Watching with expert eyes
Trevor Farmer runs Home Watch of North Idaho alongside his wife.
In his time as a professional home watcher, Trevor Farmer has encountered all kinds of issues — collapsed ceilings, windows shattered by storms, water leaks.
Once, memorably, he ran into a group of intruders who’d broken into a house.
The home was in a rural part of Bonner County, with no cell reception, and Farmer had never visited before. It was unclear how long the individuals had been living there without the property owner’s knowledge.
“It was just them and me,” Farmer said. “But I am ex-military. It takes a little more to spook me than most.”
Farmer, a fifth-generation Idahoan and veteran, runs a small business called Home Watch of North Idaho. Homeowners throughout North Idaho hire him to conduct regular visual inspections of their property while they’re away.
In a region full of snowbirds and retirees who enjoy traveling, Farmer fills a niche.
Some people are content to ask a neighbor to check on their home while they’re on vacation or out of state for an extended period. But that’s not always an option for folks who own remote properties, and Farmer said a professional’s expertise is well worth the expense.
“Your neighbor’s not licensed or insured,” Farmer said. “I was trained for many years. I notice things that nobody notices.”
In fact, Farmer's Home Watch of North Idaho recently earned accreditation from the National Home Watchers Association. The NHWA established and maintains industry standards for absentee homeowner services throughout the U.S. and Canada.
While the owners are away from home, any number of things can go wrong. That’s why Farmer, a former electrician and experienced handyman, checks thermostats and appliances. He runs water in the sinks and flushes the toilets. He looks for leaks, smells and small invaders like bugs or rodents.
Farmer recalled one inspection of a $10 million vacation home whose owner only visited one month out of the year.
A week after the owner left for the East Coast, Farmer came by and discovered a water leak. Left undetected, that leak would’ve caused massive damage that may not have been covered by insurance.
“I was able to mitigate it,” Farmer said.
He alerted the homeowner, then helped arrange for the vendors who tackled the leak and the limited damage. From his time as a contractor and handyman in North Idaho, Farmer has curated a list of trusted, reliable vendors.
That particular client gets a discount on homeowner’s insurance just by having a professional like Farmer conduct regular inspections.
“He makes money by having me go, with the money he saves,” Farmer said.
Over time, simple visual inspections have evolved into more comprehensive services.
For some of his snowbird clients, Farmer puts their boats away in the winter and then prepares them for the summer.
He also takes care of the little things that make a big difference, like changing smoke detector batteries, checking water heaters and removing mailers and packages from doorsteps.
“A lot of thieves know these properties are vacant,” Farmer said. “They’ll have packages delivered to vacant homes so they can pick them up and the items they’re stealing through the mail aren’t traceable.”
It all adds up to peace of mind for Farmer’s clients.
“When people come back here, they can enjoy what they have,” he said.
Info: www.aphandyman.co
