurance that their property is being regularly checked and monitored, giving them peace of mind while they are away. A home watch service can identify potential problems before they become major issues, saving homeowners time and money in the long run.

How is Home Watch different from House Watch?

House Watch is a term often used by HOAs that offer volunteer service of driving by an unoccupied home, walking the exterior premises checking for signs of a break-in or vandalism. Home Watch also performs these actions but goes a step further by doing things to make the home look as though someone is there. We will pick up any mail, flyers or packages from your front door and sweep away any debries or collection of dead bugs. We will also occassionally move your trash cans to the curb on trash day and roll them back into the garage the next day. Upon your requests, we can also change the lighting in your home to make it appear someone is in various parts of the home when you are not there. House Watch programs often use off duty police officers and arrive to your home in their police vehicle which draws attention to your house. Dallas Home Watch will arrive at your house in a discreet, unmarked vehicle in order to not draw attention to the fact that your house is empty and being monitored. Home Watch companies also go above and beyond a House Watch program because Home Watch professionals enter your home and check all of your appliances to make sure everything is working. They also check your attic for leaks after heavy rain.

How is Home Watch different from House Sitting?

When you hire a House Sitter, that person will come in and stay in your home overnight for the duration of your absence. A House Sitter will sleep, eat, watch tv and possibly entertain guests while you are away. Hiring a House Sitter to detour squatters and possible break-ins may be all you want. Home Watch professionals do not stay at your house overnight. They are professionally trained to perform inspections on your home looking for things like water leaks, mold, mildew and more. Home Watch professionals document their findings and notify the homeowner of any potential problems and then work with the client to resolve any issues. A House Sitter will sit in your house. A Home Watch professional will help mitigate risks by performing inspections on your property.

In summary, House Watch programs will check the exerior of your home looking for vandalism. House Sitters will sit in your home with the intent to detour squatters or break-ins. A Home Watch company will provide inspections of the interior and exterior of your home to provide peace of mind about your property while you are away.