Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My house is for sale and I'm moving out in two weeks. It'll be empty for an undetermined amount of time. No one will be living in it, just an occasional buyer coming to look at it. I'm trying to figure out how much I should shut off in the house.
1. I'm going to turn off the circuit breakers to outside outlets and the water to outside faucets (I've seen neighbors stealing electricity before).
2. Empty out the fridge, unplug and leave the doors open.
3. Should I put my water heater on vacation mode (gas, 40 gallon tank), or drain it and turn the whole thing off?
4. Should I winterize the whole plumbing system? Drain the toilets and turn off the water main?
5. I'm figuring on just switching off the heat system (gas steam boiler). I have at least 4 months until it starts to cool down and the house SHOULD be sold by then.
I'm going to get a little light on a timer with a CFL bulb and put it in the living room.
Remember that all utilities need to be on for a buyer's inspection so unless you want to go through the trouble of turning things off just to turn them back on, it's probably not worth it. Buyers like to flush toilets as they walk through houses. They might think something is wrong if it doesn't flush properly because you have the water off. Don't leave the fridge doors open as that will show weird as they walk the kitchen. If you turn the hot water off, they won't be able to test to see if hot water comes to a faucet in 10 seconds or 3 minutes (that can be a deal killer for some buyers when hot water takes a long time to get to a secondary room)...
You need to think about what you like to do when you walk houses for sale and remember that other buyers do those things and more.
My house is for sale and I'm moving out in two weeks. It'll be empty for an undetermined amount of time. No one will be living in it, just an occasional buyer coming to look at it. I'm trying to figure out how much I should shut off in the house.
1. I'm going to turn off the circuit breakers to outside outlets and the water to outside faucets (I've seen neighbors stealing electricity before). If you can isolate only the outside outlets, I say yes. Outside water faucets, definitely yes.
2. Empty out the fridge, unplug and leave the doors open.Empty it, but don't turn it off.
3. Should I put my water heater on vacation mode (gas, 40 gallon tank), or drain it and turn the whole thing off?Yes. There will still be hot water available for buyers to check.
4. Should I winterize the whole plumbing system? Drain the toilets and turn off the water main? Unless there's still a possibility of freezing, no.
5. I'm figuring on just switching off the heat system (gas steam boiler). I have at least 4 months until it starts to cool down and the house SHOULD be sold by then. I'd just set the thermostat so it doesn't come on.
I'm going to get a little light on a timer with a CFL bulb and put it in the living room.
Water needs to be on for inspection. And not just during the inspection but I always turn on water if I'm looking at a house to check the water pressure. Plus if it's hot during a viewing, the agent is going to want to turn on the AC to make sure the buyers are comfortable while they are looking. If they are hot and sweaty, they will walk out and your house won't sell.
And grass and landscaping need to be watered so they don't die off, along with regular mowing.
If it was winter I would say to winterize the pipes/plumbing but since it isn't, I would recommend leaving all of the utilities on. It is very hard to show a home with no utilities (especially on a dreary day) as well as the fact (as mentioned above) that buyers do like to test things as they go through. And yes, I concur with JonahWicky - make sure someone is taking care of the landscaping/lawn. I would also recommend having someone check on it periodically - empty homes can attract undesirable attention. Lastly, you may want to consider putting some lights on a timer to make it look like it has activity.
Have you spoken to your insurance company? Many have riders that exclude empty properties since problems can go undetected and they can attract vandals and squatters.
Have you spoken to your insurance company? Many have riders that exclude empty properties since problems can go undetected and they can attract vandals and squatters.
Beware if you tell your insurance company, they may cancel your policy. You will then have to find some new policy for the few months it takes to sell the home.
It happened to me once in VA and I had to buy some overpriced state plan since no one would insure an empty house.
Beware if you tell your insurance company, they may cancel your policy. You will then have to find some new policy for the few months it takes to sell the home.
It happened to me once in VA and I had to buy some overpriced state plan since no one would insure an empty house.
So it's better to NOT tell them, then have them void your coverage if/when you need it?
I would leave the utilities on and the water on also. I looked at a couple of houses where the power had been turned off and the plumbing winterized and it was just too hard to imagine living in those houses. It was a cold, rainy day when I was looking, and I had to use my flashlight to look around in the houses.
Also, leave the fridge clean but turned on if you're including it with the house. It's not going to use a ton of electricity and keeping it cold will keep it from smelling funky without having to leave the doors open, which will look weird to people when they walk into the kitchen.
The light on a timer is a good idea. Several lights in different rooms set to different times would be even better. Go to Walmart and get a couple of cheap lamps that you won't mind leaving behind.
Do you have a neighbor who you'd trust with a key? Someone you could pay (a small amount, since it's not much work) to walk through the house once a week and check that everything is as it should be?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
