On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 18:02:47 -0500, "HeatMan"
wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
I'm in the process of moving across the country, am selling my present
home. Called my insurance agent today (Farmer's) to tell him of the
move, thinking some adjustment to the home owner's policy would be
required (on the one hand the house is vacant, so presumably more
vulnerable, on the other it's empty, so no content is there to be
harmed) he told me they will not insure an empty house & as far as he
knows no one will. I almost wish I had not mentioned it, but you can
be sure if I hadn't & the damn place had burned down, they wouldn't
have paid anyway if they found out it was vacant. Anyway, anyone have
any advice on insuring an empty house while it is on the market?


FWIW, don't empty it. Go to Goodwill and buy some old useless furniture and
put it in there. Leave the power on and put some lights on timers. Have
the neighbors park their cars in the driveway occasionly.

No one will insure an empty house.



I had an uncle that died, and a few months later my aunt went into a
nursing home. The house was vacant. My mother being the only
remaining relative was given power of attorney. She ran into a
similar problem, except the insurance company was not notified at that
point yet. When the insurance was due, my mothers lawyer told her
that there could be a problem if the ins company found out. She
suggested renting it to someone. Mom got all nervous and said the
renters will wreck the place and etc etc etc...

I lived too far away to directly help, but I went to visit mom and I
had to go to that house to do a few repairs, plus I was given the
refrigerator, washer and dryer. While I was there, I solved the
problem. The next door neighbor came over while I was there and asked
if he could park one of his cars on the driveway, because he had too
many cars for his driveway (was trying to sell one of them), and was
always getting parking tickets on the street. I told him that I'd
discuss it with the family. I talked to the lawyer and we agreed to
charge the guy $10 a month for the driveway parking. (less than half
the cost of one parking ticket).

At the same time a few of the younger relatives in their 20's were
hired by mom and aunt to clean the house and get rid of most of the
furniture and stuff. They were being paid to do the cleaning, plus
made a small fortune selling all the antiques to antique shops. But
the lawyer wrote up a lease, in which they were renting the property
in trade for cleaning. They did sleep there one or two nights, but
most of the time they were just there cleaning and hauling stuff out.
Timers were also put on lights.

In the end, everyone was happy. The youngsters were making money, the
neighbor was not getting tickets, the legalities were worked out for
the insurance, and my mother could sleep again. (and I almost forgot,
the lawyer made a couple hundred too).

In other words, RENT the place to someone you know for a small amount,
(you can reimburse them too if you want). Make it a legal rental
lease, use a lawyer if needed, and you should be all set. I think I'd
still find another ins. company though.