# Vacant Home for sale with real estate



## adreama (Feb 21, 2011)

Do you know of any company that will insure a vacant home. I called Allstate , was told because new client they would not take it. We are with Wawanesa an when the year is up they will not insure home because it is vacant. And because it is vacant they doubled the price. I guess our option would be to rent it, but not everyone wants to move in a house that's for sale. It's was my mother-in-laws house and we already have a house. Hopefully it will sell within the next 2 months so I won't need insurance on it anymore.. We are in New Brunswick. Thank you for reading


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## Taraz (Nov 24, 2013)

Perhaps you could find a responsible home-sitter? 

Alternatively, a quick google search brings up: http://www.hubinternational.com/personal-insurance/vacant-home-residential/


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Vacant home insurance is very expensive. You could call a broker and have them find you some. Alternatively, if there are two of you, technically you can have one reside at the new place and the other reside at the vacant house. As long as you spend some time at both on a regular basis, I think it can qualify as being occupied. It's considered the same as when people go on vacation, as long as it's checked regularly, you're fine. Best to check with your insurance company.


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## MoreMiles (Apr 20, 2011)

Just insure as usual and move back quickly the same night if there is a claim. Some people, like our Senators, have homes with residency but very little occupancy. If they can do it, it must be all right then.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

One of the conditions of my Insurance on our property in Newfoundland is we had to have a caretaker check on the property every 48 hours.It is beside my parents and my sister's so no problem there.Sometimes the insurance will give you a break if you have a similar caretaker situation.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

If all else fails, including a house sitter, Google for security firms that will check your house for a fee (like you would/could while on vacation). This would also provide a record for the insurance company in event of a claim.


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## martin15 (Feb 18, 2014)

adreama said:


> Do you know of any company that will insure a vacant home. I called Allstate , was told because new client they would not take it. We are with Wawanesa an when the year is up they will not insure home because it is vacant. And because it is vacant they doubled the price. I guess our option would be to rent it, but not everyone wants to move in a house that's for sale. It's was my mother-in-laws house and we already have a house. Hopefully it will sell within the next 2 months so I won't need insurance on it anymore.. We are in New Brunswick. Thank you for reading


Last time I looked into this, the rate was tripled for the time the house was vacant.

Selling in New Brunswick.... good luck !


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## adreama (Feb 21, 2011)

Thank you for all your info. I will look into this.. They are aware we live next door to this property. 50 feet from the house. But still sais it is considered vacant. Clean driveway, check house everyday. Insurance companies like to rob people..Anyways we lowered the price of the house, hopefully we will find a buyer soon. Selling in New Brunswick I know , but it's close to beach 5 min walk


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

adreama said:


> Thank you for all your info. I will look into this.. They are aware we live next door to this property. 50 feet from the house. But still sais it is considered vacant. Clean driveway, check house everyday. Insurance companies like to rob people..Anyways we lowered the price of the house, hopefully we will find a buyer soon. Selling in New Brunswick I know , but it's close to beach 5 min walk


Insurance companies base their premiums on the risk they have to assume. This is based on age of the dwelling, the type of construction, how close to a firehall or hydrant, home security systems etc. 

An occupied home (even with a tenant) is still less risk to the insurance company than an empty house that could be subject to pranksters or malicious acts..like setting fire to it. 

In an occupied or attended home, someone would spot an unusual trespass and call police if necessary.

The other issue besides fire is the furnace failing and pipes freezing in the winter months, so insurance companies don't like to insure unoccupied homes as a general rule.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

I have been paid to "caretake" vacant homes. It's a great gig if you can get it. $30 per trip to walk through the house and log it every couple days. I wish I could do it full time lol


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

A friend is returning to Vancouver to a flooded basement because their sump pump failed. The caretaker noted that it must have failed just after he checked it because there is 6" of water everywhere.


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

adreama said:


> Do you know of any company that will insure a vacant home. I called Allstate , was told because new client they would not take it. We are with Wawanesa an when the year is up they will not insure home because it is vacant. And because it is vacant they doubled the price. I guess our option would be to rent it, but not everyone wants to move in a house that's for sale. It's was my mother-in-laws house and we already have a house. Hopefully it will sell within the next 2 months so I won't need insurance on it anymore.. We are in New Brunswick. Thank you for reading


Why did you classify the house as "vacant"? Vacant simply means that "you do not plan on returning". In other words, the property is in essence abandoned. If it's your second house, it would have been easier to acquire insurance as a "secondary" or "seasonal" residence. Once you had insurance in place, the secondary or seasonal home could have been put up for sale.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

kcowan said:


> A friend is returning to Vancouver to a flooded basement because their sump pump failed. The caretaker noted that it must have failed just after he checked it because there is 6" of water everywhere.


Furnace failure (in winter months) and sump pump failure are two reasons why you can't leave an unattended home for any length of time, especially in winter months while on vacation.
In one of my previous homes, we had well and a sump pump. I didn't pay attention to the sump pump or test it periodically. Went down in the basement after some heavy spring rains
and found the carpet was wet. Sump pump did not work. It was a problem with the float and switch, not the motor itself. Easy to fix, no insurance claim thankfully, just had to
throw out the old carpets.
After that, I paid more attention to testing the sump pump periodically by raising the float to see if it would start working. :biggrin:

The biggest issue is the furnace quitting in an unoccupied home in the winter months. If the house is not going to be occupied for a few days or a month, the water should be shut off,
the toilet flushed and tanks emptied and the water pipes..maybe even the water heater? should be drained. Usually you don't need to drain the water tank if it is gas fired, but if it's
electrially heated..with this winter's severe ice storm in the GTA..the tank should not be left with water in it,if the house is unattended for a few days.

Lose power for a few days (no heat), and it could eventually freeze and burst, flooding the basement.
Worse case scenario, but this is one of the reasons it's harder to get insurance on a dwelling that is unoccupied..even if you don't have firestarters in your area.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

There are sensors you can get for sumps. We had one in our acreage north of Toronto. It would howl like a banshee when it detected water. Our neighbour went one further and had his call us and a number of others to respond if it detected water.


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

carverman said:


> The biggest issue is the furnace quitting in an unoccupied home in the winter months. If the house is not going to be occupied for a few days or a month, the water should be shut off,
> the toilet flushed and tanks emptied and the water pipes..maybe even the water heater? should be drained.


It's really not that big of deal. I monitor a few condo's for some snowbirds - check to ensure that the heat is maintained, etc. every 3-4 days. We shut off the water and drained the pipes within one of the units - no big deal. As long as you do one of the former, you're good to go. I still check on the one unit that has it's water shut off. In a condo setting with multiple units you also have to worry about what could happen within adjacent units - peace of mind.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

kcowan said:


> A friend is returning to Vancouver to a flooded basement because their sump pump failed. The caretaker noted that it must have failed just after he checked it because there is 6" of water everywhere.


I had a water heater start to leak in our house while we were away at Christmas time. Our neighbour looking after our cats would tend to the litter box each day that was next to the heater and noticed a small stream of water running down the side of the water heater into a drain pan. Given there was a floor drain in proximity, it is likely the water would have found its way there once overflowing the drain pan BUT had the seam opened up any more, there could have been a flood within the next 24 hours. Moral of the story: If there is not a need to have the water turned on (like we needed to), at a minimum shut off the main water valve.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

AltaRed said:


> BUT had the seam opened up any more, there could have been a flood within the next 24 hours. Moral of the story: If there is not a need to have the water turned on (like we needed to), at a minimum shut off the main water valve.


Water heaters are pressure vessels. 
That is why there is pressure relief valve on the side of each one, in case the heater thermostat gets stuck and turns the tank into a guided missile exploding and damaging
the house, (this was a scenario explored by the Myth Busters show after they defeated the pressure relief valve and set a very hot fire under it..the tank exploded!)
..anyway...it's a very low probability that this could happen, but shutting the water off at the water meter is no guarantee that the tank couldn't rupture due to the heater inside the tank still cycling on and off to keep the water temp up.

This is why there is a "Vacation" setting on the gas hot water tanks...of course, as long as it's a gas hwt..it will still work in case of prolonged hydro failure.


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## adreama (Feb 21, 2011)

I would like to thank you all for your responses. The house has been sold and the insurance company was nice enough to extend the policy by 3 days , until the closing date


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