Home Watch · Northeastern Pennsylvania

Your home, watched and documented while you're away.

Regular, photo-documented check-ins on your house, so you always know how it's doing, even from a thousand miles away.

NHWA Member Insured & Bonded Background-Checked Photo-Documented

⏳ NHWA membership, insurance, bonding, and background checks pending formation

Illustration of a cartoon house wrapped in a scarf, watched over among oak trees in autumn
Why Oak Tree

More than a neighbor with a key

A real service, not a favor someone forgets to do.

Cartoon house beside a calendar of weekly checkmarks

Accountable

A real service with a schedule behind it, not a casual ask of a neighbor who might forget.

Cartoon house split between autumn and winter

Built for NEPA winters

Frozen pipes, ice dams, and storm damage are what we watch for. Caught the same day, a problem is a phone call. Found weeks later, it can be tens of thousands in damage.

Cartoon house with a clipboard report, photo, and camera

You can see it

After every visit, photos and a clear report. Proof your home is safe, not just "all looks fine."

Our Promise
A documented visit every time, or that visit is free.
How It Works

Simple and concrete, from the first visit on

  1. We get to know your home

    On our first visit we document everything, condition inside and out, with photos, so we have a clear baseline.

  2. We check in on a schedule

    Each visit follows a thorough checklist built for NEPA homes, and we handle small things or flag bigger ones right away.

  3. You stay informed

    After every visit you get a photo report. If something needs attention, you hear from us immediately, wherever you are.

Services

The offer, in plain terms

Cartoon house shown on a phone video call
Interior video walk-through
Cartoon house with a patrol path around its perimeter
Exterior perimeter check
Friendly cartoon furnace with a wrench
Heat & freeze monitoring
Core

Home Watch visits

The core service keeps your home's status quo. Every visit covers the full interior, room by room, plus an exterior perimeter check (doors, windows, the roofline from the ground), and you get a photo report after. Both inside and out are part of the standard visit. In plain terms, we watch for:

  • Water leaks
  • Loss of heat
  • Ice damage
  • Storm and roof damage
  • Pests
  • Security: doors locked and the home secured
Visit Frequency
  • Weekly
  • Bi-weekly
  • Monthly
  • Extra storm or freeze visits after a major event

Pricing set for NEPA, request a quote.

Concierge Add-ons

Whatever else the home needs, arranged through trusted, insured local pros:

  • Cleaning, light or deep
  • Removal and hauling of unwanted items
  • Lawn care and snow removal
  • Handyman repairs
  • Furnace and HVAC maintenance
  • Lock changes and re-keying
  • Sensors or a camera (we set it up, you watch it)
  • Estate-sale help, with a specialist
  • Sale of a vehicle
  • Something else? Just ask.
About

Local people you can trust

Nell O'Boyle Michael O'Boyle
Nell & Michael O'Boyle · Michael's photo ⏳ pending

Northeastern Pennsylvania is where we chose to make our home and raise our family, for more than twenty years now. We know these winters, and we know what an empty house needs to make it through one.

Oak Tree didn't start as a business. For more than twenty years in real estate here, Nell was quietly keeping an eye on clients' homes while they were away, checking on the empty ones over the winter, catching the small problems before they became big ones. It was never a job. It was just part of caring about the people and the places she works with.

Over the years that quiet favor grew into something bigger than a favor could hold, with a schedule, documentation, and accountability behind it. So we gave it its own name and its own structure. Standing Oak Tree up on its own lets us serve more families this way, and it lets Nell keep giving her real estate clients her full focus. The same care she always gave, now a service in its own right.

Between us we cover both sides of keeping a home safe. Nell has spent more than twenty years in real estate here, so she understands what families face with their homes and can draw on local resources and connections to head off trouble before it becomes loss. Michael runs the operations and the reporting behind every visit, so what happens at your home reaches you as a clear, documented record. Every on-site visit is done by a vetted, background-checked member of our team. As owners of several properties ourselves, we know every home's needs are different, and we treat yours the way we'd want ours watched.

We built it around a simple belief: when you're away, "I'm sure it's fine" isn't enough. You deserve to actually see that your home is safe, so every visit is documented and sent to you with photos. Peace of mind is something you can look at, not just hope for.

This is our home too. We're building Oak Tree for our neighbors across Northeastern Pennsylvania, and we plan to be here, looking after these homes, for a long time to come.

Members of the National Home Watch Association, fully insured and bonded, and background-checked. ⏳ pending formation

Questions

Frequently asked

What exactly do you check?
Every visit we walk the whole home, room by room, and look for the things that turn into expensive problems when a house sits empty: water where it shouldn't be, leaks and plumbing trouble, heating or cooling that has quit, humidity and the start of mold, pests, storm damage, and anything that looks off. You get a record of what we saw, not just a note that we stopped by.
Do you check inside and outside?
Both, every visit. A full interior walk-through room by room, plus an exterior perimeter check (doors, windows, the roofline from the ground, signs of storm or water damage). Inside and out are both part of the standard visit, not an add-on.
How will I get my reports?
After each weekly visit we send you a short, photo-led update, everything normal, here's what we saw, to your inbox, and it's saved in a private folder you can look back through anytime. If anything looks wrong, you don't wait for the weekly note; we contact you right away.
Who has my keys and codes?
Only Oak Tree's owners handle access to your home, and access is limited to what's needed for the service you asked for. You decide how we get in. The exact key and code handling is written into your service agreement before the first visit.
Are you insured and bonded?
Yes. Oak Tree Home Watch carries general liability and errors-and-omissions coverage and a dishonesty bond, and both owners are background-checked NHWA members. ⏳ pending formation
What do you do if you find a problem?
You hear from us right away. We can often handle the small things on the spot, resetting a tripped breaker, shutting off the water, swapping a dead smoke-detector battery, and for anything bigger we coordinate trusted local pros and meet them at the house, so you don't have to fly in.
What if you miss a visit?
Your visits run on a set weekly schedule. If we ever can't make a scheduled visit, we tell you and reschedule promptly, you're never left wondering whether we came.
How quickly do you respond?
If we spot something wrong, we reach out the same day. For your own questions, Nell gets back to you personally, usually within a day. You're talking to an owner, not a call center.
Do you serve my area?
We're launching in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Tell us where your home is and we'll confirm we cover it.
What does it cost?
Pricing depends on your home and how often it sits empty. Reach out for a quote.
Can you help clear out or prep a family home?
Yes, as an add-on. If a home is being emptied or made ready after a life change, we can coordinate trusted local help.
Contact

Let's talk about keeping an eye on it

Going away for the season, or managing a family home from out of state? Tell us about your home and how we can help. We'll get back to you quickly.

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