Option 1: Have a Friend or Relative Move In

This is our preferred option. We have had family and friends at various times live in our house while we travel.  It’s worth compiling a folder with all the manuals, insurance details and phone numbers for trusted tradesmen.

Option 2: Use House Sitters

We know people who house sit and people who use house sitters. The mutual exchange of services for free accommodation seems to work well for both. Trusted House Sitters.com is the largest and most well-known global platform with sister companies in many countries. Normador, MindMy House and HouseCarers also provide this service. Just lock your favourite and confidential things in a separate room or cupboard. We met a couple from New Zealand who had a house sitter for a year, who was a student at their local university. 

Option 3: Rent it Out

We have met various other travellers who have rented their home out for a year.  This takes a little more preparation as you need to move your personal belongings into storage.

Option 4: Month Stays with AirBnB

Great you think.  We can get paid for renting out our property with AirBnB and that will help cover the cost of travelling. But look carefully at the detail.  Depending upon location and local laws, renting out for more than 30 consecutive days may grant certain ‘tenant rights’ to the person renting from you. 

Option 5: Leave the Home Unoccupied

Insurance

So, you have considered all the other options and decided you would rather just leave the property unoccupied while you are away. Check your home insurance details first.  Many policies have a clause which restricts the number of consecutive days a property can be unoccupied without affecting the insurance cover. Often this is 31 days, but can be more depending on the policy, or it may be a total number of days in the year.  Note that in insurance terms ‘unoccupied’ means no one is sleeping there overnight so if your policy is based on the total number of days unoccupied then you need to consider all your overnight stays.  

Contact your insurance company and discuss the terms. It may be that you are happy to live with the terms of the reduced cover and if not, it may be possible to pay to get extended unoccupied property insurance, but it tends to have extra conditions attached and may weaken the level of cover.

Water & Heating

The biggest risk to your home is water damage. A small leak over time can cause a lot of damage and expense. We once came home from a 2-week trip to find that a small leak had caused our bathroom cabinet to collapse and water damage throughout the room, which then had to be gutted and redone. Not the welcome home we expected.

You could turn off the water at the mains to minimise this risk but what about the heating? Consider what the temperature is likely to be.  Is there a risk of pipes freezing or mould developing? At our insurance company’s request, we leave our heating on at a constant 15C if we are away in colder months, but turn off the hot water.

Other Thoughts

We always have a friend/neighbour check the property for early signs of any damage. We normally ask them to pop in once a week to make sure all is on order and to lift the mail away from the front door.  It doesn’t take long but it needs to be regular. Our plants also go on holiday to a green fingered friend who we hope will water them regularly. From a burglary perspective, we have lights on timers, CCTV, a burglar alarm and fingers crossed.

Option 6: Sell It

This seems extreme but we have met several people from the UK and USA who have decided assets are too big a burden. They’ve sold up and travelled continuously, with the long term aim of finding the ideal place to settle.

Final Thoughts

Like most silver backpackers, when you own assets, they also own you. Through good planning and preparation, you can ensure you

Never miss an Adventure!