What should I do with a house after the estate cleanout?

Keep looking after it. An empty house is at more risk than an occupied one: pipes can freeze with nobody there to notice, insurance can quietly narrow, and an overgrown yard tells everyone the house is vacant. Until it is sold, rented or moved into, treat the house as a job on the calendar: tell the insurer, secure it, keep the heat and water under control, keep the outside tidy, and check on it regularly. Then clean it and decide what comes next.

Call the insurance company first

Do this the week the house empties. Virginia's Bureau of Insurance warns that if a home is left vacant or unoccupied, some part of the coverage may be suspended automatically.^[1] It also notes that the common Special Form (HO-3) policy usually excludes damage resulting from freezing of an unoccupied building.^[1] Call the agent or company, say the house is empty, and ask which coverages are suspended while it stays vacant,^[1] and what you need to do to keep the policy in force. Some insurers will want a vacancy endorsement or a different policy.

Secure it

Rekey or change the exterior locks once the last crew is out; after a death and a cleanout, keys are with relatives, neighbours, aides and workers. Lock the windows, set lights on timers and stop any newspaper delivery.

Mail keeps arriving for months. USPS will only stop or forward a deceased person's mail when the executor or administrator comes to a Post Office in person with documents showing that authority.^[6] Until that is done, have someone collect the mail on each visit so it does not pile up at the door.

Protect the pipes and the heat

Frozen and burst pipes are the expensive surprise in an empty Virginia house. Loudoun Water's advice is to keep the thermostat no lower than 55°F whether you are home or away,^[2] and to shut off and drain the pipes to outside faucets so no water is left to freeze.^[2] Virginia Beach Public Utilities' freeze advice before going out of town is to shut off and drain the water system, keep the thermostat no lower than 55 degrees and have a friend or neighbor check on the home daily.^[3] One caution from the same advice: if the house has a fire sprinkler system, shutting off the water may deactivate it.^[3]

For most empty houses that means: heat on low, water off at the main valve between visits, outdoor faucets drained, and cabinet doors under sinks left open. See how to keep pipes from freezing in winter for the details.

Empty the refrigerator, freezer and pantry, and take the trash out on the last visit of each week. Leftover food is what brings mice into a closed-up house.

Keep the smoke alarms working

The U.S. Fire Administration says to test smoke alarms every month^[4] and to replace them 10 years from the manufacture date.^[4] Older parents' homes often have alarms well past that age. Test them on a visit, and replace the old ones before the house is shown.

Keep the outside looking lived in

The yard is what neighbours and the town see. Virginia law lets a locality require owners of occupied or vacant property to cut grass and weeds, and to have the work done itself after reasonable notice and bill the owner, collecting the cost as taxes are collected.^[5] The same law lets localities require removal of clutter, which it defines to include household furniture, containers and similar items left in public view for an extended period.^[5] Unpaid charges become a lien on the property,^[5] and a locality may set a civil penalty of up to $50 for a first violation and up to $200 for later violations within 12 months of the first.^[5] Rules differ from county to county and town to town, so check yours.

In practice: book a mowing service through the growing season, rake or blow leaves off the walks in the fall, and make sure nothing from the cleanout is left at the curb after collection day.

Clean it, then decide

Once the contents are gone, the house usually needs a real clean: floors, kitchen, bathrooms, inside cabinets and the walls behind where furniture stood. A clean, empty house photographs and shows better, and you will see what needs repair.

From there, the choice is usually to sell, rent or keep the house in the family, and that decision belongs to whoever holds title under the will or the estate's administration. If it is being sold, mention to the agent and the estate's attorney that Virginia's Residential Property Disclosure Act lists transfers by a fiduciary in the course of administering a decedent's estate among its exemptions;^[7] they can tell you whether that applies to this sale. Renting usually means a landlord policy from the insurer and repairs done first; keeping it means someone has to keep doing everything on this page.

Stop and call a pro if

• You find water on the floor, stains on ceilings or walls, or a pipe that has frozen. Shut the water at the main and call a plumber.
• The heat stops working or will not reach the temperature you set. Heating equipment is work for a licensed HVAC technician, and in an empty house the pipes can freeze before anyone notices.
• You see a roof leak, missing shingles or a sagging gutter after a storm.
• Breakers trip, outlets are warm or lights flicker.
• You find droppings, nesting or chewed wiring, which point to mice or rats that need a pest professional.

Getting help on Loclis

Read how to start cleaning out a house after a parent dies if you are earlier in the process, browse more junk removal and moving answers, or see deep cleaning services and junk removal and moving businesses around Blacksburg. If there is still a load to clear, describe what is left on Loclis and businesses quote on the same job.