An Overview of Vacant House Insurance

 

What happens if you need to insure an unoccupied house? It may surprise you to find out that your homeowners insurance is not valid once nobody has lived in your house for 30-60 days. Of course, you can pretend that someone is living there, but don't expect the insurance company to help you out if something happens to your house. They will only protect you if you have unoccupied house insurance. But be prepared for sticker shock. In this author's personal case, the insurance company offered a normal homeowners policy for $400 and a vacant house insurance policy for $2,000. You can get vacant house insurance policies from most home insurers as well as those who specialize in insuring vacant homes. Just keep in mind that although a company may specialize in insuring a house under these circumstances, it does not mean that it will be cheap. How can you save some money on vacant home insurance? You can lower the risk to your insurer by installing security systems, making sure that your doors and windows are tightly sealed, and making your house look occupied (for example, you can ask your neighbor to park their car in your driveway).

Rather than settling for the very expensive unoccupied house insurance, if your house is to be vacant for a period of time, you can get a caretaker thru Homes In Transition to occupy and stage the home. This way, you get the normal homeowners insurance rates and sell your home faster.

www.HomesInTransition.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2596421

Home Owner Frequently Asked Questions of Homes In Transition (Part 3)

Continuing on with our series of frequently asked questions from home owners.  Click for Part 1 and Part 2.  On to Part 3.

What if I don't like the Caretakers performance?

Caretakers, like everyone else,are human and not perfect. If you or your Broker ever have a complaint, we will listen, gather all the facts from all parties involved and take decisive action to remedy the situation that day! We have ample staff to field the call, perform an emergency onsite visit of the property, if necessary, and resolve the issue quickly. If the issue cannot be resolved the Caretaker is removed from the program and the house refilled. While this situation has only occurred less than .02% of the houses that have been served thought the HIT program, the consequences of NOT using the HIT program would expose the vacant house to even greater risks that have a much higher percentage of occurrence. 

Is Anybody watching over the Caretaker?

Yes! HIT maintains a staff responsible for the regular and random inspection of every property in our program starting on day four in which we carefully review and modify the furnishing setup inside the house with our Caretaker. Weekly inspections are conducted thereafter to ensure our Caretaker understands their role and has the house show ready. We inspect the property regularly until it is sold and leaves the program.

What happens when the house is sold?

First, we cheer another success story!
The Property Owner provides HIT with notice of the closing and arrangements are made by the HIT to relocate the Caretaker. The property is cleaned and ready for the new buyer on or before the closing date specified in the notice. Because it is HIT's goal to accommodate ALL closings, under extreme cases your property can be available in as little as 30 days. The Notice process is dictated by state law by which we all must abide. Because each Caretaker in the program is highly valued and we can all appreciate the moving process, providing Caretakers the longest notice possible is always HIT's goal.

How can I be sure the house will be in good shape when the Caretaker leaves?

Our goal is to always return the property to you or the new buyer in as good or better shape as it was when enrolled into the HIT program. To ensure we get it right, we video tape the property floor to ceiling, inside and out, front curb to back wall before the Caretaker moves in. This provides as good a record as possible for both the Property Owner and the Caretaker establishing the existing condition of the house. Upon the Caretakers departure from the property, HIT performs a Move-out Inspection and reviews any suspicious areas against the video record. If there is an issue that needs to be resolved HIT's Customer Service Department mobilizes the necessary services to resolve the problem quickly and efficiently.

What happens if the Caretaker doesn't move?

Unfortunately a Caretaker is human and their performance can never be guaranteed. Since the first caretaker in 1986, there have only been 2 known cases of Caretakers not surrendering a house in time for closing. This is not to say our Caretakers are near perfect, but it does mean that HIT's professional approach and years of experience provide the broad base of knowledge to resolve these issues before they affect a closing. In a combined total inventory of houses reaching well over 2400 properties, it's a very small percentage risk. Could it be an expensive risk? sure, but compared to the level of risk and possible expense of holding the property for a longer period of time, possibly having to accept a low ball offer, having the house sold on the court house steps, having it vandalized,burned down, damaged by a major system malfunction that causes significant damage, having an unnoticed roof leak, broken water pipe or other possible situation occur without notice, the risk of having a Caretaker hold up a sale has a much lower risk factor. To further insulate the Property Owner for this acceptable risk, HIT provides a modest daily liquidated damages provision in the Property Mangement Agreement to help offset this type of unusual occurrence should it happen.

The bottom line - HIT has the experience and vast array of tools and unmatched knowledge to help prevent or mitigate this type of situation.

www.HomesInTransition.com

Vacant Homes Are Harder To Sell (Part 2)

Let's look at Part 2 in our series of tips for selling a vacant home.

Consider Hiring a Caretaker

Lucky for you, that's just what we do.  Homes In Transition will supply short or long-term house sitters for a nominal fee (click here for more info).  Our caretakers are well qualified and often are experienced home sitters that live a nomadic lifestyle, moving from one property to another.  In exchange for a place to call home for a few months they care for your property like it is their own.

When trying to sell a home tenants who are paying rent will have an expected length of occupancy which can lead to its own set of issues.  Our caretakers will be out of the house by closing, making it a much better option to settle matters in a timely fashion.  Using our caretaker service can also avoid possible insurance issues that come with a home being vacant.  Additionally, having a caretaker looking over the property can provide a peace of mind for the owner, particularly if said owner is now living out of town.

Stay tuned for part 3 later this week!

www.HomesInTransition.com

Tips for Shopping Online for Real Estate

The Internet has changed modern life in many ways, including the way that people buy and sell real estate. From real estate broker websites to personal blogs on real estate, there is tons of online information for potential buyers to utilize. Though most people already use the internet to search for homes listed for sale, there are some other things that can be done to get even more value out of shopping for real estate online.

Compare Homes

Online shopping allows people to compare homes side by side from the comfort of their own home. Though nothing replaces an actual property viewing, an online look at a home is a low stress environment that allows buyers to view the home without the pressure of a broker or other shoppers. The Internet also allows buyers to simultaneously look at similar homes in various areas. For example, an internet shopper can search for and compare all of the three bedroom homes with-in a 15 mile radius of his or her work.

Neighborhood

A residential or commercial real estate property is only as good as the neighborhood that surrounds it. The Internet allows a buyer to quickly learn about the neighborhood in which a real estate property is located. For example, a buyer can learn about the crime rate, the quality of area schools and the proximity of local stores and restaurants. Online mapping programs can even allow a remote buyer to view the local area from another location.

Research Values

There is often a vast difference between the asking price of a home and the actual selling price of a comparable home. An online shopper can quickly look up information on past selling prices for similar properties before viewing a home. With a smartphone, a buyer can even look up these prices while at a home or in a real estate broker's office. Having this information on hand at all times can help the buyer to negotiate the best deal possible.

Networking

The Internet allows a person to share information quickly and easily with people that they know. By posting on a social networking site that a person is interesting in buying a house or other real estate property, the buyer will let everyone know that he or she is in the market. This can help the buyer to uncover reel estate that is not yet listed, motivated sellers or for sale by owner properties that are often missed through traditional real estate searches.

Loan Acquisition

One of the most important parts of shopping for real estate is qualifying for a loan. The Internet provides shoppers with access to lenders all across the country that can best meet the buyer's unique needs. For example, a buyer with credit problems can use the Internet to find mortgage lenders willing to work with him or her to qualify for a loan. A buyer with good credit can also use the Internet to find the best deal on a mortgage loan which can result in thousands of dollars of savings over the life of the loan.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7505358

Risks of Leaving Your Home Vacant

Homes In Transition is a company that places Caretakers in vacant houses.  Having someone living in the home avoids a lot of potential hassle and helps sell the house faster.  Read on for more information about risks you can avoid by using our service.

A typical homeowner's insurance policy ends once the property is vacant for more than 30 days. Most homeowners don't know this. They continue to pay their premium but, if a claim is filed, it may not be paid because vacancy voids the policy.

If you leave a home vacant, you must have vacancy insurance. Premiums for this type of insurance can be more than double regular insurance. Even many landlord policies have vacancy limitations so, no matter what type of property you own, know what your policy terms are.

Insurance companies put a higher risk (and cost) on insuring vacant homes because of the increased risk of theft, vandalism, fire and water damage. These risks and costs may be higher in northern states because of potential damage due to extreme weather (frozen pipes bursting,etc.).

It may be cheaper, and safer, to keep your "for sale" home occupied. Before you or your tenant move out, take a look at your policy and talk with your insurance agent for guidance.

Some suggestions when thinking about vacant property:

• Protect your property. Install and use a monitored home security system.


• Make sure the smoke detectors are functioning.


• If your home has a sprinkler system, monitored central alarm for fire, smoke and theft and deadbolt locks, your home is safer and these features can lower your insurance premiums.


• Make the house look lived-in. Have someone bring in mail. It's always better to stop mail and other deliveries anytime you're away. Ask a neighbor to park their car in your driveway. Install timers on lights and leave window coverings and some furniture in the home.


• If possible, don't move out until you've sold the home. Perhaps someone in the family can stay behind or live there occasionally until the home is sold.


• Rent out the home. Not only will the home be lived in but the rent will help cover your carrying costs. In this case, you will need to change your homeowners insurance policy to a landlord policy but that will be cheaper than vacant home insurance.


• Hire a house-sitter or let someone you trust live there until it's sold.


• No matter what you do, you still have to keep the home maintained by cleaning the yard and gutters, trimming trees, checking for leaks, shoveling the sidewalks and driveway and winterizing as necessary.

Make sure any property you own is protected, and check with your agent to see how long the coverage lasts if no one is living there. The last thing you want is to file a claim and find out you don't have coverage because the vacancy exceeded the maximum number of days allowed by your insurance policy.

What's been your experience with vacant houses?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7265402