Closing Up Your Condo for Summer: A Snowbird Checklist

As the season winds down, many of our clients start thinking about heading north for the summer. Closing up a beach condo properly takes an afternoon or two, and it can save you from coming back in the fall to humidity, a leak or a storm problem you didn’t know about. This is the checklist we share with seasonal owners.

Start with the calendar

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, according to the National Hurricane Center, so most seasonal owners are away for the busiest part of it. That shapes almost everything on this list.

Paperwork and people

• Check your insurance. Ask your agent how your policy treats a home that’s unoccupied for months, what your hurricane deductible is, and whether you have flood cover. Our Florida property insurance guide explains the terms.
• Make a home inventory. Walk through with your phone and record a video of every room, the balcony and your valuables. Store it in the cloud with copies of your policies.
• Tell the association. Give the office your summer contact details, and ask who has a key, who checks units after a storm, and how notices will reach you.
• Arrange a caretaker. Many associations ask owners to name someone local who can get into the unit in an emergency. A home watch service or a trusted neighbour works too, and our property management team can help.
• Know your evacuation zone on Pinellas County’s Know Your Zone map, so you understand any orders you hear about while you’re away.

Inside the unit

• Turn off the main water supply if your building allows it, and ask maintenance before you touch shared valves.
• Turn off or set the water heater to vacation mode.
• Empty and clean the fridge, or leave it running with the door propped if you turn it off.
• Keep the air conditioning running to control humidity, which is the main cause of mould in closed-up homes. Ask your HVAC technician what setting suits your unit, and have it serviced before you go.
• Consider water leak sensors and a smart thermostat, so you get an alert on your phone if something goes wrong.
• Unplug electronics, and leave interior doors and closet doors open for air flow.

Balcony, shutters and windows

• Bring every piece of balcony furniture, plants and decor inside. Loose items can become dangerous in high winds.
• Follow your building’s shutter or storm panel rules. Some associations close shutters for owners who are away, others expect owners to arrange it.
• Close and lock windows and sliding doors, and check the seals and weather stripping.

If your building has a storage cage or shared bike room, check that nothing stored there can be damaged by water, and move valuables up off the floor.

The rest of the list

• Forward your mail and pause deliveries.
• If you leave a car, ask about the building’s garage rules during storms and how to move it if needed.
• Pay any bills that fall due while you’re away, or set them to auto-pay.
• Leave a written note inside the door with your contact details for anyone who needs to enter.

A one-page handover sheet

Leave a single page with your caretaker and the association office, and keep a copy on your phone. It saves a lot of calls if something happens while you’re away.

• Your summer address, phone numbers and email.
• Your caretaker’s name and number, and who else has a key.
• Your insurance company, policy numbers and claims phone number.
• Where the water shut-off, electrical panel and thermostat are.
• Any service contracts, such as air conditioning or pest control, with phone numbers.
• Whether shutters were closed and who will open them.

If a storm threatens while you’re away

Follow official updates from Pinellas County and the National Hurricane Center, and check in with your caretaker and the association. Don’t travel back into an evacuation zone while an order is in place. Once it’s safe, ask your caretaker for photos and video of the unit, and contact your insurer promptly if there’s any damage.

Coming back in the fall

When you return, walk through before you unpack: check ceilings and under sinks for leaks, look for mould behind furniture, run the taps for a few minutes, and test the smoke alarms. If a storm passed while you were away, compare against your inventory video before you move anything. Our hurricane season guide and Flood Zones 101 have more on storm planning, and if you’re new to the area, our first month checklist covers the basics.

Have a question about your building or thinking about selling before next season? Contact us.

Sources

• National Hurricane Center, Atlantic hurricane season dates.
• Pinellas County Know Your Zone evacuation zone lookup.