Is Home Watch Worth the Cost?

Full transparency, one of the biggest reason Hoosiers don’t hire a home watch company is cost. This is not because the cost is unreasonable, it is because for some it is hard to justify spending money for a professional to come into their home on a regular basis to ensure things are in order. And things are generally in order!

Why do so many Hoosiers struggle with this extra cost?

1. It’s an added monthly expense, and is it really worth it when all is well?

2. Trusting someone in your home is hard; plus, will they show up?

3. It’s not necessary - a family member, friend, or neighbor will watch my home.

We understand these barriers, but after doing this for a while we have learned that those Hoosiers who embrace using a home watch professional have peace of mind and come to know it’s worth it.

Every home watch professional wants to check houses and report “everything is fine” after every visit because nobody thinks it’s fun to alert a homeowner of an issue in their home. We dread it really. Because as most homeowners know, a little problem may be indicative of a much larger issue.

While that part of the work isn’t “fun”, we love discovering issues early to minimize the impact and provide solutions for our Hoosier clients. We want it to be easy for our clients, so we are flexible when it comes to dealing with problems. If it’s an emergency that cannot wait to be handled, we coordinate with trusted local professionals that the owner prefers or can provide the owner with options.

When an issue doesn’t require immediate attention, we let clients know it can wait until they return or coordinate with them so that it is fixed before they return home if preferred.

In the last few years, the list of issues we have discovered continues to grow. Here is a sample of it:

• Frozen pipes

• Pests: mice & clover mites

• Water heat quit

• Leaking pipes

• HVAC system malfunction

• Sump pump battery backup malfunction

• GFIs tripped leading to varies electronics being off

• Humidifier leaking

• Running toilet

• Toilet seal leak

• Basement wall collecting water

• Smoke detector & carbon monoxide detector batteries died

• Big snapping turtle stuck in window well

• Light bulbs out

• Power outages (lead to modems, cameras, etc. needing to be reset)

• Alarm malfunctions

• Garbage disposal broken

• Thermostat malfunctions or batteries dying

• Refrigerator malfunction

• Storm damage (trees, limbs, and fence down)

• Holes outside of homes from animals

• Pool cover pump malfunction

While some of these are bigger problems than others, it shows that things happen. The little things can wait, but some of these could have turned out to be even more costly repairs had they gone unnoticed for longer. For example, a water heater that stops working may lead to flooding if not handled. Some of our biggest fans are our clients that have had issues in their house when they were away for a short(er) vacation prior to hiring a home watch service in Indiana. They know that having eyes in their home regularly for a small cost (while hopefully unnecessary), pays in spades if the unexpected arises.