When to turn off utilities?

[Rafiki31]

The house has been vacant for 2 years. It is empty. A lot of you are saying move in date, I have no clue when he is moving in. The only date that I think matters is the closing.

I think I am cutting them off the day after the closing, I may keep the homeowners until the end of the week which is the end of the month. I just want to be done paying for this home.

 

[Lucky St. Louis]

I've done a lot of home rehab/flipping and when I sell a property I have all utilities taken out of my name on the closing date. The utilities aren't physically turned off but they are out of my name. I usually call about a week or two in advance. When I purchase a property I do the same thing...when I know the exact closing date (about a week before) I call all of the utilities and tell them the date I'm taking possession so that utilities are in my name.

With regard to homeowners insurance, after closing I usually call my agent and tell him the date the house closed and I get a refund of my premium as of that date. I've needed to show proof of the closing date (HUD statement, I think) in order to get the refund.

Good luck!

 

[Sagginit]

i would shut it off for that day. when i moved into my apt last year we got a random bill for a weeks before we moved in, just addressed to our unit. the company said we were not responsible for anything before our move in day, but im not sure who does get stuck with that bill, maybe my landlord since he owns the house and would be responsible for someone using electricity. anyways i would not let someone else use utilities in your name for more than a day, they have plenty of time to make their own plans.

 

[Darcy03231]

I worked in a law office that did real estate closings. You should have them shut off the day of the closing. As a PP pointed out, you should call them all now with that date. It can take some providers a few days to a week to get things shut off. The buyer should already be making calls to have things turned on the day of closing in their names.

 

[Cruise]

We just sold a house and the buyer was continually trying to move up closing - which was fine with us, it was vacant. I didn't find out until late Friday afternoon that we'd be closing on Monday. So I called the utility office on Monday morning to ask for shut off and they said it would be effective the next day - they needed 24 hours. If I'd had more notice of closing, I would have had it effective as of the date of closing.

I agree with the PPs... it should be as of the closing date. Why in the world should you pay for the electricity and water he uses while moving in? Not to mention, if he plans on doing any renovations (as my buyer did), those power tools will suck electricity quickly. And, as of the closing, who cares if you're being "gracious" to this guy who has obviously caused you many problems? At that point, you're done.

 

[dreamer423]

You need to contact each utility in advance regarding your termination date, which would be perhaps the day after settlement (not before settlement). You may need to give them time to take final meter readings and send a final bill or refund of prepayment. Don't forget to return any cable boxes and the like. Your sales contract should have addressed who gets heating oil or propane left in tanks at time of settlement.

It is up to the new owner to establish accounts in his name as of his move-in date. Do not leave this up to him or your realtor and do not put it off until settlement day. You can terminate homeowner's insurance after settlement as well.

Around here it can take time for deeds to actually be filed among the Land Records. What matters is the date of settlement, not when the deed is actually recorded.

This!

Just closed as seller last week. Elec. changed that day. Water needed to have a copy of the settlement statement BEFORE they would put in a work order for 24-48 hrs. after that to do final read and then turn off.

Make a list of everything and call ahed to find out and check it all off. With ins.-they will also want a copy settlement statment with a request signed by you to terminate coverage as to closing date and address where to send any refund.

 

[lizabu]

You should also be aware that for some companies the new owner will not be able to set up their account until you have put in for termination of yours. We ran into this with the phone company at our last house. The old owners didn't put in a disconnect order and so they wouldn't connect our number. We were stuck answering their calls for a week while not being able to receive our own calls. Lucky for them, we are nice people and didn't take it as an invitation to "catch up" with all our long distance friends.

I was going to say this too. I wanted to hook up cable when I bought my house and the previous owners never cancelled their service and the cable co would not shut it off or change it to my name based on my say so. I called the owners over and over and left messages. It took them 3 months to finally shut off their cable and I could finally get mine hooked up. It was all a big pain. Sure I had cable free for 3 months but I was ready and willing to pay for it and when it was finally shut off it took 3 days for me to get an apppointment for someone to come out. I don't know if they just forgot or what and they weren't listening to their voice mail all the times I called them.

 

[mom2alix]

Just closed on a house last week as the buyer and I called and had utilities turned on in our name the date of closing.

I have never heard of a grace period and would be a little concerned about having a realtor who would advise such a thing.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

We purchased our house as a short sale. The previous owners moved out months (more like abandoned the house in the middle of the night) before we closed and all the utilities were shut off when they left. We had to have the utilities turned on, in our name, even before we closed so we could have a home inspection (mandatory here). We even had to have the propane tank filled. It was a big risk but thankfully it worked out for us

 

[Anne34]

Shut them off the day you close. There is absolutely no reason for you to leave them in your name for a few weeks. The is absurd and horrible advice. He should already be in contact with the utility companies to have the utilities in his name on the closing date.

YES! We have always called the utilities prior to moving. We tell them the closing date and then they always ask the name of the person buying the property. It is their responsibility to turn them back on. I would not be paying for someone else.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

1. For the utilities, contact each of them at least a week prior to closing. Give them the name and other information about the purchasers. Give them the closing date. They normally will not actually shut them off, but will take a meter reading on the closing date and set up the new billing.

2. As far as the insurance, let your insurance company know the date of closing. They will set the policy to expire at Midnight that date. It is incumbent for the purchaser to get their own policy and it will become effective the date of closing. So effectively on the closing date there will be two policies in effect that date.

 

[squirrel]

When I moved from a condo to a house I called up all the companies that I was dealing with at the condo and had everything transfered to the new house on the day I moved.

I didn't realize at the time that I didn't have gas at the condo, so I never contacted the gas company to set up billing. They left a note on the door about a week later saying they were going to shut it off. I quickly phoned and got that straightened out.

Not sure if the other companies do the same thing or not.

I would shut everything off on your closing date.

 

[sookie]

we always have them turned off the day of the closing. keep them on for the AM walk through.
homeowners - we called and it was turned off effective the day after closing i think.

 

[sookie]

The house has been vacant for 2 years. It is empty. A lot of you are saying move in date, I have no clue when he is moving in. The only date that I think matters is the closing.

I think I am cutting them off the day after the closing, I may keep the homeowners until the end of the week which is the end of the month. I just want to be done paying for this home.

actually since you won't be owning the house i dont think the company will cover it after midnight on the day you close.

 

[cornflake]

Your realtor is a kook.

I think you can shut the stuff off whenever you want - it's your house and it's vacant. Unless you had some agreement to leave them on, seems like your business and the buyer's problem.

I bought a place, I figured out the utilities and such and called them all beforehand and asked for stuff to be switched to my name on the closing date. No muss, no fuss.

That's entirely his deal to figure out, not your problem.