Good suggestions. If it's over a winter holiday, I always ask my neighbors to have their guests park in my driveway. Gives it a good lived in appearance, and it's nice to have fresh (snow) tire tracks leading in and out.

Hi Blast

Your neighborhood may not have sump pumps installed. In case anyone is not familiar with them, they live in the basement usually in a small well below the level of the basement floor. They pump out the water that would otherwise fill the basement.

For those of us that have them:

1. They fail most often when you are away, so you return home to a new swimming pool. Having someone check the basement frequently, and especially after a rain storm is a very good idea.

2. They also don't work if there is no electrical power. During last year's hurricane, I had to run my neighbor's sump pump (and mine) off my generator for 2 days while they were on vacation.

If you have a sump pump, have a plan.

Ah, sump pumps. Not a problem here. The water table is about four feet down so houses here don't have basements.

Which severly limits where a husband can stash stuff.

-Blast

Thats why we have garages!!!!!

That's why we build "workshops," separate from the house...

Unplug the important stuff, like the computer. Surge protectors won't protect a really nearby lightning strike. A friend of mine in WI just discovered that, as did all her neighbors.

Set the timers to times the stuff would normally be on.

If you're leaving a small booklet with a neighbor with all your photos in it, include a photo of the friend(s) who would be checking your house. Don't confuse the Neighborhood Watch AND the police.

On your last walk-through, be sure to turn off all your wake-up alarms. I had a townhouse neighbor who left before his alarm went off.

"I've always turned my gas back on myself. Hmmm, I wonder what's the best way to ask my insurance company about that..."

Don't EVER ask your insurance company about something like that! They maintain logs of calls in your file. A question like that would probably raise your insurance premiums, and if you were to have a claim for any kind of fire, it WILL be used against you. Yes, it's insane. And YES, they do it.

Anyone in a snow area should have a neighbor drive in and out of your driveway a few times to leave tracks. What does a pristine property tell the local junkies when it hasn't snowed for four days?

Sue