- Working from home: how to organise your day
- Information on coronavirus
- Salary and housing costs
- The smartest irrigation systems
- Residence for Seniors or a Nursing Home? Tips
- Vacation! Who takes care of your apartment?
- Which municipality in the canton Aargau suits me?
- Keep your vacation home secure against burglary
- This is how I secure my house during winter times
- Living in the french-speaking part of Switzerland
- Tips on Living with Pets
- In Switzerland, community aid is booming
- Differences in Housing
- What to do if you lose your key(s)
- Housing search for seniors: Over 65 difficult
- Heating: what temperature should each room be?
- Fitting lamps made easy
- Smart home systems
Vacation! Who takes care of your apartment?
Anyone planning a vacation trip certainly has to make traveling preparations in advance. Part of that planning includes making sure that everything to do with your apartment or home is taken care of properly while you are gone. There are a few things you need to take into consideration so that when you return home, your vacation isn’t ruined by some nasty surprises. We have compiled a list of tips so this doesn’t happen to you.
Make checklists for your housesitter/apartment sitter
Your apartment is your personal retreat, and you want to know that it’s in the best hands possible while you are on vacation. Relatives, friends or even neighbors familiar with your living situation usually don’t mind performing the usual tasks such as watering plants, airing your place out on a regular basis, emptying the mailbox and caring for pets. This is especially true if such friendship services are based on reciprocity. In any case, it is advisable to make a checklist in which you clearly state what you would like your housesitter or caretaker to do. This ensures that your housesitter or whoever is coming over on a regular basis to check your house can know for sure what you want done. For example, you can provide a watering schedule that indicates how often which plants need to be watered.
The holiday season: A burglar’s favorite “season”
Burglars often break into homes when homeowners are away because of the low risk of discovery. When traveling, make arrangements ahead of time to make it look like someone is at home. Make arrangements with the person checking in on your house that they sometimes turn on the lights in the evening in at least one room, always bring in newspapers and empty the mailbox. All this gives the impression that a house is occupied. If friends or relatives are the ones checking on your house, you should also ask your immediate neighbors to keep an eye on your home as well because there is a good chance they would hear any suspicious activity and would immediately call the police.
Tenant obligations are also important when you are away on vacation
But tenants are also responsible for meeting certain obligations in making sure that their home is secure while they are away. This means that the landlord must have unimpeded access to a rental apartment in an emergency, e.g., if a fire breaks out or a faulty water pipe causes a flood. Let your landlord know ahead of time who has your spare key. If you don’t, you run the risk of having to pay damages if there are any doubts about what happened while you were gone.
What should you do if you cannot find someone to either housesit or take care of your property while you are gone?
Professional service providers are happy to help and ensure reliable housing organization during the holiday season when helpful friends, relatives or neighbors can’t help because they may be traveling at the same time. In many European countries, including Switzerland, there are a number of companies that provide house sitter/apartment sitter services. Whether you live in a rented apartment, house with a yard or own a larger piece of property, these agencies create customized plans that are based on customer needs. For example, if you just want to make sure that the plants are being watered and the mailbox is not overflowing, you can count on these house caretakers to be there on a regular basis and handle those tasks with care. Purchasing a housesitter package is another way to ensure that you can go on your vacation worry free because you know that your house is being taken care of 24/7. In this case, housesitters live in your house and carry out all the obligations in the contract for the desired period.