I just wanted to pass along a little friendly advice for other Realtors out there.  At a recent office meeting the issue of empty homes which hadn't been winterized came up and i thought passing this info along might keep a fellow Realtor out of trouble.  If you have a home in which the seller has vacated the property either due to relocation or just because they have moved into their new home, keeping the heat set at 50 of their old home may not keep the pipes from freezing during a cold snap depending on the age of the home.  This creates a problem for them because when a seller vacates a property, their home insurance WILL NO LONGER COVER THEM unless they have notified their insurance agency of the vacancy.  Letting your seller know this might keep you out of trouble.  also, Realtors e&0 insurance will not cover an agent for "watching" a property after the sellers have vacated. 

     there was an issue locally where an agent had voluntarily offered to check in on a property the sellers had recently moved out of after buying a new home.  The local market had been slow and the agent hadn't had any calls on her listing but happened to be in the neighborhood so she stopped in only to find that there were the pipes had frozen and burst.  Upon calling the sellers, they notified their insurance agency who promptly told them they weren't covered because they hadn't notified them of the change so now the affected sellers felt like they had no option but to go after the listing agent.  The agent unfortunately found out by her e&o agency that she is not covered for issues like this and has now had to hire an attorney of her own to help settle the dispute.

     It all comes down to educating your sellers and make them aware of any possibilities.  I assure you after hearing of this other agents plight, I called my sellers of vacant homes and made them aware of their own responsibilities.