Make Sure Your Home Owner's Insurance Covers Your Home If It's Vacant
Owners who are listing their vacant homes for sale need to check with their homeowners insurance companies to see if their coverage is still in place if they do not occupy the residence. If not, there is usually additional insurance you can purchase. Long & Foster Insurance offers this coverage and I'd be happy to put you in touch with one of the agents that can help you with that.
After reading Elizabeth's story, I'm spreading the word. This occured in Sacramento, but could really happen anywhere. Vacant homes are like magnets for thieves and juvenile delinquents.
A TV station in Omaha paid $266,500 for Roy Rogers' stuffed horse Trigger but how much can you get for a used dishwasher? $50, maybe? Burglars recently swiped a lockbox from one of my short sale listings in Natomas and made off with the sellers' appliances. They removed the gas range and oven, dishwasher and built-in microwave. So much for putting the lockbox on the gas meter. The thugs must have cut it off.
You'd think a neighbor would have noticed somebody out there with a reciprocating saw. It takes a long time to cut off a lockbox. I know this because when I bought my home, the agent left his lockbox on the railing and never came back for it. So I whipped out my saw, attached a metal cutting blade and went to work on the lockbox. It took me a good 15 minutes or so to cut through the steel. My hands vibrated for 5 minutes afterward.
I found out my lockbox was missing yesterday when a buyer's agent called me to ask its location. I told him it was on the gas meter. Nope. Wasn't there. Crap. The seller called a neighbor who peeked in the window and sure enough, the appliances were gone. The sellers were out of town, too. I suggested they call a locksmith and the police, and then their insurance agent.
I met the seller's mom at the property, handed my business card to the police officer, we changed out the locks and attached a new lockbox to the front door, in full view of the neighbor's. Of course now there's nothing left to swipe but the copper.
If your home is vacant and on the market, you might want to talk to the neighbors and ask them to keep an eye on the house. Suggest that if they see any unusual activity or a truck parked in front to call the police. Better safe than sorry.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
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Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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