About the Owner
Hello there homeowners of Sarasota, Siesta Key, and Lido Key! My name is Katie Stricker and I am the owner of Happy Home Watch of Sarasota.
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I have been visiting Siesta Key from Ohio since I was a baby and my grandparents were snowbirds here. When I graduated from Ohio University I moved to Southwest Florida in 2000 then Sarasota in 2008 to finish my master's degree in Adult Education at USF.
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That degree never got put to use. O'Leary's Tiki Bar was a side job that beat out every "career" I was looking at. ​The last sixteen years have been spent happily serving you from the best office ever.
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I became interested in the home watch industry when I realized how many of my friend’s homes I was checking on when they were gone. So many things can happen to an unoccupied home, from mold infestations to vandalism.
I also saw what happened to a couple of friends who weren't having anyone check on their home. A failed refrigerator two months later... Yuuuuuuck! A ceiling that fell in from an upstairs neighbor's leak who also wasn't there to know what was happening - a waaaaaay bigger mess than it would have been if it had been caught. When O'Leary's closed during the pandemic I took my moment and formed Happy Home Watch of Sarasota.
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I have been learning through both my continuing education with the National Home Watch Association as well as in the field and Happy Home Watch of Sarasota has been expanding the last five years. I am excited to announce that I have hired my first employee and am expecting to hire and train another "happy home watcher" shortly.
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I've known Donna since 2016, when she started working at O'Leary's. She grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and lived on St. Simon's Island in Georgia for twenty years before moving here ten years ago. She and her husband Mike own a local charter boating company, Key Life Charters, out of Siesta Key. Donna left O'Leary's after four years to start a separate branch of Key Life Charters that moved on land to shuttle often those same clients around town.​
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We understand the level of trust you are
giving Happy Home Watch of Sarasota by letting us into your home. All employees of Happy Home Watch of Sarasota are insured and bonded, and I am accredited and certified by the National Home Watch Association for everyone's protection. Happy Home Watch of Sarasota is truly "happily here for your home" when you aren't.
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What I learned from Hurricanes Helene and Milton
Last summer was both a rough one in many ways as well as an opportunity for growth both personally and professionally. When Helene came through I suddenly had homes that needed mucked out. Just like many of you, I'd never done that and had no real idea of how to do it. There wasn't even water on Siesta (we used pool water at the beginning....).
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I would like to take this space to thank my O'Leary's clean up team. Katie Post and Trina Peachy came on board and we had all of my homes mucked out and cleaned within a couple of days. I knew from the tiki they had the work ethic, but their dedication to bringing my homes back to a clean state was awe inspiring. When Milton came through, we had to do a literal rinse and repeat on one.
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I would also like to thank Frank Petrullo, his son Frankie Jr., and his team with Peace of Mind Services, LLC. They did multiple remediation jobs for my clients as well as a full remodel for one. They were both professional and upbeat in a trying time and I am grateful to know and trust a local water and mold remediation company moving forward.
From getting homes packed up then put in storage for restoration, to guiding the owners through picking contractors, to even doing their loss report for insurance, I realized there is not much I'm not willing to do for my clients. I hope to not have to do it again soon, but Happy Home Watch of Sarasota will truly be here to do whatever needs done. When you hire Happy Home Watch of Sarasota, you are beginning a relationship. A relationship where I vow to make sure I will do all I can to keep your home "happy."​​
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