WINTER - VACANT PROPERTY 

"Of Mice and Men"

It's hard to believe cold weather is forcing it's way into Ohio again, but here we are. I had quite the chilly season last year, good and bad.  Some great opportunities to help people sell their homes, even in the depths of the winter. 

One in particular offered a new challenge, and learning opportunity, which I'll not soon forget.  

Lakengren is a lake community near Eaton, Ohio with a variety of home styles, but primarily built in the 1990's.  The home I had listed (and under contract) was vacant.

In February the arctic vortex came, and with it snow and below zero temperatures.  The owners were nearby and were checking on the house pretty regularly, but overnight the heating system switched off. 

Being rural, first question, did the propane tank run dry?  Nope, half-full. Did the furnace get overworked? HVAC tech said no, just fine, almost new system. 

I was super lucky to have called upon some great contractors, who helped identify what was going on, and eventually fix the furnace and the substantial damage. 

The culprit? A mouse, sheltering indoors, wedged his way inside and nibbled on the wire connecting the thermostat to the heating system. No thermostat, no heat. 

No heat meant that the pipes upstairs in the dining room froze. Freezing pipes meant the pipes forced apart at a joint in the ceiling. A pipe gap meant when the heating system thawed things out, they would leak. A leak meant the ceiling would be flooded with water, and collapse onto the wood floor. The floor and subfloor would be damaged and water was pouring out from under the doors. 

All from Mini-mouse. Or Speedy Gonzalez, I didn't manage to see the critter.

The result, about an $11,000 repair bill. 3 days before closing. Ouch!

Here is where the good part begins. 

Insurance covered $10,000. 

Steve Kelemen, a plumber local to me, came out in the bitter cold to inspect and repair not only this, but a bad shower valve upstairs (with no heat on!).

Serve-Pro were fantastic, and came in with drying fans and a cleaning crew to open up all of the wet and damaged areas, pulled up the floorboards, took down dryway etc. 

The super-heroes were Forsythe Contracting, led by owner Shannon. He and his team swooped in and had everything put back in place, with new sublfloor in places, new laminate floors, drywall on walls, ceiling, taped, painted, and ready for the new owners within a week.  

This meant our closing was only delayed a few days, and the new owners got some new floors they would have replaced themselves anyway.

Sometimes disaster happens, but you end up feeling pretty good about it, thanks to a whole host of excellent people in the Dayton area, who said yes to helping out. 

The real lesson is to make sure your sellers, or you, are checking reguarly on a house that is vacant, especially in the winter.  Install a Wi-Fi thermostat, and set alerts to make sure your system is working, even when on vacation, or selling a vacant home. 

Jon