Home Watch is a vital service for all seasonal residents. This fact is indisputable. Professional home watch providers take the business of watching over vacant homes very seriously. It is a profession – not a hobby or a favor.

Home Watch is not a regulated industry. Anyone can jump onto The Home Watch Bandwagon. Some businesses add Home Watch to their list of services with good intentions or because they think it is easy. There are well-intended individuals and “Neighbors Doing Favors” who may not know what to look for and are certainly not insured. There are also some downright scoundrels who may, personally, use the home or even rent it out for their own profit.

What are their qualifications and training? Who is actually making the visit? What is their experience? Do they have resources to handle a damaging situation? Are they properly insured? What is their “Plan B” if they cannot make a visit due to their own emergency?

How do they document visits? Many professionals use a Home Watch Management and Reporting Software that is GPS enabled; proof that a visit has been made.

Each year, countless numbers of seasonal residents return to disasters because they have hired an unqualified, non-credentialed, provider.

Here are some obvious signs that they are not true professionals:

• They claim to have a Home Watch License
• No such license exists, at least not in the state of Florida. They may have a Business Tax Receipt, which used to be called an Occupational License. It even states: “This document is a business tax only. This is not certification that the licensee is qualified.”
• They offer monthly home watch visits or “a frequency of the client’s choosing”
• Trained home watch providers know that anything less than a bi-monthly visit gives the homeowner a false sense of security. Many homes are visited on a weekly basis.
• They offer prices that may be too good to be true
• Home Watch does not cost $10, $15, even $20. The going rate for professional home watch is around $50 per visit for a 2 to 3 bedroom home; more for larger homes and estates.

Your Home Watch Professionals is fully dedicated to the responsible growth of the Home Watch Industry:

• The Home Watch Training Program is the first of its kind. Participants learn all aspects of running a home watch company including the featured module: The Exceptional Home Watch Visit.
• The YHWP Home Watch Affiliate Program consists of independently owned home watch businesses that partake in marketing, ongoing training, and knowledge-based testing. Each company is properly insured, bonded and passed a background check.

If you hire someone, not properly trained or credentialed, it is at your own risk.

Caveat Emptor: “Let the buyer beware”