A checklist is not valuable because it is long. It is valuable because it assigns the right question to the right person before the home is empty.

1. Confirm the absence plan

  • Write down departure and expected return windows without sharing them publicly.
  • Decide who needs to know the home is unoccupied.
  • Confirm how often a trusted person or service should visit.
  • Ask the insurer what the specific policy requires during vacancy or extended absence.
  • Identify who can make decisions if the owner cannot be reached.

2. Document safe access

  • Choose the appropriate way to transfer and store keys or access credentials.
  • Confirm alarm and gate procedures directly with authorized parties.
  • List anyone permitted to enter and the limits of that permission.
  • Keep codes, key locations, and security details out of ordinary email, voicemail, and public forms.
  • Provide a way to revoke or change access when a vendor relationship ends.

3. Map the home's observable systems

List the systems and areas that a recurring visual walkthrough should include. Depending on the property, that may include air conditioning, temperature and humidity displays, visible supply and drain areas, water heaters, doors, windows, locks, appliances, electrical panels visible without opening or testing them, pool or landscape conditions visible from safe areas, and delivered items.

Document what “normal” looks like. A visual visit can notice a change more readily when there is a known baseline.

4. Create the contact ladder

  • Primary and secondary owner contacts
  • Local emergency contact
  • Alarm or security provider
  • HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, pool, landscape, pest, and other existing providers
  • Insurance agent or adviser
  • Property association, town, county, utility, and emergency contacts where relevant

Indicate who should be called first for each type of condition and who can authorize cost or scope changes.

5. Define the visit and communication standard

  • Visit frequency and any insurer-confirmed requirement
  • Interior and exterior areas included
  • Readings or readily observable conditions to note
  • Mail, packages, vehicles, and routine household tasks
  • What merits an immediate call versus a routine update
  • What photographs, if any, are appropriate and how sensitive images will be handled

6. Plan vendor access before a project starts

Record the provider's identity, date and access window, work authorized by the owner, areas the vendor may enter, who can approve a change, and how completion will be confirmed. The person providing access should not be assumed to warrant or professionally inspect the vendor's work.

7. Prepare for arrivals and departures

For an arrival, decide which household, vehicle, climate, technology, delivery, and vendor details should be checked or coordinated. For departure, decide how the property should be closed, what perishables or deliveries require attention, and whether upcoming appointments or weather plans are unresolved.

8. Separate storm planning from emergency instructions

Owner-authorized property preparation can be planned in advance, but public authorities control evacuation, road, reentry, and safety instructions. No private provider should promise access during unsafe conditions. Use the separate hurricane planning guide and the appropriate county and town sources.

9. Review the plan after every material change

Update the plan after a renovation, vendor change, access change, insurance change, extended trip, major system replacement, ownership change, or experience that revealed a gap. Remove permissions that are no longer needed.