Houses end up empty for all kinds of ordinary reasons. A parent moves into care. You bought your next place before this one sold. A tenant left and you’re not sure you want another. Whatever the reason, an empty house in Burlington keeps costing money and needs more attention than most owners expect.
This post covers what to check the moment a home becomes vacant, how to keep it in good shape while you decide, and what your options are if you’d rather sell it as it sits.
Read your insurance policy first
The most common surprise with a vacant home is insurance. Many home insurance policies limit or exclude coverage once a property has been unoccupied for a certain number of days, and the definition of “unoccupied” is usually written into the policy. A burst pipe or a break-in that would normally be covered may not be if the house has been empty longer than the policy allows.
Call your insurer or broker as soon as the house is empty. Ask how long the current policy covers a vacant home, what conditions apply (such as regular inspections or keeping the heat on), and whether you need a vacancy permit or a separate vacant-home policy. Get the answer in writing.
The bills keep coming
An empty house still has a full set of costs. Before you decide what to do, it helps to add them up for a typical month:
- Mortgage payment, if there is one
- Property taxes to the City of Burlington and Halton Region
- Insurance, which may cost more once the home is classified as vacant
- Hydro, gas and water, since the heat needs to stay on through the winter
- Lawn care in summer and snow clearing in winter
- Your own time and gas driving over to check on it
Multiply that monthly total by how long you think the house will sit, and you have the real cost of waiting. For many owners, seeing that number is what moves the decision along.
Keeping an empty house safe until it sells
A lived-in house gets noticed. An empty one doesn’t, which is why small problems turn into big ones. A few habits make a real difference:
- Keep the heat on in cold months and set it high enough to protect the pipes. If the house will be empty all winter, ask a plumber about shutting off and draining the water.
- Visit on a schedule, or have someone you trust do it. Walk every floor, look at ceilings for stains, check the basement and sump pump, and run the taps.
- Make it look lived in. Lights on timers, mail forwarded or picked up, lawn cut, driveway cleared.
- Tell a neighbour the house is empty and give them your number.
- Remove anything valuable and lock up sheds and garages.
Keep a simple log of each visit. If you ever need to make an insurance claim, a record of regular checks can matter.
Why vacant homes can be harder to list
An empty house photographs as an empty house. Rooms look smaller, flaws stand out, and buyers can tell the seller has already moved on. Some will read that as a sign you’re under pressure and offer accordingly.
The usual fix is staging, which costs money up front. Then come the lockbox showings with nobody there to keep an eye on things, and the condition period while a buyer arranges financing. All of that happens while the monthly costs above keep running.
Where the house is in Burlington matters
Burlington has very different types of property inside one city, and each brings its own questions when the house is empty.
Downtown and along the lake. Around Brant Street and Spencer Smith Park, many owners are close enough to check in often. Older houses near the core can still have aging furnaces, plumbing and roofs that need watching when nobody lives in them.
Aldershot. A former village annexed by Burlington in 1958, near the Royal Botanical Gardens and Aldershot GO. If your house has mature trees and a big yard, leaves, eavestroughs and lawn upkeep alone become a real chore for an absentee owner.
North of Highway 407. The land north of the Parkway Belt is mostly agricultural, rural residential and conservation land along the Niagara Escarpment, near places like Mount Nemo. Rural houses may rely on a well and septic system, which an empty-house owner has to keep an eye on and which buyers’ lenders and inspectors will ask about.
Selling it as it sits
If you’d rather not keep paying to hold an empty house, Sell House Cash can buy it in its current condition. You don’t need to stage it, repair it or clear out the furniture and belongings that are still inside. Leave what you don’t want.
We walk through the property, give you a written cash offer, and you pick the closing date. When title is clear, that can be in as little as a couple of weeks. There’s no commission and no financing condition, so there’s no waiting on a buyer’s bank.
If the house belongs to a parent who has moved into care, or to an estate, the person signing needs the legal authority to sell, such as a power of attorney for property or an estate certificate. A real estate lawyer can confirm what’s needed before you sign anything.
Next steps
If you’d like to know what your empty house is worth to a cash buyer, get a cash offer here. There’s no obligation. You can also learn more about how we buy across the city on our Burlington page.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to empty the house before selling it to you?
No. You can leave furniture, appliances and anything else you don’t want. Take what matters to you and we’ll handle the rest after closing.
The water is shut off and the house has been winterized. Can you still make an offer?
Yes. We can walk through a winterized house. If we need the water or power on to check something specific, we’ll arrange it with you.
We have a rural property north of the 407 with a well and septic. Do you buy those?
Yes. Rural properties take a bit more review, so we’ll ask about the well, the septic system and the land itself, but a rural location doesn’t rule out a cash offer.
I live out of town. Do I need to come to Burlington to sell?
Usually not. We can arrange access to the house with you, and many real estate lawyers can handle the signing remotely. Ask your lawyer what they offer.