Most expensive water damage is not dramatic - it is a $6 supply line dripping for three months. Once a month, spend fifteen minutes: look under every sink, behind the toilets, at the water heater base, and at the washer hoses. Feel for dampness; look for mineral crust and rust blooms that mark slow weeps.
Add two desert checks to the list: look at the water heater pan and the garage floor around the tank monthly (hard water kills tanks early here), and flush the AC condensate line at the start of cooling season - a cup of vinegar in the drain line is the cheapest water-damage prevention in the Valley.
Meter trick: note your water meter reading last thing at night with everything off, then check it first thing in the morning. A changed reading with no use means water is going somewhere it should not.
Replace rubber washer hoses on a schedule, not after a failure - braided stainless lines are cheap insurance. And know where your main shutoff is before you need it at 3 a.m.; finding it is a daylight job.
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