keep home safe while away | Enjoy Travel Life

What To Do When Leaving Home for Extended Time: Top 10 Homeowner Tips

By Jackie Gately
(First published )
(Reading Time: 6 minutes)
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It’s always a matter of concern about what to do when leaving home for extended time.

Leaving your home unattended for longer durations can cause you unnecessary worries while you travel!

What will you return to? Will your investment be safe? What if someone breaks in or the weather is frigid?

These are all valid concerns.

But with these homeowner tips, you can rest assured your home will remain safe. Then, you can truly enjoy a relaxing time away.

Learn how, below.

What to do when leaving home for extended time
What To Do When Leaving Home for Extended Time

CONTENTS – This article shares important ideas and tips when you’re thinking about what to do when leaving home for extended time, including;

10 Tips to Keep Your Home Running Smoothly While You’re Traveling

It can be difficult to leave your home for an extended period of time.

You know there are things you should be doing to keep it running smoothly.

But don’t worry – with these ten tips, you can relax and enjoy your travels without having to worry about what’s happening at home.

Read these great tips that follow before leaving your home for some longer durations.

You’ll come away with a much better idea about what to do when leaving home for extended time.

1 Hire A Lawn Service

If you have a lawn, one of the most important things you can do to keep your home looking cared for is to make sure it’s being mowed regularly.

You can either hire a lawn service or ask a friend or neighbor to do it for you while you’re gone.

Either way, an overgrown lawn raises attention, so keep it coiffed.

2. Make Sure Your Trash Service is Covered

Another important thing to keep up with while you’re away is trash service.

If you have weekly trash service, make sure that your cans are put out on the correct day – even if they’re empty.

For a bi-weekly service, put them out the night before your scheduled pick-up.

Skipping the trash is another sign that you’re out of town.

Ask a neighbor or friend to keep up appearances while you’re away.

3. Consider Pest Control

No one wants to come home to find their home infested with pests.

To avoid this, you might consider contacting a pest control company before you leave. They can assess and treat your home for common pests, like ants, mice, or squirrels. Then, you can set up a regular schedule of treatments while you’re away.

Arranging a good pest control evaluation makes good sense, especially if you will be out of town for an extended period. To find the right company for the job, look for a reliable source with good reviews, like Aptive pest control New Jersey (or one in your area).

You can put your mind to easy knowing you’re home will be safe from pests while you’re away.

4. What to Do About Your Mail and Newspaper Delivery?

There are mixed reviews on whether to suspend your mail and newspaper delivery while you’re away.

If you’re going to be gone for more than a few days, you may want to stop your mail and newspaper delivery.

The U.S. Postal Service offers a hold service for mail, and most newspapers will have someone who can deliver them to your door (instead of the driveway or mailbox) while you’re away.

Still, letting the postal service know you’re away is a matter of discretion.

You may want to ask someone you trust to to take the mail in for you on a regular schedule instead.

If you’re concerned about important deliveries during your absence, using USPS detailed mail tracking can provide peace of mind. This service allows you to monitor the status of your mail and packages, offering a secure way to manage your deliveries. Then you can better coordinate with your trusted contact for safe collection.

5. Ensuring Plant Care

If you have plants in your home, they’ll need to be watered regularly while you’re gone.

You can either ask a friend or neighbor to do this for you, or invest in a self-watering system.

During the growing season, outdoor plants and garden will need care in your absence too.

Do some research on this and plan accordingly.

You may opt for an automated watering system, or enlist the help of a friend or neighbor.

6. Taking Care of Your Home Security

When you’re away from home, it’s important to make sure that your home is secure.

This means making sure all doors and windows are locked, setting up a security system, and perhaps even having a friend or neighbor keep an eye on things.

Installing CCTV cameras is another option.

These can be most useful, especially those that are monitored or you can review from afar.

This will offer you comfort by providing surveillance at your finger tips.

Home Security | Enjoy Travel Life
Home Safety

7. Addressing Your Utilities While You’re Away

First and foremost, you’ll need to make sure that your utilities are still being paid while you’re away.

Set your thermostat accordingly before you go.

Make sure to keep things minimally heated or air conditioned to avoid weather-related issues.

You’ll also want to arrange for someone to check on things periodically, and take care of any repairs that may come up.

There’s nothing worse than coming home to burst pipes or a mildew-filled home!

8. Should You Suspend Your Cleaning Service During Vacation?

If you don’t want to come home to a messy house, you’ll need to arrange for a cleaning service while you’re gone.

This can be done weekly or bi-weekly, depending on your needs.

In fact, if you already have a cleaning service, you may want to keep them coming while you’re away.

Not only will this keep up with the cleaning, but it makes it look as though you are home.

9. What To Do About Home Maintenance

In addition to regular cleaning, you’ll also need to take care of any home maintenance that may come up while you’re away.

This could include things like changing the furnace filter or fixing a leaky faucet.

You can have a neighbor give technicians access to the house, or put a key in a lockbox for them.

10. Providing An Emergency Contact

Before you leave, make sure to leave your contact information with a friend or neighbor in case of an emergency.

This way, they can reach you if something comes up that needs your attention.

And also, keep a list of emergency contacts should you be unreachable. This could be a relative’s name or your service companies.

Then you know that you’ve got a back-up person in place, should something go wrong.

Final Thoughts on What To Do When Leaving Home For Extended Time

Leaving your home for longer duration is always not easy.

It takes some planning and alternate arrangements, because sometimes things go differently than expected.

But, with these ten tips, you can rest assured that your home will be well taken care of while you’re away.

Now that you know what to do when leaving home for extended time, you’ll have a plan in place to handle almost any type of emergency.

So go ahead and enjoy your travels – your home will be in good hands.

Jackie Gately at the beach


About Jackie Gately, editor-IN-CHIEF

I'm Jackie Gately, your travel confidante and the creative force behind Enjoy Travel Life, awarded the "Best Casual-Luxury Lifestyle Blog (USA)" in Travel and Tourism by LUXlife Magazine for four consecutive years.

With 25 years of published expertise, I'm a seasoned writer, editor, and photographer curating inspiring travel guides and lifestyle tips for empty nesters. I hope to kindle your spirit of exploration, encouraging you to overcome obstacles and turn your dreams into reality.

Learn to minimize your pre-travel angst and maximize the joy of exploration with insights from my experiences. Let's make every adventure a celebration of this exciting phase of life! 

Follow my social channels for more inspiration.

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