It can be unsettling to leave your vacation rental unattended for an extended period of time.  You never know if you are going to come back to serious water damage issues or expensive maintenance problems.  For this reason many rent by owner vacation rental owners hire a professional service to routinely check on their property or even offer a drastically reduced rent for someone to house sit.

Recently one vacation rental owner contacted us to let us know that a leak in the reverse osmosis drinking water system caused over $40,000 in water damage.  The water flooded the home so thoroughly that there were literally weeds sprouting up out of the carpets!  Typically this type of water damage is caught in dense condo complexes by other owners, however, if you rent a single family home you may not find out until you come back or your next visitors arrive.

Most likely there are vacation watch services and house sitting services that can help prevent disasters and vandalism.  Basic “house watch” services may include walking through your rental, flushing toilets, checking windows, adjusting temperatures for heating and cooling, looking for pests and more.  Many of these simple checks can be done for $50 to $100 per month.  Of course, a house sitter may be the best as they are there full time.  Be sure to check the references for any of these services to be sure they are reputable and reliable.