Any recommendations on how to close up a house for a while?

[politicat]

With my great-grandfather dying, this will leave the family home empty for the first time since it was built (in 1876). As much as we want to keep it in the family, it's going to be at least 4 years before any of us can move into it, and that will be one of my sisters and her husband, once he gets through Veterinarian college. Since I don't think the family trust is going to let my grandmother just sell the place, it's probably going to be empty for a while. (Sorry, renting it is out of the question for the time being.)

So the obvious is to drain the water pipes, shut down the boiler, have the propane tank pumped out, turn off the water... What else do we need to do, and how soon do we have to do it?

[Digit]

1. The insurance company will not like it

Try at least to leave some furniture in it and visit it frequently.
They consider vacant properties a vandalism liability.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Amen to that!

They even cringe at summer cottages and winter ski cabins. Closing up a more permanent place, like a year round home might give them apoplexy. And the fact is, ya gotta tell 'em or it could void the insurance.

That said, consider these two options ...... consult with the insurance company on what you should do. If they're willing to continue to insure it they'll have something to say that is probably wise and useful.

The other option is to simply have the family occupy it on a part-time, ongoing, rotational basis. As in you stay there this weekend, your sister and her husband stay there for a weekend a month later, then your cousin and his kids go for a weekend a month or so after that.

Keep all the systems going, keep the heat on so the place stays above freezing, crack open a faucet on any pipe that could freeze (or better yet, install that heat trace tape that's been put off for years cuz its a pain in the ass to install).

Obviously stop all the mail and newspapers. Put a few lamps on timers. The more you can program the lights to go an seemingly randomly, the better. And ask a neighbor to walk by every now and again. maybe even give that neighbor a key so they can go in from time to time just to give a look-see. Let the police know the situation, too, and if you choose to visit every now and again, let them know what cars and/or names they should expect to see staying there.

All in all, closing it up hard should be your last option.

We went through this recently with my mother's house. I was the closest relative at 7 hours drive, so visiting often wasn't a real possibility. We had several of her friends go to the house once a week. In fact, one of her neighbors asked if she could cook there and have a few people over. This was a continuation of her own routine .... quilters getting together. They did that once every week or two and that was a good thing. The place always appeared lived in. We even paid a guy to mow the grass regularly and to plow the driveway when it snowed. The only problem we had in nearly a year of doing this was an ant infestation that was easy enough to get rid of.

Good luck.

[politicat]

3. It's in a small community in the middle of nowhere.

There are 6 houses in the small area, all occupied by either cousins or family-in-law. We are not worried about vandalism. It's an old farm house; we own 90% of the land in a 4 mile radius of the house. Think rural, not urban at all, and in a rural community where (not to be conceited about it or anything) we're pretty much a founding family. (One of the reasons my father insisted on moving us out of the area was to break my mother's kinship ties so she would have no where to turn when he abused her and force her to stay with him.)

It's not possible for any of the direct line to occupy it even on a part time basis - one sister is 300 miles away, the next closest is 500, and I'm 1100. My cousins who are also in the direct line are 600 and 700 miles away, too. Plus... it's not easy to make a living in rural Indiana unless you are a farmer, a vet, or similar.

The drive will be plowed and the yard mowed because both of those have to happen if our farm manager is to get to the farm buildings; he lives across the road. The grandsire house next door will also be occupied for at least the coming winter by my cousin-in-law and her helper who took care of my grandfather. So the property is going to be occupied...

The idea here is to present information to my grandmother so she doesn't just decide to trump all of the heirs' wishes and put the place up for sale. The property taxes aren't terribly expensive, and we know the house can be brought back to spec, but not if it's been sold and demolished because the new owner didn't want to take the effort to re-plaster and plumb a new bathroom.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Can someone who lives near there just have a key and instructions to .....

check on it from the inside every week or so?

I suspect if you do that, and turn off the water at the main, and drain the pipes, you'll be fine.

[eleny]

5. Perhaps a nearby realtor would offer caretaker services

I'm thinking of things like arranging for lawn care and taking a look inside for safety and utilities sake. This isn't going to be easy nor free. Things need tending like the yard or it will soon be overgrown.

[China_cat]

6. Put antifreeze into the pipes.

You can never drain all the water and antifreeze will keep whatever's left from bursting the pipes.