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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is going to be our first time ever going on vacation bringing dog with us, and therefore leaving the house empty. These are the things we are planning on doing before leaving. Anything I am missing?
-Set outdoor lights to automatic timer
-Turn off water to house and drain faucets
-Put hot water heater in pilot mode
-Set thermostat to 65

I do all of that, and some more.  Here is my list (I am type - A  personality) -

- Leave the addresses and travel info of where I will be staying and contact info with neighbors and have their info on me. Request them to keep an eye on my property.

- Automatic timer on both Indoor and Outdoors lights.

- Make sure that your outdoors pipes  has been winterized also.

- Remove garage openers from all cars that are parked in the driveway.  Make sure that cars do not have personal belongings outside.

- Make sure that your house is clean.  You do not want to come back to a smelly house.  Also empty out the fridge as much as you can.
 
- Either give indoor plants to other people to take care of. Or make sure that all your disease-free and pest-free indoor plants are in a bathroom tub in a sunny bathroom.  Water them very well before leaving. Plug the tub and leave some water in the tub (not soaking the roots) to create a humid micro climate.

- I have been doing the coin  in the freezer trick for a very long time to figure out if there was a power outage in my absence.

- A nestcam in your house is a great idea to monitor your house. Same goes for RING.

- Have someone who can come to your house and take care of problems if there is a need.  I have water leakage alarm in my basement etc, and that will alert me if there is a leak. But then someone needs to also go in my house to fix the problem.

- Remove all the leaves and debris from your yard and basement stairwell.  You do not want the drain going to the sump pump to get blocked.   I actually use an old screen door to line the area that leads to the drain, so that the leaves and debris does not block the drain and cause flooding.

- Cover the lids of all the toilets to prevent any critters coming in and the water evaportaing too much.

- Remove every bit of food from the counters. Do not even forget fruits in a fruit bowl.  You will get fruit flies and ants.  Wipe counters, mop floors.

- Remove all recycling and trash. In fact, if you are missing the trash day, request your neighbors to allow you to combine your trash with them.

- Check the washer and dryer and do not leave damp clothes in them.  Open the lids.

-  Unplug appliances you will not need (so everything except fridge).    Unplug TV, piano, washer-dryer, computers, microwave, hairdryer, lamps, music system etc.  In case of an electric outage or surge or a lightening strike, they will remain protected.  Make sure that you have not left any plug-in air freshener, clothes iron, heated hair tools,  small kitchen appliance plugged in because sometimes they can catch fire.

- Stop all mail and newspaper delivery. Halt the automatic Amazon subscriptions.

- Tell the credit card company that you will be travelling.   Pay all your bills before you go.

- I also put a bar on all my sliding french doors to prevent anyone from coming in.

- Stack and store all outdoor furniture so that they don't get blown around in windy event.

- Check the oven when you leave. Check all things that can catch fire.

[/quote]

- Hide your car-keys, safe keys etc.  Some thieves drove away in my neighbor's SUV parked in the garage  after loading it with their stuff.  Also, you can leave "air tags" in your cars.

- Lock the door from the garage into the house.  Garage is a very common entry point for crooks into your house.

- Worth it to have a water proof, fire proof bolted safe with your important papers in your basement. And that info also in a secure cloud account.  [/quote]

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