Protecting a Holiday Rental Property Remotely

With the summer season on us cottage, cabin and other vacation property owners are beginning to ‘summerize’ their vacation homes and get them ready for the season. Whether you rent out your vacation home or not, it’s important to keep tabs on it even when you’re not there, but even more so if you’re planning on using it as an income property.

The number one home insurance claim is water damage with the most common type being water damage due to burst plumbing, flooding etc. Do you trust that renters will take care to not leave a sink or tub running while unattended? Or how much faith do you have that the old hot water heater, or washing machine joints won’t fail while the property is unoccupied?  These can lead to incredibly expensive repairs and renovations, plus lost revenue due to your inability to rent during these down times.

Water leak sensors with shut off valves like our Floodstop and WaterCop systems work very well at stopping the leak and preventing more damage, but do NOT notify you that the problem has occurred. To accomplish that we recommend a combination of the WaterCop system and a SwitchSpot wifi monitor. The WaterCop will shut your water off instantly when any of its sensors detect water, and the SwitchSpot device will alert you via email and text message that a leak was detected. Perfect for limiting the amount of damage a leak can cause and still alerting you so action can be taken.

If you live particularly far away from your vacation or cottage rental then using a local monitoring or rental agency can also help. Plus, you can your alarm contact the local company expediting the speed at which the problem can be fully inspected, and resolved! Bluewater Retreats is an example of that type of company, located in Bayfield, Ontario. – www.bluewaterretreats.com.