Real Estate in Denver and the Suburbs

Vacant Homes For Sale Are Probably Not The Same As Occupied Homes In The Eyes of Your Insurance Policy

Last Sunday we had breakfast at my mom's.  The kids had slept over and we went over for some breakfast burritos when we picked them up.  Thanks mom!

My mom always has a little article or tidbit to share with me when we visit.  She just rips them out of the newspapers or magazine that she finds them in.  I love seeing what she has to share as its generally rather interesting and I enjoy seeing what sparked her interest. 

On this day, it was a real estate article as it often is.  Common Interest.  She had read an article in the Denver Post a while back and had saved it for me.  It discussed the dangers of having your home on the market while it was vacant.  It was a good reminder that I should discuss this issue here.  You can read the article here. 

Of course, there are many homes in Denver that are now being sold vacant due to longer times on the market, quick relocations and a variety of other reasons.  And I would be willing to bet that most of those homes that are vacant have homeowners that do not know that they are putting their home insurance policy on the line.

If you have to make a claim while your home is vacant, you may not be covered.  The majority of home insurance policies are for occupied or owner-occupied homes - and if you are leaving your home vacant - you need to let them know and maybe even make a change.

Whenever I have a seller that needs to leave a home vacant while it is still on the Denver real estate market, I do remind them that they need to check into their home insurance coverage and see what changes need to be made.  Recently I was told by the seller when discussing this, that over the years they had sold numerous homes that were in a vacant state and no one had ever told them this.

Now of course I am not an insurance expert.  I am a real estate agent.  So you need to do your homework to know for sure what YOUR policy covers and when and under what conditions.  But I do know that the chances are pretty good that this is something you need to take notice of if you are going to be leaving your Denver home vacant while it is on the market.  If you have pipes burst, a break-in or even worse, a fire, you need to know if your home is covered if it is vacant.

Check it out.

Steve Scheer, REMAX Masters, Inc.
Denver Real Estate