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Don't know, but a lot of people with older row homes pay upwards of $600/ month for gas in the winter, plus electric, plus water.
This house is well insulated though and the worst bills were less than half that and if we keep it at 63 ish it shouldn't be too bad.
What someone pays for utilities on a house they are living in doesn't seem to be much of a comparison for a place that will be empty.
Bree, thanks for that - it's actually not the best situation for either side.
The upside for them is that it gives them the push they needed to go back to California which they've been wanting to do for ages. The downside is he's out $350k + in salary.
We would be better off if we hadn't just got all our hospital bills from having a baby and had to redo all the electric work our (now fired) General Contractor had done in our new house. Ah well, this too shall pass. Hopefully it passes quickly!
Good point re the insurance - I contacted our rep and there are definitely implications. We may have to firnish it and go down and stay there every Friday and Saturday night so it still counts as lived in. Arghhhhh!
What someone pays for utilities on a house they are living in doesn't seem to be much of a comparison for a place that will be empty.
No, but we can't leave it too cold. It's not good for the house and it's not good for potential renters/ buyers to see it cold and with propped open fridges. That screams desperate, please low ball us.
Their water bill this month was $49. Hopefully that at least should go way, way down and electric should be lower too (providing the agents remember to turn off lights as they leave). The gas however will probably still be significant.
How much do you all pay in utilities? Here in any kind of largeish house they are significant whether you're in it or not. It's not like you can shut down the heat in the middle of winter.
If you can't afford the utilities, get them shut off. Or just keep the one utility that is needed to keep the pipes from freezing in the middle of winter. Keep the heat at 50 degrees. Your bill should be next to nothing.
Shut off water/sewer/electricity/phone/cable.
Keep gas for heat and keep heat at 50 degrees. Shut off breaker to water heater.
Folks view homes all the time with utilities shut off. Just make sure to put warnings on the toilets so nobody uses them. Simply put a cardboard inside the lid that nobody sees unless they open it.
If you really need to keep electricity on the show the home. Put gallons of water in the fridge. At least 8 gallons. This will keep the fridge from running too often. Doesn't have to be gallons of water...could be cans of soda or small water bottles, etc. Also put a bag of ice in the freezer or some water bottles that will freeze. An empty fridge/freezer will run often because there is nothing cold inside to keep it cold.
Last edited by sware2cod; 09-26-2012 at 08:12 AM..
No, but we can't leave it too cold. It's not good for the house and it's not good for potential renters/ buyers to see it cold and with propped open fridges. That screams desperate, please low ball us.
My roommates and I found our current apartment the last week of December for a Feb 1 move-in. Because the apartment had been vacant, they turned off the heat and hot water. Now, this was a 2nd floor apartment of a two-family with a family living downstairs, so there was no risk of the pipes freezing, but the lack of heat did not impact our interest in the apartment whatsoever! The electricity was on for the lights, but the refrigerator was unplugged. It hadn't been left open when we toured, but I assume that someone came in to close the doors before showings.
I know your situation is different because it's a house, but don't necessarily think you will put off people by being economical! Can you leave the heat on low just downstairs to keep the pipes from freezing upstairs?
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