Service
Pre-Vacancy Inspection
You are leaving for six months and you would rather know now than in April.
Routine visits catch what changes. A professional inspection catches what is already there. Before a long vacancy those are different questions, and the second one is worth answering properly — because a hot water tank at the end of its service life, a furnace with a cracked heat exchanger, or a supply line already weeping is a problem you would much rather find in October than discover through a ceiling in February.
The inspection is performed by a qualified independent home inspector, licensed in Alberta, working to a recognised standard of practice. VacantHomes does not perform it and does not hold inspection credentials.
What VacantHomes does with it is the genuinely useful part. Findings are converted into monitoring items on your recurring visit checklist. An inspector notes minor staining below a basement window; that location becomes a photographed checkpoint on every subsequent visit. The one-time assessment becomes an ongoing watch list, which is exactly what a vacant property needs and what a standalone inspection report cannot provide on its own.
Who performs this work
Alberta regulates this work, or it carries risk that belongs with an insured specialist. VacantHomes sources the provider, attends for access, verifies completion and records it against your property — but does not perform the work and does not warrant it.
Availability
This service is delivered through a qualified independent inspection partner. Contact us to confirm current availability and arrange it for your property.
Common questions
Is a property check the same as a home inspection?
No, and the difference is substantial enough that conflating them would be misleading.
A routine property visit is a visual, observational check of readily accessible areas by a trained attendant, working from a checklist. It records temperature, evidence of water, whether heating appears to be running, condition of accessible areas, and anything out of place. It does not involve dismantling anything, removing panels or covers, testing systems, or accessing concealed areas, attics, roofs or crawlspaces.
A home inspection is performed by a licensed home inspector working to a recognised standard of practice, with training, certification, professional liability insurance and a defined scope. It assesses the condition of a property's systems and components and produces a formal report.
They serve different purposes and complement each other well. An inspection tells you what condition the property is in. Monitoring visits tell you what has changed since. Findings from an inspection can be converted into specific monitoring items on the recurring checklist, which is where the two genuinely reinforce each other.
VacantHomes does not perform home inspections and holds no inspection certification. Where a professional inspection is wanted, it is performed by a qualified independent inspector and coordinated by us.
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