A high school teacher in the town of Wellesley called us during winter break because she and her husband were scheduled to fly to Puerto Rico for a few days’ vacation. She would need us to watch over her house while she was away. However, there was a catch: the client’s ceiling had been leaking because of ice buildup on the house’s roof and despite efforts with raking the roof and breaking up the ice, the leaks continued. Worried about the house, the client eventually decided to postpone her vacation plans.
A few more snowstorms later followed by a period of quiet weather, the client reached out to us again and said she and her husband were finally prepared to go away to Puerto Rico this weekend for a birthday celebration. She was still concerned a little for the house, but not nearly as much as a few weeks back. At this point, the leaking ceiling and windows were no longer dripping and she felt confident that her house would be safe in our hands.
On the day of our scheduled meeting at her house, the first thing the client did was quickly remark on our punctuality, a quality we have always been proud of. The client gave us a simple tour of her home, an enormous 4,000 square foot four-bedroom sanctuary surrounded by tall trees and other similar-sized million-dollar properties in the Wellesley Hills section of town. The client led us to her eat-in kitchen and we noted the plastic buckets on the island and next to the refrigerator, strategically placed just in case to capture any other leaks from the ceiling while she is away. Evidence of water damage was quite visible on the ceiling. The dining room window nearby also had problems with leaks and trash bags were used to protect the windowsill along with placement of the plastic buckets. Another window in an upstairs guest bedroom was similarly affected. As we house sit over the weekend, the client instructed us to monitor the buckets in case there were any additional leaks. She also instructed us to bring in the mail in her absence, and to leave them on the kitchen island. She also told us to leave the front hall lights on, leave the master bathroom’s sink cabinets open, and leave the faucet dripping. 
And this weekend as the client went away to Puerto Rico to celebrate her husband’s birthday, we did just that: we dropped by the client’s home at random hours, noted that the plastic buckets were bone dry at each visit (which was great news), picked up the client’s wad of mail and placed them next to a tall stack of Boston Globe newspapers, did a walk-through of the property to check for any damages, and left everything else as is.
To give peace of mind to absentee homeowners is the reason why we love what we do: when our clients need to go away for whatever reason, we are their second pair of eyes and ears. It was truly a delight to house sit this Wellesley client’s home this weekend and we look forward to being of assistance again in the future.
Images credit: Susan Ho
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