Palm Coast home watch for snowbirds, month by month
Many Palm Coast owners spend the winter here and the summer up north, which leaves the house empty through the hottest, wettest months of the year. Here is what those months do to the outside of a closed-up house, and when a fresh set of photos is worth having.
May: closing up the house
Before you leave, a set of photos records how you left it: the shutters, the lawn just cut, the patio furniture put away, the car out of the driveway. It is the picture every later set gets held up against.
June and July: the lawn takes off
Afternoon storms and long hot days make St. Augustine grass grow fast. A lawn service that skips a week shows in the photos, and the city and any homeowners association expect a tidy yard whether you are in town or not.
August to October: the heart of storm season
The busiest weeks of hurricane season fall while most snowbirds are away. Photos before a storm, and again once the roads reopen, show the roof line, the canal or the trees out back, and anything the wind moved.
November: coming home
A last set a week or two before you return tells you whether to call the lawn crew, the pool company or a tree service first, so the house is ready when you walk in.
Canal homes and wooded lots need different views
On the canal streets east of I-95, the seawall, the dock and the back yard face the water, so photos from the open grounds or a drone video show what the street cannot. In the wooded sections west of the interstate, needles and limbs on the roof are easiest to see from above.