When interviewing potential business candidates to manage your private asset called a seasonal home, it’s important to understand exactly what they’ll be doing. In aviation, extremely detailed checklists ensure that each and every flight covers the essentials to keep crew and passengers safe. Your house deserves no less.
Ask any pilot and they will tell you that checklists have proven their purpose time and time again. There are checklists for engine start, taxi, takeoff, descent, and landing. They list the elements that should be considered. It is a written checklist and is reviewed at each phase of the flight. Do not miss anything. An item may not be required for this particular flight, but it is always considered. Checklists have saved thousands of flights from disaster through systematic planning that ensures attention to detail. And each type of aircraft has a different checklist. There are no ‘generic’ planes and no generic checklists – each plane has a checklist customized for that plane. How does this apply to your empty house?
When a property as valuable as yours sits vacant, it requires constant, thorough and systematic attention to its systems. The electrical system, plumbing system, basic structure, appliances, roof, landscaping and others cannot be left to chance. Every part of every system should receive an evaluation during a planned and scheduled visit that documents what was done. The format for your assurance of this is a written checklist.
If you are interviewing a home monitoring service, they should have a sample of their checklists. It must be (1) written, (2) comprehensive, and (3) customized specifically for your household. Let’s look at each of these three points in more detail.
The checklist must be in writing. If some who represent themselves as a home clock company can’t produce a written checklist, save yourself time and money. These are people who will ‘work from memory’ to accomplish what they do. How can they show the achievement of each element? Just ask them! Without a written checklist, you have no idea what was actually done. They may have run around the property and made sure there were no fires, and left. Without a written checklist, you have no idea. A good company will keep the checklist for reference in case it thinks there may be a problem in the future.
Second, the checklist must be exhaustive. Many potential house watchers will have a simple list. Unless you live in an extremely simple condo with no bathroom, that won’t work. It must include all parts of each system. The plumbing system should be divided into toilets, sinks, drains, and supply lines, as well as water heaters. Air conditioning system checks should include temperature checks, humidity log, filter check, and outlet temperature measurements. If you’re presented with a simple ‘toilets, AC, sprinklers’ checklist, go somewhere else and save yourself heartache and headaches in the future.
Lastly, the checklist should be customized for your property. Just like in aviation, if you don’t have a checklist for your specific property, you don’t have a real checklist. Generic won’t cut it. Do you have a second freezer? It must be documented. Multiple air conditioning units? Absolutely. Specialized lights, landscaping systems, plumbing systems, or high-end vehicles need special controls, and memory is not what you want to rely on. If the service starts with a comprehensive checklist that is then tailored to your property, you are hiring an expert. Make sure they record your special needs and add them to your list during the initial registration interview.
Checklists have saved many lives and planes in aviation. Applied to your Snowbird home, they can do the same thing. But keep these three key elements in mind when interviewing home clock companies.