Expenses involved for home to sit 'empty' ???

[hummelcol]

Hello,
My husband, Dave, & I currently own a home in PA. We won’t be retired until approx next May.

If we would purchase a home in TV now, it would only be used by us full-time after retirement; we would not be renting it out.

We are trying to find out what it would cost us to leave our home empty until we would be able to move to FL full-time. Don’t know if it would be cost effective to buy now or just wait until next year and purchase. :shrug:

Has any of you left your home empty (no furniture, etc) until you could move in full-time? Could anyone give us a ballpark figure as to all of the expenses which we would have to pay by doing this sort of thing. I guess we would have to pay the amenities fee even though no-one would be living in our home.

We are trying to determine the expenses involved after purchasing the home if we could afford for it to sit ‘empty’. :shrug:

Appreciate any information on this subject. Thank you so much.

Pam & Dave
From PA :)

[babbs455]

hi,
I currently have a 94 yo sis in law who moved in with us about 4 months ago. she is from the rochester pa. area. we are dealing with the same issues at this time. her home has sat empty with furniture since late feb. we have her water and sewer bill at the minimums, shut off the garbage and non essientials. She is on the CAPP program with the power co so I do not know how much your power bill would be with no one living there...she currently pays about 20.00/ month. the water is something like 25.00 per quarter if i recall.
the thing we are dealing with now is her homeowners insurance wants to place a new rider on the policy since it is vacant with no one in it.
Unfortunatley she is losing the home as she is upside down on it ...owing more from refis than its market value...

you can call the water co and they can tell you the cost of keeping the water/sewer at the minimums it was not that much.you can call your utilites co and see what they can suggest.
her taxes in PA is what kills her...they are enormous!!! for such a small house...and she has 3 or 4 she has to pay.

Wish you lots of luck! Sorry I could not help you out more but wanted you to know that if the house does sit empty the homeowners ins will have to add a vacant rider to the policy..not sure how much that is as her ins person is kinda sorta working with us since she will be unloading the home.
hope this helps a bit????

[l2ridehd]

About $600 to $750 a month above the mortgage depending on home size. You will still have amenity fees, water for irrigation, lawn service, termite, trash, insurance, taxes, bond, and a house sitting fee.

[villages07]

Hummel....

Here are some figures, all approximations

Amenities - $135/month
Trash - $17
Potable water/sewer, base charge (no usage) $19

Irrigation water (must run sprinklers) .... depends on size of lawn .. base charge $5 plus usage figure on $12/month

Gas/Elec (have to run a/c at a minimum to keep humidity down)... maybe $25/month when not in use.

Homeowners Insurance ... you will pay more if house is vacant; you could put a few chairs in there; but, for planning, figure on $50-$100/month very dependent on value of home.

No need for cable TV, internet, or phone if not being lived in.

Property Taxes/bond/annual CDD maintenance .... again, very dependent on the value of the home and bond balance. Could be anywhere from $200/month to $500/month.

Lawn service, pest control, weed and feed .... figure on about $75/month (very rough estimate)

Home watch service ... you really need someone checking on it $50/month

So, roughly $800/month....again, very dependent on the value of the home. For a year that is about $10K. So, your crystal ball is will you "save" more than $10K by buying now vs a year from now. The other bonus is if you do buy now, you could use the home for vacations for the next year...all you need is an air bed, table, chair, and lamp to be livable.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[babbs455]

oops should have read your post better...thought you were wanting to leave the home in pa vacant...need to get my reading glassses on lol!!