A home watch service agreement template for a business that checks empty homes on a schedule: what a visit covers and what it does not, how often, the price and the extras, keys and access, what the home watcher may do in an emergency and how much they may spend, the owner’s part, insurance, and how either side ends it. Plain words, one agreement plus the house’s checklist. Not legal advice; a lawyer in your state can check it in ten minutes.
It is August. A storm went through overnight, the owner is home in Ohio, and a neighbor texts that water is coming in under the lanai door. Whether the home watcher can go in, shut off the water and call a plumber before the owner wakes up is settled by one line in this agreement, written back in April. So is the bill that follows.
Home watch service agreement
Between (“the home watcher”) and (“the owner”) for the home at .
1. What a visit is
A visual, non-invasive check of the inside and outside of the home, following the attached checklist for this house, which both people can change in writing. The home watcher looks, runs the taps, flushes the toilets, checks the thermostat and tests what the checklist says to test. After every visit the owner gets a written report the same day, with photos and the time of the visit.
2. What a visit is not
A visit is not a repair, a clean, property management, alarm monitoring or a security patrol. The home watcher does not open walls, move furniture or inspect what cannot be seen, and cannot promise to find a hidden defect or to prevent damage that happens between visits. Problems found are reported, not fixed, unless the owner approves an extra (section 5) or it is an emergency (section 7).
3. Schedule
One visit every (weekly or every two weeks), from to . The home watcher may move a visit by up to day(s) for weather or safety and will tell the owner. The owner’s homeowner’s policy expects the home to be checked at least every days while it is empty, and this schedule meets it.
4. Price and payment
$ per visit, or $ per month for the schedule above, billed (after each visit, or monthly). Due within days by . If a payment is more than 14 days late, the home watcher may pause the visits after telling the owner in writing, and starts again when it is settled.
5. Extras, priced before they are done
Vendor or contractor let-in: $ for the first hour, $ per hour after. Storm prep (shutters, outdoor furniture): $. Post-storm check: $. Arrival prep (air on, water on, fridge stocked): $. Mail and package run: $ per trip. Other errands: $ per task.
Nothing else is billed without the owner’s yes in writing first (a text reply counts), and every extra on the bill comes with a photo.
6. Keys, codes and access
The home watcher holds key(s) and the codes the owner provides, stores them unlabeled and locked, and uses them only for visits, approved extras and emergencies. Contractors are let in only with the owner’s approval for that visit, or from this standing list: . Keys are returned within 7 days of this agreement ending, and the owner is told in writing when they are.
7. Emergencies
If the home watcher finds or is told of something that will get worse if it waits (water, a break-in, storm damage, no power, no air conditioning in the summer heat), they may shut off water, power or gas at the main, secure a door or window, and call the owner’s vendor below, or their own if that vendor cannot come. They may spend up to $ without asking, only to stop the damage getting worse. Above that, they reach the owner first, or the emergency contact if the owner cannot be reached within hours.
Emergency contact: Phone:
The owner’s vendors (plumber, electrician, air conditioning, pool, alarm company):
The owner pays for vendor work and parts. The home watcher’s time is billed at the let-in rate in section 5.
8. The owner’s part
The owner keeps the utilities on and the homeowner’s insurance in force; tells the home watcher before anyone arrives or stays (family, guests, a contractor) and before returning; puts the home watcher on the alarm company’s call list; and tells the home watcher about any known problem, such as a slow leak or a roof that weeps in heavy rain.
9. Insurance and liability
The home watcher carries general liability insurance: (carrier, policy number, limit) and a dishonesty bond: . The home watcher is responsible for damage they cause. They are not responsible for damage they did not cause, could not have seen on a visual check, or that happened between visits. Except for gross negligence or theft, the home watcher’s total liability under this agreement is limited to the fees paid in the 12 months before the claim.
10. Term and ending
This agreement starts on and renews each season unless either person ends it with 30 days’ written notice. Visits made before the end date are paid as usual.
The three sections that do the work
Section 2, what a visit is not. Almost every falling-out between a home watcher and an owner starts with the owner expecting something nobody could have seen: the slow leak inside a wall, the roof that only drips sideways in a storm. Writing down that a visit is a visual check, and that nobody can promise against what happens between visits, sets the expectation before the first visit instead of after the first claim.
Section 7, the emergency limit. That is the August storm. Without a number, the home watcher either waits for a call back while the water spreads, or spends the owner’s money and hopes. Pick the amount you would spend on their behalf at two in the morning and they would be glad to see on the bill, and write it in.
Section 5, the extras. Let-ins, storm prep and arrival prep are where a home watch business makes its margin and where most billing arguments start. Priced here, before the first visit, they are never a surprise. The billing guide has a starting list, and the pricing guide has the 2026 rates.
The access terms in section 6 are the short version. For several keys, smart locks or a contractor list, the full key holder agreement covers lost keys, rekeying and third-party entry, and can sit alongside this one.
A home watcher on House Matters keeps the house’s checklist and the visit schedule on the home’s page, and every visit sends the owner a report with a timestamped photo on each item, so this agreement and the record say the same thing.
Questions people ask
What should a home watch service agreement include?
What a visit covers and what it does not, the schedule, the price and how it is paid, the extras and their prices, keys and access, what the home watcher may do and spend in an emergency, the owner’s part, insurance and liability, and how either side ends it. The ten sections above cover each one.
Do I need a separate key holder agreement?
Not always. For a small business, section 6 here covers access. Once there are several keys, smart locks or a standing list of contractors, the full key holder agreement is worth signing too.
How much should a home watcher be allowed to spend in an emergency without asking?
Whatever the owner writes in. What matters is that a number exists, so nobody waits for a call back while water spreads.
How often should a home watch visit happen?
Weekly or every two weeks for most empty homes. Check the owner’s homeowner’s policy first: many expect an empty home to be checked at a set interval, and the guide to leaving a house empty explains the clause.
Is a home watch agreement legally binding?
Once both people sign it, yes, in the way any simple service agreement is. It is not legal advice, and a lawyer in your state can check it quickly. The point is that both people read and agreed to the same words.
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