The sale of our property is in contract, the house has been empty. Closing will not occur for 6 weeks - All utilities are currently on but wondering if I should turn off Gas & Water since the house is vacant & only leave the Electric on for security reasons.
The buyer is probably going to be angry with you if you turn off service because they will have to pay a reconnection fee. Usually, you have the utilities taken out of your name on the closing date. If you are worried about vandalism, turn off water and gas where they come into the house.
Don't forget to call your water utility now for a final reading near closing. Also, since your structure is vacant, be sure to get a vacancy clause added in case there is vandalism.
The buyer is probably going to be angry with you if you turn off service because they will have to pay a reconnection fee. Usually, you have the utilities taken out of your name on the closing date. If you are worried about vandalism, turn off water and gas where they come into the house.
Don't forget to call your water utility now for a final reading near closing. Also, since your structure is vacant, be sure to get a vacancy clause added in case there is vandalism.
California contracts say the utilities must be left on. Buyers need to do inspections (if that’s part of this contract). We would require all utilities to be left on at least for the inspection period.
Gregg mentioned the Vacancy Clause. It is a clause in most standard Property policies that reduces certain coverage when a building have been vacant for a set period (often 60 days). You should contact your agent and also check your policy. If that clause is active due to the amount of time the property has been vacant find out what coverage is reduced, if you can have the policy endorsed to get that coverage back (may cause a rate increase) or if you should purchase a vacant dwelling policy for the property.
Thank You all for your advise! This is my first time around this issue, so it’s reassuring to hear from the experts! Thank You so very much for the time & effort your provided