Nobody lives there anymore, but the bills keep coming
Houses end up empty for all kinds of reasons. A parent moves into assisted living, a tenant leaves and nobody replaces them, an owner takes a job across the country, or an estate drags on for a year. Whatever the reason, a vacant house keeps costing money and quietly picks up problems. Here is what to watch for, what New York and New Jersey law says about empty and abandoned homes, and how selling one as-is works.
What an empty house really costs
Owners tend to count the mortgage and forget the rest. Even with no mortgage at all, a vacant house carries property and school taxes, insurance, a minimum of heat through the winter, electricity, lawn care, snow removal and the trips to check on it. In the Hudson Valley and North Jersey those taxes alone can be a serious monthly number. Add it up over a year and the cost of waiting for the “right time” to sell is usually larger than people expect.
Then there are the costs that don’t arrive on a schedule:
- Frozen pipes. A boiler that quits in February in an empty house can mean burst pipes and water running for days before anyone notices.
- Break-ins and scrappers. Copper pipes, appliances and even radiators disappear from houses that look unwatched.
- Roof leaks nobody sees. A small leak in an occupied house gets a bucket. In an empty one, it becomes a ceiling and a mold problem.
- Pests and animals. Mice, squirrels and raccoons move in quickly when nobody is there.
Check your insurance today
Standard homeowner policies are written for houses people live in. Many limit or exclude certain losses after a house sits unoccupied past a certain point, and the exact rule is in your policy’s vacancy language. If it has sat empty for months, call your agent, tell them the truth about its status, and ask whether you need a vacant-dwelling policy. Finding out after the pipes burst is the expensive way to learn.
When “vacant” turns into “abandoned” in the eyes of the law
Both states have rules aimed at houses that sit empty and neglected, and they can raise the stakes for an owner.
New York: if a mortgage is delinquent, Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law section 1308 requires the servicer to inspect the outside of the house within 90 days of the delinquency and keep inspecting every 25 to 35 days while it continues. When the servicer reasonably believes the property is vacant and abandoned, it must secure and maintain it. On the tax side, section 1110 of the Real Property Tax Law lets a tax district cut the usual two-year redemption period to one year for residential property placed on a vacant and abandoned registry before the taxes went delinquent.
New Jersey: under the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act, a municipality may deem a property abandoned if it has not been legally occupied for six months and meets at least one more condition in the statute: it needs rehabilitation, construction stopped partway, a property tax installment is delinquent, or it has been found to be a nuisance. Once a house is designated, the town has additional tools to force repairs or move it toward a new owner.
Local registries: some cities make owners register empty buildings. The City of Newburgh, for example, requires each vacant building to be registered with its Department of Code Compliance and renewed, with a fee, every year it stays vacant. Ask your building department whether your town has a similar rule.
None of that happens overnight, and most vacant houses never get there. But an empty house that is also behind on taxes or a mortgage can slide into these programs faster than an owner who lives elsewhere realizes. Our pages on code violations and the estate side of inherited houses go into the related issues.
Selling an empty house to us
Vacant houses are easy for us to see, which keeps everything simpler for you. If you live far away, a neighbor or relative can open the door, or we can arrange entry with whoever holds a key. The utilities don’t need to be on for the visit, though it helps if the power is, so we can test what works.
- No cleaning out first. Whatever was left in the house can stay.
- No winterizing or repairs needed to make an offer, even if there was water damage.
- No showings, so nobody has to keep the place presentable for weeks.
- A closing date that fits you; with clean title, as soon as about a week.
If the house is empty because you have already moved for work, our page on selling when you relocate covers selling from out of state. If tenants left it in rough shape, the repair discussion on our other pages applies too.
Until it sells: a short checklist
- Keep the heat at a safe minimum through winter, or have the plumbing professionally winterized.
- Stop mail from piling up; forward it so tax bills reach you.
- Put a couple of lights on timers and keep the lawn or snow handled.
- Shut off the main water valve if the house will be unheated, after talking with a plumber.
- Ask a neighbor to call you if anything looks wrong.
Property tax relief on the house may also change once nobody lives there. In New York, for example, STAR benefits are for a primary residence, so check with the assessor about any exemption that assumes you still live in the house.
Get the empty house off your plate. Phone (845) 367-4898 or write to us through the contact page, and mention who has a key. The full process is on how it works.
If an estate, foreclosure or tax case involves the property, talk to an attorney about deadlines before anything else.
Vacant house questions
Do I need to turn the utilities back on before you look at the house?
No, though having the electricity on helps us check outlets, lights and the heating system. If everything is off, we can still walk the house and make an offer.
Will my insurance cover a vacant house?
Possibly not for every kind of loss. Plenty of homeowner policies cut back coverage when a home stays unoccupied longer than the policy allows. Phone your insurance agent, be clear that nobody lives there, and ask whether a vacant-dwelling policy makes sense.
Can you buy a vacant house that has water damage or mold?
Yes. We buy empty houses with burst pipes, leaks and damage that happened while nobody was there. The cleanup and repairs are reflected in the offer.
What if there is still furniture and junk inside?
Leave it. Take anything you want to keep before closing. Whatever stays behind becomes ours to clear out as part of the renovation.
Can a town take a vacant house?
Not simply for being empty, but both states have abandoned-property and tax enforcement rules that can lead there over time, especially when taxes or a mortgage are also unpaid. A local real estate attorney can tell you whether any of them apply to your property.