As many of you have been through my continuing saga with my 95 year old dad, he is happy and stabilized in memory care now where he has been since February. They take good care of him, handle his medical needs, and he has made some friends. Although he still fixates on a lot of stuff, his outbursts and anxiety are gone and he is generally happy. My husband and I cleaned out his house with the help of an estate sale company. There has been a lot of deferred maintenance we're having to deal with and it's costing a bit of money but they are things dad should have gotten fixed a long time ago. The house is empty and we listed it on the market in early August. It has yet to sell and we have reduced the price. I guess the housing bubble has burst a bit in my area. The homeowners insurance company has told me to leave some things in the house. I told them it was empty - am I still insured? They would not answer my question (I continue to pay his premiums). They said it's kind of like having a vacation home. Your stuff is there but you aren't. We have started moving some odds and ends back in the house even though it is mostly empty hoping that is enough for the insurance company to be happy. My fear is something will happen, we will need to file a claim, and then dad won't be insured. Has anyone else had to deal with the empty house thing? My own insurance company said he can write me a policy for 'empty house insurance' but it is through a different company and is very expensive.
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"...realtor has said that people think there's too much work to do on the house to bring it up to the standards they want. Yes, it's outdated inside but very liveable until you could fix it up. Some rooms only need paint. It's on 1/3 acre and the grass is all in the front. The back is woods and large trees. …"
To me, the location alone makes it very desirable; my house is in a 1/3 acre property, and the extra space offered plenty of gardening room when I was younger and could manage it.
Babs, I had an interesting discussion with a realtor I had planned to hire (Veteran owned business, which was my goal). The firm has expanded and has a different approach now, which I found not to my liking. One (not one of the Veteran owners) of the two realtors with whom I recently spoke tried to convince me to allow them to do the house cleanout, advising that I should tag what I wanted to keep with something green, and they would handle removal of everything else.
First, I think that's a waste of my time, tagging everything instead of just removing it. (I'm going to waste time tagging CDs and books instead of just packing them?? I think not.)
Second, there are some antiques and workshop valuables, which I know could be sold b/c I've dealt with people who are interested in them, especially the tools. Under the realtor's plan, either they or the removal contractor they hire would then "handle" whatever I don't tag, and they could then sell them for their own benefit.
I discovered this when getting estimates for yard cleanup; a few contractors didn't even bother to give estimates when, in response to what I wanted to do with some specific items, I stated they'll go to charitable organizations. (I had already located two 501(c)(3)s which were interested.) So the tools, etc. would go to a trade school, and I would get a tax deduction. And men or women learning trades (woodworking, metalworking) would have the benefit of using older tools which I'm told are better than the newer ones (some being Chinese made).
It took a while to figure out that these "disposal experts" wanted to get items they could leverage, by selling them themselves. Cheeky buggers! Obviously I didn't hire them.
The realtor I first mentioned also stated he himself was an investor. Alas, the truth is revealed. I learned from a now former trust accountant that he also is an investor.
So, if your realtor feels that potential buyers aren't interested in working on the house, that could be true, DEPENDING on the type of people he/she's interviewing or showing the house. Or, it could be the realtor wants to "soften you up" and eventually offer to "take the house off your hands" by purchasing it him/herself.
Call me skeptical, but my own experience has opened my eyes to the pursuit of houses in need of work so they can be bought cheaper and leveraged by realtors, buyers, or others. I've added new criteria for my search for a realtor, if I can't sell the house myself once it's fixed up to a stable standard.
I think those flipper tv shows have been a major contributor to this desire to be an "investor."
Just FYI...
I purchased vacant house insurance for my father's house, knowing that it would take some time to prepare for sale. My agent told me there aren't many companies willing to take the responsibility for insuring a vacant house, which really means that no one is living there. Furnishings are irrelevant as I understand the issue, and don't make the home "occupied."
Neighbors unfortunately, perhaps in trying to be helpful, don't always have the common sense not to reveal whether the house is empty or not when flippers come snooping around.
I did some research to verify my agent's claim and confirmed that insuring companies are limited. And expensive. A few years ago it cost $2500/annually. And coverage is limited: water damage is specifically excluded. That's a major issue, especially given the changing climate and increase in storms and flooding, especially in the area to the south of us.
One thing you should do is have the local governmental water authority turn off the water while the house is vacant, especially if you're in an area that's prone to flooding or heavy rains. The damage that could occur from a flooded basement puts a whole new level on saleability of a vacant home.
And secure the house as best as possible. If your father had any guns, remove them.
I think that even though you're still paying premiums, the fact is that the house is no longer occupied. So to me that could raise an issue if a claim were filed as to whether or not the company (not just the agent) was aware of the vacancy, and, equally important, whether or not it has any liability for claims.
You might spend some time reading the existing policy to see if there are any caveats as to vacant houses. You don't want to be considered as not providing accurate information, even if the agent has been informed.
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I am a little fussy when it comes to how my house looks, my DH laughed at me about it until he had to do and then he realized it's a PT job to keep even a small home in shape. And once it's 'fallen apart' so to speak, it's a lot harder to keep it up.
As far as insurance--if you aren't happy with the company you're with--shop around. I'm lucky to have a great ins agent who carries all our insurance.
I know insurance seems like an unnecessary expense when you aren't even using the house, but if you had a flood, a fire, even vandalism--those premiums you paid will seem like a minor inconvenience compared to paying out yourself for repairs.
My FIL owned a rental house (to the surprise of the family, we didn't know) and he was sick and old and let it go for a couple of years. After he passed, we discovered he had it. I have no idea if he kept insurance on it--but the place was a total wreck and sadly, due to neglect, we just sold it for about half of what it was worth.
Are you looking to make top dollar for this place? In my area, houses go on the market on Thurs and are almost always sold by Sunday. Esp 'fixer uppers'. It's bonkers.
A realtor who knows his stuff will not guide you wrong. Same with a decent ins. agent.
The issue will be that your dad has a homeowners policy and if the insurer will have him considered to have permanently moved out of & vacated the property then the homeowners policy is not in effect. If there is a claim, they can be a real dick and say sorry it wasn’t in effect and will return the last premium paid. So you need to have things that imply his return to the home…. He keeps his state issued ID with his home address, he continues to get his tax bill and other bills at this address, bank statements as well. House gets lights on w timers, toilettes flushed periodically, yard watered, etc, so utilities show a pattern of use which means it is not truly “vacant”. In theory, dad could get better and could move back home….. in theory could happen!
it sounds like his insurance agent wants to keep the policy (& their commission) in effect and why they are telling you (nudge, nudge) to view it as a vacation home.
Is dad on LTC Medicaid or do you anticipate his needing to file for it? If so post that. Dealing with a house sale and Medicaid has several issues you ime kinda need to be aware of so you & dad can anticipate & plan for things that might come up.
Vacant property policies can be found. They are speciality underwriting, so you get them thru independent insurance agents rather than AllState, StateFarm, USAA which do not do vacant. I don’t think you can buy them directly, they need to funnel through an independent agent. Tend to cost double of a homeowners and are usually just a fire policy. So no theft or peril coverage (like roof damage from a hail storm). If dad has NFIP flood policy or a State supported wind pool policy, these won’t do coverage on vacant homes. You can for extra charge, get riders attached like if construction is being done or if house has a Realtor listing so will have folks coming thru the property.
Important, whatever happens you do NOT want any coverage to lapse, so if the HO sends dad a letter notifying 30 days you IMO have to get a vacant policy in force before that 30 day ends. If there’s a lapse, the vacant insurer might want an appraisal done before any underwriting issued.
Is Realtor giving you feedback from folks who have actually done a walk through? I’d ask for that as it might tell you what problem(s) is/are.
The real estate lady also told me to leave stuff in as it helps to sell the house.
Maybe You can have a grandchild stay there a couple nights a week?