Winterize new home? (Allen, Frisco, Howe: rentals, homeowners insurance, new house)

[ann_kay]

We just closed on a new build home in Frisco in the first week of September. However, due to work complications looks like we will not be able to relocate here (from the Northeast) until at least July/August of next year. Needless to say we are in a pickle.

We now face the prospect of keeping the place unoccupied until we move next year. We are new to DFW having lived only in the Northeast, so don't know if we need to winterize the home for the upcoming winter months. In addition, although the house is in a pretty decent community, I have security concerns about keeping it shut for 9-10 months. What precautions do we need to take to protect our investment?. Some of the items that come to my mind are:

1.) Subscribe to a Home Security Monitoring Service.
2.) Shut off the water to prevent bursting pipes?
3.) Have the temp set in the house between 70-75 degrees for the winter months? (Not sure.)

What else do we need to take care of? Its a new home (3500+ sqft), so do we need to worry about anything specific?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[WorldKlas]

be sure to get a change from regular to vacant house insurance. It should be cheaper than regular homeowners and if you just have regular homeowners insurance and there's a claim it will be likely denied if the ins. co. finds out no one lives there.

I would open all cabinets that have plumbing underneath so pipes don't freeze. then I would have the thermostat for winter set at 55 degrees. Also unplug the garage door opener, unplug the dishwasher if not hard wired in, too. Drain and turn off the hot water heater. Drain and turn off the water valves at the toilets and turn off the water valves at sinks. You'll need water for the lawn because we water all year generally.

Install motion lighting and set up some timer lights in the house. Find someone local to drive by occasionally to remove any litter around the house and keep the irrigation system watering the yard. I wouldn't use a home monitoring service because how will you deal with it if there's a false alarm? Even hail can set off alarms....

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by ann_kay

We just closed on a new build home in Frisco in the first week of September. However, due to work complications looks like we will not be able to relocate here (from the Northeast) until at least July/August of next year. Needless to say we are in a pickle.

We now face the prospect of keeping the place unoccupied until we move next year. We are new to DFW having lived only in the Northeast, so don't know if we need to winterize the home for the upcoming winter months. In addition, although the house is in a pretty decent community, I have security concerns about keeping it shut for 9-10 months. What precautions do we need to take to protect our investment?. Some of the items that come to my mind are:

1.) Subscribe to a Home Security Monitoring Service.
2.) Shut off the water to prevent bursting pipes?
3.) Have the temp set in the house between 70-75 degrees for the winter months? (Not sure.)

What else do we need to take care of? Its a new home (3500+ sqft), so do we need to worry about anything specific?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

A friend is a plumber. I'll ask him who to handle the water. I'm guessing he'd suggest shutting of your water pressure at the meter. And then draining as much as possible from once the pressure is shut. You, most likely have water lines in your attic supplying your water heater that need to be considered they'll need to be drained.

[bamaintex]

Just one thing from experience regarding vacant home insurance. I've never had to get it here in Texas, but in Georgia, it was almost 3 times the cost of regular homeowners insurance! It is certainly not less expensive. And, most mainstream insurance companies (State Farm, Allstate, etc) won't insure a vacant home. The reason I was told was that damage to a vacant home could be more significant since there would be no one to respond to an emergency (fire, flood, roof damage) in a timely manner. You might consider becoming a temporary landlord because insurance on a rental is considerably cheaper than vacant home insurance.

[roseball123]

I think vacant home insurance costs a lot more than the regular home insurance. You also need to worry about issues that you usually see with the house that the builder covers under the one year warranty. You won't know them until you live in the house and you will almost run out of the warranty by the time you move-in. I hope you hired a private home inspector before closing, atleast he should have identified most of those issues.

[EDS_]

Talked to my plumber buddy will give a full report later.

[ann_kay]

Originally Posted by bamaintex

Just one thing from experience regarding vacant home insurance. I've never had to get it here in Texas, but in Georgia, it was almost 3 times the cost of regular homeowners insurance! It is certainly not less expensive. And, most mainstream insurance companies (State Farm, Allstate, etc) won't insure a vacant home. The reason I was told was that damage to a vacant home could be more significant since there would be no one to respond to an emergency (fire, flood, roof damage) in a timely manner. You might consider becoming a temporary landlord because insurance on a rental is considerably cheaper than vacant home insurance.

Well, we did think about renting it out. But we are uncomfortable renting out a house which was supposed to be and will be our primary home down the road.
Besides, I don't know if it will get rented, even if we tried. Do folks actually rent these big homes? A quick scan of area rentals show very few of these newer and bigger homes for rent. I don't know if a market exists for renting these type of homes, at least from what I can see sitting in the Northeast.

[ca2dfw]

Another thing to note is that the tax-free capital gains rules have changed for the worse if you convert a rental home into a primary residence.

[bamaintex]

Yes, homes that size get rented all the time here. I live in Allen in a similar sized house. Two houses I know of right around me are rentals. Both of them rented pretty quickly after the previous tenants moved out. I can understand not wanting to be an absent landlord, especially with a brand new house. But regular homeowners insurance is crazy expensive here, my policy was $2,000. Estimate at least 2-3 times that amount for a vacant house policy. Plus, how would you know if anything happened in your absence. At least for the time my home sat vacant before I gave up and rented it, I knew my former neighbors who kept an eye on things for me. Plus, I only lived 3 hours away and could drive over to check on things periodically. That's a very large investment to have sitting with no one checking on it regularly.

[Lacajun76]

If you're apprehensive about renting out the house or being an long distance landlord, why not have a house-sitter? They could live in the house and take care of it for you. Since, the house is a new build, there should be very few maintenance issues. You'll likely lose out on precious house warranty time by not occupying the house for 10 months. Someone living in the house, whatever you want to call them, will be able to help identify any issues for you by the mere fact they are there.

I assume you're going to pay mortgage, insurance and taxes. That's all a sunk cost. Your marginal cost is your utilities, security service, wear and tear on the house. You could set aside $x for cleaning/fixing any issues when you do move to Texas. With some creativity, you could work out an arrangement that minimizes your financial costs and protects your investment.

Of course a downside is that you have a horrible person/family that damages your house or won't leave. That's where your due diligence will mitigate that risk.

If I was in your situation, I would have someone live there, either paying rent, or rent free. Ideally, they would help offset some of the costs. The alternative, is your home stays vacant and you worry about your investment. If I had an opportunity to live in a new 3500sft house for free / low rent, I would bring references up the wazoo