What is the difference between home watch and property management?

Property management exists to serve a landlord: it handles leases, tenants, rent collection, and turnovers on an income property. Home watch serves an owner who lives in the home part of the year and wants it protected while it sits empty — scheduled inspections, photo reports, and coordination of repairs. There are no tenants and no rent involved.

How often should a vacant Florida home be inspected?

Every 7 to 14 days is the standard for an unoccupied South Florida home, and many high-value homeowner policies require documented inspections at that interval to keep water-damage coverage intact. Weekly is typical during hurricane season and for waterfront or oceanfront properties exposed to salt air.

Is home watch the same as a house sitter?

No. A house sitter provides occupancy. A home watch service provides a licensed, insured, background-checked inspection on a documented schedule, with written photo reports and vendor coordination when something needs repair. Nobody stays in your home.

Does home watch include maintenance and repairs?

The inspection itself does not. When we find a problem we report it, recommend a course of action, and — with your approval — bring in a licensed trade and supervise the work. Owners who want the maintenance calendar run for them move up to full estate management.

How much does home watch cost in Palm Beach County?

Pricing depends on the size of the home, how often it is inspected, and how long it sits empty. Palm Beach County home watch is generally quoted per visit on a monthly plan. We price it after walking the property, so the plan reflects the actual house rather than a square-footage table.

Definition

What Is Home Watch in Palm Beach County?

By Nick Martinsen, Owner · Updated August 2026

Home watch is a scheduled visual inspection of an unoccupied home. A trained person walks the interior and exterior on a set cadence, checks the systems most likely to fail while nobody is there — air conditioning, plumbing, humidity, roof line, pool equipment — and sends the owner a timestamped, photo-documented report after every visit. It is inspection and reporting, not maintenance, not rental management, and not housekeeping.

That is the whole answer. The rest of this page is what the inspection actually covers, how often a Florida home needs one, what it costs, and where home watch stops and estate management begins — written by the people who do the walking, in Palm Beach and Martin Counties.

Why an empty house needs watching at all

A house in South Florida does not sit still when you leave. Humidity climbs, salt air works on metal, an A/C condensate line backs up, a supply line behind a toilet lets go at two in the morning. None of it announces itself.

The difference between a $400 repair and a $90,000 remediation is almost always how many days passed before somebody opened the door. Home watch is a scheduling decision, not a luxury: it puts a trained set of eyes in the house often enough that small problems stay small.

There is also the paperwork side. Many high-value homeowner policies in Florida limit or exclude water damage in a dwelling left unoccupied without documented inspections. A photo report on a dated cadence is what keeps that argument from happening at claim time.

Interior systems

Most six-figure losses in an empty Florida home start small and quiet.

Air conditioning and humidity: Supply temperature at the register, condensate line flowing, drip pan dry, humidistat holding. A clogged condensate line is the single most common cause of interior water damage in a vacant South Florida house.
Plumbing and water: Under every sink, behind toilets, at the water heater, at the washer connections. Traps get run so seals don't dry out and let sewer gas into the house.
Appliances and electrical: Refrigerator and ice maker behaving, breakers seated, no tripped GFCIs, no failed smoke detector batteries.
Pests and intrusion: Droppings, ant trails, wasp activity in the lanai, and any sign a door or window has been opened since the last visit.

Exterior and grounds

The envelope is what keeps weather out for the eight months you are gone.

Roof line and openings: Visible tile displacement, staining at soffits and fascia, window and door seals, shutter tracks clear and operable.
Pool and water features: Water level, pump running, cage or screen intact, deck free of debris that stains and clogs.
Landscape and irrigation: Zones firing, no broken heads flooding a bed, no branch growing into a roof line or a service disconnect.

The report

The deliverable is the record. If the visit isn't documented, it may as well not have happened.

Timestamped photographs: Dated images of each area walked, filed in your EstateEase portal the same day — the record insurers and warranty administrators ask for.
Written exceptions: What we found, what we recommend, and what we need your approval to fix. No approvals happen without you.

Scope

What a home watch visit includes.

The standing checklist we work from on every property, adjusted for waterfront exposure, pool equipment, and how long the house sits empty.

Scheduled interior inspections: leaks, humidity, A/C performance, plumbing, appliances
Exterior inspections: roof line, windows, doors, pool equipment, irrigation, landscape
Photo-documented, timestamped report delivered after every visit
Storm preparation, shuttering, and post-storm damage checks
Mail and package collection and handling
Vehicle starts and battery checks
Running water, flushing lines, and checking for pest activity
Access management for approved vendors and deliveries

Where the line sits

Home watch, estate management, or property management?

Home watch is inspection and reporting on a schedule. It is the right fit for a seasonal home that needs eyes on it and a record kept.

Estate management includes the inspections and adds running the household — vendors, the maintenance calendar, arrivals and departures, renovations, staff. One person accountable for all of it.

Property management is for landlords: leases, tenants, rent. We do not do it, and it has nothing to do with a home you live in.

If you are deciding between the first two, start with our home watch service and read what full estate management covers. Or call and describe the house: 561-351-6323.

Questions

Home watch, answered.

What is home watch?: Home watch is a scheduled visual inspection of an unoccupied home. A trained person walks the interior and exterior on a set cadence, checks the systems most likely to fail while nobody is there — air conditioning, plumbing, humidity, roof line, pool equipment — and sends the owner a timestamped, photo-documented report after every visit. It is inspection and reporting, not maintenance, not rental management, and not housekeeping.
What is the difference between home watch and property management?: Property management exists to serve a landlord: it handles leases, tenants, rent collection, and turnovers on an income property. Home watch serves an owner who lives in the home part of the year and wants it protected while it sits empty — scheduled inspections, photo reports, and coordination of repairs. There are no tenants and no rent involved.
How often should a vacant Florida home be inspected?: Every 7 to 14 days is the standard for an unoccupied South Florida home, and many high-value homeowner policies require documented inspections at that interval to keep water-damage coverage intact. Weekly is typical during hurricane season and for waterfront or oceanfront properties exposed to salt air.
Is home watch the same as a house sitter?: No. A house sitter provides occupancy. A home watch service provides a licensed, insured, background-checked inspection on a documented schedule, with written photo reports and vendor coordination when something needs repair. Nobody stays in your home.
Does home watch include maintenance and repairs?: The inspection itself does not. When we find a problem we report it, recommend a course of action, and — with your approval — bring in a licensed trade and supervise the work. Owners who want the maintenance calendar run for them move up to full estate management.
How much does home watch cost in Palm Beach County?: Pricing depends on the size of the home, how often it is inspected, and how long it sits empty. Palm Beach County home watch is generally quoted per visit on a monthly plan. We price it after walking the property, so the plan reflects the actual house rather than a square-footage table.

Before you hire

Vetting a home watch company
Licensing, general liability, and the difference between a checklist and a real record.
What to look for in an estate manager
Single point of contact, vendor accountability, and a written record of every decision.
What home watch costs
Published rates from $750 a month and the six factors that move the price.
Common questions
What happens between visits, who to call, and how quickly an owner responds.

Begin

Tell us how long the house sits empty.

We will walk it with you, tell you what it actually needs, and price the cadence around that — not around a square-footage table.

Book your free consultation

Tell us about your home. We'll respond within one business day.