Your crew's winter route

Every fall, some of your best lawn and pool clients head south and leave a house sitting empty until spring. Someone should be checking on it every week. It might as well be the person already on their street.

That's home watch: regular visits to an empty home, a look inside and out, and a short report to the owner after each one. Here's how to add it to your business before your clients leave.

Why it fits a lawn or pool business

• You already have the clients. The people heading south already pay you and already trust you on their property.
• You already have the route. The same streets you mow or service all summer make a tight winter route, and drive time between stops is what decides whether home watch pays.
• It fills the slow months. Steady weekly visits from November to April, billed monthly.
• It keeps you in touch all winter. When they're back in spring, you're the first person they think of for spring cleanup and opening the pool.

What a winter visit covers

An empty house in a northern winter mostly goes wrong in a few ways: the heat fails, a pipe freezes, snow and ice get into the roof, or someone notices nobody's home. A visit is a walk around and a walk through, looking for exactly those.

• Heat running and the house holding the temperature you agreed with the owner.
• Water runs at the faucets; no frost or bulging on exposed pipes; no water on floors or stains on ceilings.
• Furnace and dryer vents on the outside wall clear of drifted snow.
• Sump pump working and the basement dry.
• Roof and gutters: no ice dams, no heavy icicles over doors, nothing sagging under snow.
• Walks and drive cleared, by you or their plow service, so the house doesn't look empty.
• No footprints or tracks in the snow around doors and windows that shouldn't be there.
• Mail, packages and flyers picked up.
• Power on and no tripped breakers. After an outage, check that the furnace started again.
• Smoke and CO detectors quiet, and no fuel or exhaust smell near the furnace.

Our free visit checklist has a Winter & Freeze section with the main winter checks, and the rest (heat, faucets, breakers, detectors) are in its everyday sections. Agree with each owner which ones apply.

Offer it to your clients before they leave

Most snowbirds leave in October and November and settle who's watching the house a few weeks before. Send this to the clients you know go south, then follow up in person at your last visits of the season.

Before you head south

Copy

Subject: Keeping an eye on your house this winter

Hi [first name],

Thanks for another season. Before you head south, there's something new I'm offering this winter: I'll check on your house while you're away.

Every [week / other week] I'll go through it inside and out: the heat running and holding, no frozen or leaking pipes, no ice damage on the roof, nothing disturbed, and the mail picked up. After each visit you'll get an email with photos the same day. If something's wrong, I call you first and get it taken care of.

It's $[X] a month for weekly visits[, plus $[X] for an extra check after a big storm or a power outage]. You already know me, and I'm on your street anyway.

If you'd like it, reply and we'll do a quick walk-through before you leave, so I know where the shutoffs are and how you want the house left.

[Your name]
[Business name] · [phone]

Insurance and paperwork

• Call your insurance agent first. A lawn or pool policy is written for outdoor work. Ask specifically about going inside clients' homes and holding their keys; you may need to add coverage. Many home watch businesses also carry a bond or crime coverage.
• Check your license. Ask your city, county or state whether the new service needs its own registration.
• Put it in writing. Our free service agreement covers visits, fees, what you may do in an emergency, and the keys and codes you hold. It's a starting point, not legal advice: have an attorney in your state look at it.
• Decide who goes inside. Home watch means being alone in someone's home. Many owners make these visits themselves, or send only their most trusted person.

Pricing

Our pricing worksheet (Excel, or PDF) works out a price per visit from the pay you want, your costs and your drive time. A few things specific to winter:

• Your drive time between stops will be short, since these homes are already on your route. That's your edge.
• Price the extras up front: a check after a big snow or ice storm, after a power outage, or letting in a furnace tech.
• Bill monthly through the winter. It's simpler for both of you, and it's steady income.

Getting started

1. This week: call your insurance agent and set your price.
2. Before your clients leave: send the email, then walk through each home with the owner using our walk-through worksheet. Sign the agreement and collect the keys.
3. All winter: visit on schedule, and send a report with photos after every visit.
4. In spring: hand back the keys, and book their spring work while you're there.

More free forms, a lead email and marketing ideas are on our free resources page.