Home Watch Services for Anchorage, Alaska
AK Home Watch is a dedicated Anchorage home watch and house watch service. We walk your empty house on a set schedule through the winter, check the things that fail first in an Alaska cold snap, and send you a dated report with photos before you have to wonder. House sitting at regular daily rates is available too.
Why Anchorage is different
Why an empty Anchorage home needs a home watch service
A vacant home in the Lower 48 that loses power for two days is uncomfortable. A vacant home here that loses power for two days can drop below freezing indoors within hours. Water sitting in the lines expands, fittings crack, and nothing announces itself until the power comes back and the water starts moving through the breaks — under the flooring, inside the walls, then freezing again.
The thermostat you set at fifty degrees before you flew south only works while the electricity does. A windstorm off the Inlet does not check your settings. That is the specific gap a home watch service closes: someone physically standing in the house on a known schedule, close enough to the event to catch it while it is still a repair instead of a rebuild.
Every Anchorage house check we run leaves a dated, photographed record
A neighbor glancing at your driveway tells you nothing you can use later. Our visits produce a timestamped report with photographs and the interior temperature reading, filed in order, so you have a continuous record of the property's condition for every week you were gone.
That record does two jobs. It catches a slow failure early, while the fix is still small. And it gives you documented proof of how the house was maintained through the winter, which matters any time you have to account for its condition to someone else.
The visit
What an Anchorage home watch visit covers
We build the checklist around your house during a free walkthrough before you leave. These are the items we run on every Anchorage property because these are the ones that cost the most when they go unnoticed.
Heat, power & water
- Furnace or boiler running, thermostat holding its setpoint
- Heating fuel level read and reported before it gets low
- Interior temperature logged at every visit
- Signs of a past power interruption — clocks, resets, tripped breakers
- Exposed pipe runs, under-sink cabinets, crawlspace and garage lines
- Water heater, washer connections and visible plumbing checked for weeping
Exterior & weather
- Roof and eaves scanned for snow load and forming ice dams
- Wind damage to siding, shingles, fencing and outbuildings
- Driveway and walkway condition, and whether your plow service ran
- Meter, vents and exhaust terminations clear of drifted snow
- Doors and windows secure, with any sign of forced entry noted
- Moose, wildlife and pest activity around the foundation
Lived-in & logistics
- Mail, packages and door flyers collected and held
- Interior lighting varied so the house does not read as abandoned
- Blinds adjusted, trash bins pulled back from the curb
- Faucets and toilets run to keep traps from drying out
- Plants watered on the schedule you set
- Contractors met and supervised when you need work done
How it works
How our Anchorage home watch service works
Walk the house with us
Before you leave, we come out and you show us the property — shutoffs, panel, fuel tank, quirks, which door sticks. We build your checklist from that walk. There is no charge for this visit.
We visit on your schedule
Weekly, twice a month, or monthly — you set the cadence and we hold it. Owners who travel for longer stretches or carry higher-value property usually go weekly through the deepest part of winter.
You get the report
After every visit you receive a dated report with photographs and the interior temperature reading. If something is wrong you hear from us that day, not at the end of the month.
Anchorage home watch pricing
$24.95 – $39.95 per visit
Where you land in that range depends on what you want checked and handled on the property. A short exterior and security check sits at the low end. A full interior walk with fuel readings, appliance runs, mail, plants and contractor coordination sits at the top.
House sitting is quoted separately at regular daily rates, for overnight stays, pet care and keeping the house occupied. Contact us to schedule a visit and we will build your quote covering either service, or both.
Who we watch houses for
Who uses home watch in Anchorage
Snowbirds heading south
Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, Florida — five months gone and a house sitting through breakup on the far end of it.
Out-of-state owners
You kept the Anchorage house after the move. It needs someone physically here, not a neighbor doing you a favor.
Long rotations and deployments
Slope schedules, contract work, JBER orders. Weeks away at a stretch, repeatedly, all winter.
Vacant listings
An empty house on the market is an active responsibility. We keep it presentable and document its condition.
Second homes and cabins
Property you use seasonally and leave closed the rest of the year.
Extended travel and medical absence
A month Outside for treatment or family should not mean a month of wondering about the house.
Home watch, defined
Home watch, house watch and house sitting in Anchorage
The industry term is home watch: a scheduled visual inspection of an unoccupied property, looking for obvious problems while the owner is away. Alaskans tend to call it house watch, house checks, or just "somebody checking on the place." All of it describes what we do.
House sitting is the related service, and we offer that as well. A house sitter stays in your home, keeps it occupied, and handles pets and daily routines. Home watch works by scheduled visits, a written checklist and a photographed report, which is what an empty house needs across a five-month Anchorage winter when nobody can be there full time.
Plenty of homeowners use both. Home watch through the long stretches, and a sitter on regular daily rates for the weeks when the dog cannot travel or the house should look lived in. Tell us the shape of your absence and we will tell you which one fits, or how to combine them.
Questions
Anchorage home watch questions, answered
How much does home watch cost in Anchorage?
Visits run $24.95 to $39.95 each, depending on what you want checked and handled while you are away.
A basic exterior and security check sits at the low end of that range. A full interior inspection with heating fuel readings, appliance runs, mail collection, plant care and contractor coordination sits at the top. Square footage and where the house sits in the Bowl factor in as well.
Contact us to schedule a visit and we will build your quote from the walkthrough, in writing, before any work begins.
How often should an empty house be checked through an Anchorage winter?
Weekly is the safer interval in deep winter. A power outage during a cold snap can take an interior below freezing in hours, and the damage compounds from there, so the value of a visit is mostly a function of how quickly it finds a problem.
Every two weeks is workable for a well-winterized home with a monitored alarm and a generator. We will tell you honestly which one your house needs after we walk it.
Do you offer house sitting as well as home watch?
Yes. House sitting is available at regular daily rates, quoted separately from home watch. A sitter stays in the home, cares for pets, and keeps the property occupied.
Home watch works differently: we arrive on a schedule, run a defined checklist, photograph what we find, and send you a dated report. For a house standing empty across weeks or months, that is the service built for it. For a shorter absence with pets that need daily care, a sitter usually serves you better.
Ask us about both and we will price whichever fits your trip.
What are your house sitting daily rates?
House sitting is billed at regular daily rates and quoted per stay, since the number depends on nights, pets, and what you need handled while we are there.
Contact us with your dates and we will put a written rate in front of you before anything is booked.
What happens if you find a problem?
You hear from us the same day, with photographs. If it is urgent — water moving, no heat, a door standing open — you get a call, not an email.
With your authorization we coordinate the response: meet the plumber, let in the restoration crew, get the fuel truck out. You approve the work. We are your presence on site, and we do not perform the repairs ourselves.
What areas of Anchorage do you serve?
The Anchorage Bowl, including Downtown, Midtown, South Anchorage, Hillside, Turnagain, Spenard, Sand Lake, Muldoon, Government Hill and Mountain View.
Eagle River, Chugiak and Girdwood are available depending on schedule and season. Ask and we will tell you straight whether we can commit to your address.
Do I need to do anything before I leave?
We walk the property with you first and give you a written list specific to your house. It usually covers where the shutoffs are, what temperature to hold, fuel level, and who else has a key.
The walkthrough is free, and it is the single most useful hour in the whole arrangement. Schedule it before you book travel if you can.
Book your free Anchorage home watch walkthrough
We will walk your house, build the checklist, and tell you what your property actually needs through an Anchorage winter. It costs nothing and it takes about an hour.