Some people might think it’s weird to do a whole post about vacant home insurance. But trust us – if you’re involved in any kind of situation where you’re going to have to cover a property while it sits on the market, you’re going to want to read this.
Insuring a house that doesn’t have anyone living in it, even for a short number of months, can be extremely expensive. It can also be difficult to get a policy.
The very general idea here is that insurance companies don’t like outlier situations. They like neat, easy underwriting – and vacant home insurance doesn’t fit in. Most properties have people living in them who can help protect against theft or vandalism, keep home systems working properly, change the thermostat to maintain room temperature, etc.
Trying to Get Vacant Home Coverage
One of the first things you will encounter when you start to call around is that some companies will refuse to cover these properties outright. They just won’t be interested in trying to get you a low premium for a vacant property. They’ll start talking about all of the things that can go wrong – from frozen pipes to copper thieves.
You’ll try to reason with them that the situation really isn’t that different. It’s the same property, and nothing else has changed, but you’re likely to encounter quite a bit of pushback on what it’s worth to keep coverage month-to-month.
Cost of Premiums
Get ready to pay up to 5 to 6 times what you were paying before, because the insurance company estimates extremely high risk for any uninhabited property. It doesn’t matter if you are committed to coming over and setting the thermostat or not.
The companies that will cover your vacant property will tend to use market exclusivity to push the price up even more. It’s a frustrating and troublesome process that can leave you feeling pretty discouraged.
Other Costs
Nor is insurance the only thing you’ll have to pay for. Municipalities still want you to keep the property presentable, even if there’s no tenant.
So be prepared to shell out for mowing and everything else, unless you’re doing it yourself.
Here’s the good news – Oakwood Capital works in the Charleston area to make a complex and cumbersome process simple, easy and quick.
We offer fair market value for properties with extremely quick closing and settlement so that you can avoid all of these extra costs and get your property sold now, not half a year from now.
The average sale process has quite a number of steps and some amount of complexity, and that’s going to be even more true in the wake of a national emergency and crisis that has markets completely discombobulated. If you need to sell now, talk to Oakwood Capital.