There are houses all over the world that are in terrible shape. They have leaking or caved in roofs, crumbling foundations, and broken windows. Sometimes people actually have the misfortune of having to live in a rundown house. Other people merely own the house and don’t actually have to live in it.
The only thing left to do with a house like this is to sell it. Once you call about getting your ugly, dilapidated, eyesore-of-a-house previewed and purchased by house buyers, you then need to figure out how you’re going to survive your last few days or weeks are the owner of the home without any extra problems.
Caring for the Property During the Transition
As lucky as you are not to actually be in a position of having to live in the house, that doesn’t mean your responsibility for the home doesn’t exist. Depending upon where the home is located, and exactly what kind of condition it’s in, you may have several tasks you need to stay on top of while your deal is closing. Here are two critical ones.
Trespassers
Be weary of children playing in or around the home. If a child were to get hurt while playing on the property, parents in the neighborhood could get upset and try to come after you for pain and suffering or hospital bills.
If you haven’t done so already, if there’s no one living in the home, board it up with plywood. You could also post signs that say “No trespassing” and put up a cheap fence around the structure. With or without these precautions, the children would still technically be trespassing, but these steps show due diligence that can help get any charges that may arise dropped even faster than usual.
Utilities
Be sure to discontinue utility services as soon as you can, if you haven’t already. Because it can take several days to stop water or power services, it’s better to do so at least a week before your sale closes. Make sure you’ve paid off any balances owed on these services so that the new owners don’t have any issues with turning on the service in their name.
Now that you have made contact with a house buyer, just take the best care of the property you can until the deal is finally done. Even while you’re handling these responsibilities, feel free to go out and celebrate with friends and family that this burden will finally be out of your life forever.
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