Setting Roots

I am an active duty member of the U.S. Navy, which caused me to have some experiences in my home-buying adventure that are unique to military men and women, now as a homeowner I am about to have another one of those experiences. I will soon be deployed to the middle east in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. As a single (unmarried) homeowner, I am facing some unique challenges in how to prepare my home for a long time away.

My mother will be living in the home, so I do not need to worry about mail delivery. However, she is elderly and will not be able to do many of the chores. I have winterized my pool, basically by putting in a lot of Chlorine and Algaecide, and instructed my mother on how and how often to run the pump to keep the water somewhat filtered. Last winter I found I was able to get away with just having my pump run 1 day a week for about 10 hours, and the pool remained clean enough to keep it easy-to-open in the spring. I am not as worried about ease of re-opening this year, because when I return I want to re-paint the pool, which should be an interesting project to write about here at Setting Roots.

I have my bills set-up for auto-payment, and I will be paying my homeowners fees in advance. My homeowners association was kind enough to give me a deployment discount too! I have amazing neighbors who assist my mom with getting to the store, and one who will be caring for my lawn while I am gone.

Additionally, I have set-up an emergency fund to pay for anything else that might arise. If someone were not going to be living in the home, I would also turn off the breaker to my hot water heater and my kitchen appliances. I wish I did not have to go, I would love to be able to stay and finish projects around the house, and document them here, but alas, duty calls. I intend to continue documenting my experiences and offering advice to first-time home buyers when I return. Until then, please feel free to leave comments on existing posts, and please feel free to send suggestions for future posts.

Wish me luck.