In today’s Cape Cod home watch market, options abound. 28 years ago, when Nauset Management was born on the back of a request from a seasonal renovation customer, one mainstream watch business was on the radar along side a local family owned and operated watch service who turned a side hustle into an industry in 1969.
From a business perspective, home watch is every bit as seasonal as the customers it serves. In turn, many of today’s watch businesses in concert with a related niche. For Nauset Management, at its inception, that balance was construction. A hand and glove fit, a building background is perhaps the most valuable sister service for a home watch company as it enables the ability to leverage that experience in a proactive approach. What’s more, that very building background typically comes with a solid base of resources which simply makes or breaks the quality of service as situations, prescribed or otherwise, occur.
When researching your home watch options, there are a number of factors to consider.
Trust & track record – No doubt an attribute to be earned, many of the new start ups get their start no different than yours truly and that is through a pre-existing relationship. These relationships are in large part how landscapers, housekeepers and any number of seasonal employees home related or otherwise plant their roots. That said, understand the service you desire or expect and make certain the background lends an appropriate level of comfort. Neighbors are great resources when culling through your options. Beyond a relative background, gain an understanding of how long the business has been operating and check out reviews.
Resources – Anyone with a house key and consent to enter your home should have the baseline ability to convey bad news. A proactive approach, keying on small tells before they evolve into entirely avoidable calamities should be a baseline function of any home watch business. By extension, when a situation arises, it will have been vital to have had a thorough understanding of your candidate’s ability to call upon any number of area resources in any number of trades who will react in real time.
License – Often confused as a license by start ups looking to carve out the comparatively uniformed competition, Massachusetts requires a watch guard certification which is largely unenforced for those who may be unaware of the criteria or simply don’t qualify. Administered by a small and overworked staff composed of State Police and civilian personnel, the Massachusetts State Police Certification Unit, is charged with processing applicants. As one of the first Cape based home watch companies to secure certification, the process included the gratuitous state fee, the submission of three character references, a background check, live interview and a surety bond. Where this certification has value, beyond the assurance that your watch candidate understands the requirements of the service they are providing, is the annual refreshed background check required for renewal. In short, you the consumer, with a clean record, deposit, and $150 per year surety bond may apply for your own certification today. Loosely related to claims of one being licensed is the possession of a MA Home Improvement Contractor which is a quasi-insurance program where, should an unsuspecting homeowner suffer damages by an entity who does not possess traditional insurance, this pool is tapped to provide restitution. In the small print, it is determined that among the criteria for filing a claim is proving the subject property is the primary residence. By extension, there are always a handful of handymen and small aspiring buildings that will supplant this particular license with that of a construction supervisor’s license. Last, the certification pertains to the applicant rather than employees.
Bond – License and permit bonds represent the low risk end of the spectrum and in a watch capacity, Nauset Management’s annual renewal is $150. By extension, Nauset Management maintains an additional surety bond for its real estate brokerage business license in addition to an opt in dishonesty [fidelity] bond.
Insurance – Last in the general lineup of license, bonded and insured is of course insurance. Save for worker’s compensation for any full or part-time employee, insurance in a watch capacity is not required in Massachusetts. Whereas I am a licensed builder, standalone real estate broker in addition to being properly certified and bonded in a watch capacity, I am putting my insurance broker’s children through college. As it relates to home watch, Nauset Management maintains a general liability policy. When screening watch providers understand the level/s of insurance the candidate/company maintains and what that means to you.
Coverage area – Home watch is a numbers game. Nauset Management was born into a small service area as a direct byproduct of construction. Having had the luxury of growing my base slowly and organically, the value realized through efficiency and utilizing resources when working in close quarters was invaluable to the steady and learned growth of my base. Always opting for quality of service over a serviceable number of customers. Casting a broader net requires not only additional staff but a broadening of resources and scaling in the watch business is a slippery slope.
In today’s market, where any given hamlet may have a handful of offerings working on the level, options are doubled if not tripled when considering the lawn guy, housekeeper, first responder or retirees getting in on the action, the need to expand geographically is often a forced move. A leisurely route from Chatham to Eastham may be manageable during favorable conditions, yet when the weather turns, this expanse can feel like travelling out of state. Understand the ground your candidate covers as well as in-house staff and determine the feasibility of geography and support.
Staff – Realizing that an expanded coverage area requires additional staff and third party support, understand who will be entering your home be it a dedicated point of contact or team of staff.
Communication – Who are you communicating with? Speaking to coverage area and staff, this could be a direct line to an owner/operator, dedicated watch employee, supervisor or regional manager. A single and consistent point of contact is vital for both the owner and service provider. By extension, and perhaps the biggest home watch question asked, how will you find out about your home during and after a storm. Working in the smallest service area in the business among those operating on the level, Nauset Management updates its base any number of times during periods of adverse weather conveying actual real time conditions on the ground rather than leaving customers to wonder how accurate the hysteria and sensationalism may be coming from their local, regional or national news. No news is good news is surprisingly used on a number of home watch sites and that notion is simply a nonstarter for Nauset Management. Home watch is a peace of mind business and assumption has no role in delivering calm.
Lawn placards – More of a buyer beware rather than a make or break variable is the yard sign. The premise is a deterrent but unlike a national alarm brand such as ADT, there is not only zero upside to the owner rather a detriment. A watch sign signals to every passerby that the home is seasonal and by extension unoccupied. The possible motives include the obvious advertising and to a lesser degree marking homes for large watch companies who may rotate staff who might be unfamiliar with the area. Whatever the case, when you engage a watch company, ask if they plant yard signs and kindly decline.
