With summer upon us, many families are taking vacations, some taking that long extended “dream” vacation. Others are making that anticipated move to coincide with the school year even if their current home is not sold. Others are considering or already have purchased a 2nd/vacation home. It all creates times that homes sit unoccupied.
Some of the risks of a unoccupied house include:
~ Higher probability of a break in. Burglars will watch neighborhoods or specific houses for activity before breaking in.
~ Higher probability of vandalism. Like burglars, vandals will target an empty house.
~ No emergency response. Emergencies like fire or flooding will go unnoticed until they become larger (and thus more costly) disasters.
It is so important to protect your home against theft, vandalism or loss. Here are a few tips for protecting your home when you are not at home:
1. Lock all doors and windows.
2. Close blinds and drapes so strangers cannot peek in.
3. Put a couple interior lights on timers and exterior lights on motion sensors.
4. Have a friend or neighbor periodically check on the house.
5. Keep the yard maintained, sidewalks clear, and don’t allow any mail, flyers or newspapers to accumulate.
6. Ask a neighbor to occasionally park in the driveway.
7. Turn off the main water valve to prevent any bursting pipes, hose ruptures, or water leaks.
8. Ensure smoke detectors, burglar alarms and sump pumps are working properly.
9. Turn any security systems on.
10. Unplug electrical appliances (but not the sump pump).
11. Turn down the temperature on the hot water heater.
12. Set a continuous temperature for the house. Some level of climate control is important to keep any pipes from freezing in the winter months and doors/woodwork from warping in the summer months.
It is critical to notify your insurance company if a property becomes vacant. The definition of vacancy will vary depending upon the insurance company and even upon the individual policies. Typically 30-60 days of a home being unoccupied is considered a vacant home. Some policies will continue to cover liability for longer periods of vacancy but not theft or vandalism.
Potential losses and liabilities with a vacant home may not be covered by a standard homeowners’ insurance policy. Homeowners’ insurance assumes that the owners are living there and vacant homes are generally considered a higher risk and carry a higher insurance premium.
Think you have nothing to lose or there is nothing to steal? Since the downturn of the housing market and the economy, there has been a marked increase in the number of vacant homes being targeted across the country. Thieves are taking built in appliances such as stoves and dishwashers. There are even cases of HVAC units, lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and copper pipes being removed from properties.
If you have a property that has been recently vacated, read your policy carefully (some have “vacancy clauses” written right into them). You would never want to put yourself in the position where an insurance company could deny the claim.
Not convinced? Consider these national statistics:
· In the U.S., a home burglary occurs every 13 seconds. Over two million home burglaries are reported each year in the United States.
· The highest percentage of burglaries happen in the daytime hours during the months of July and August.
· About 66 percent of all burglaries are of residential properties and 30 percent of all burglaries are through an open or unlocked window or door. And renters are just as likely to be the victims of property crime as homeowners.
Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.
Protecting Your Home When You are Not Home - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.
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