Closing up a Southwest Florida home for the off-season is not the same as locking a door and catching a flight. The combination of heat, humidity, hurricane season, and months of vacancy is exactly the environment where small problems quietly become five-figure ones. This is the practical, room-by-room checklist for leaving your Florida home for the summer — what to shut off, what to leave running, and the few things that genuinely need a human to keep an eye on while you are gone.
It is written for snowbirds and seasonal owners in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Naples, and Marco Island who want to leave in May or June and come back in the fall to the home they left — not a surprise. Work through it the week before you fly, and grab the printable version to take with you.
If you remember nothing else from this checklist, remember this. In Southwest Florida, indoor humidity — not temperature — is what destroys a vacant home. Once relative humidity climbs above about 55%, mold begins to colonize drywall, wood, cabinetry, and fabric. Turning the air conditioning off entirely to save money is the single most expensive mistake a snowbird can make.
The settings that protect the home: Leave the thermostat set between 78°F and 82°F (82°F is the absolute ceiling for a season-long absence). If you have a humidistat or a smart thermostat, target 55% relative humidity or lower — many humidistat sensors read up to 10 points high, so 58% on the dial is a safe setting. The goal is steady dehumidification, not a cold house.
Water damage is the most frequent and most costly thing that goes wrong in an empty Florida home. A failed supply line, a worn washing-machine hose, or a stuck toilet valve can run for weeks before anyone notices. Restoration averages around $3,800, and Florida mold remediation routinely lands between $2,000 and $10,000 or more.
Empty it completely, clean it, and prop both doors open with a towel so it can breathe. A sealed, warm, empty fridge grows mold in weeks and comes back smelling like a science experiment. Leave an open box of baking soda inside.
Set it to a moderate temperature, toss anything perishable, and accept that a summer power outage may spoil what is left. Wipe down seals and the interior either way.
Florida's wildlife treats an empty, climate-controlled house as an invitation. A quiet, food-free home with sealed entry points is the goal.
You will be leaving at the start of hurricane season, and you may not be in the state when a storm threatens. Do the prep now, while you are still here to do it properly.
A timer-lit, alarmed house still looks empty to a determined eye, and timers do not catch a roof leak, a dead A/C, or a slab drip. That is the gap a checklist alone cannot close.
A checklist gets the house ready on the day you leave. It cannot tell you what happens on day 40, when the A/C drain backs up, or day 70, when a supply line lets go. That is the real risk of a long Florida summer: not the closing-up, but the months of silence afterward — and the insurance exposure that comes with them.
This is also where your coverage quietly changes. Most Florida homeowners policies trigger a vacancy clause after 30 to 60 days unoccupied. Once that threshold passes, standard policies commonly stop covering water damage, theft, and vandalism, and insurers can deny "gradual" or "neglect" damage if you cannot prove the home was being checked. Documented, regular inspections are increasingly how owners protect both the home and the claim.
That is exactly what a professional home watch service provides. At Sunstate Home Watch, we perform scheduled interior and exterior inspections, send you timestamped photo reports through a private dashboard, and — if something is wrong — the founder, Torbjörn, phones you directly and coordinates the repair before a small leak becomes a gutted ceiling. We are licensed, bonded, and insured, and we work in English, Spanish, and Swedish. Plans start at $99/month, and your first inspection is free.
Set the thermostat between 78°F and 82°F, and aim to keep indoor relative humidity at or below 55%. Do not turn the A/C off completely — without dehumidification, a closed Florida house can pass 90°F with humidity high enough to grow mold within weeks.
Yes, in most cases. Shutting the main valve is the single best defense against the water damage that causes the majority of vacant-home claims. If you must keep water on for irrigation or a humidistat-linked system, at least close the valves to the washing machine, dishwasher, and water heater.
Most Florida policies trigger a vacancy clause after 30 to 60 days unoccupied. Past that point, standard coverage for water damage, theft, and vandalism often drops away, and insurers may deny gradual or neglect-related damage without proof the home was inspected. Check your specific policy and document regular inspections.
A kind neighbor is wonderful, but they are not insured for the job, rarely document what they see, and can be away exactly when you need them. A professional service inspects on a fixed schedule, photographs everything, carries liability coverage, and creates the dated record your insurer may ask for. Many owners use both.
You can download the free Florida vacant-home checklist here — print it, work through it the week before you leave, and keep a copy for next season.
Work the checklist, then let us watch the house. Weekly inspections, timestamped photo reports, and a real person who calls you if something is wrong. Your first inspection is free.
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