There are many costs to owning a vacant house in Kansas City Missouri.  Some are very easy to see because you write a check for them each and every month and others are a lot less noticeable.

The easy ones that you write a check for monthly include the mortgage and utilities.  You might also be visiting weekly to mow the yard or paying someone to do so.

What Does it Cost to Own a Vacant House

In Today’s video we take a look a the costs you don’t pay on a regular basis that you might not think about.

 The cost of the yard: 

The longer a house is vacant the longer all the living things in the yard get ignored and over time, not picking up leaves or acorns or branches can kill the grass.  Not trimming the shrubs and vines could let them grow out of control.  And not taking care of trees can cause even more problems.  At this northland house, the cost the previous owner was quoted to deal with all those neglected items was $5,000.

The cost of frozen pipes: 

This house, luckily, did not have the pipes freeze, but we have purchased a house where the seller shut off the gas to save money.  In so doing, they cut off the heat without shutting off water or winterizing and then had $20,000 to $30,000 in repairs to repair all the damage caused by the frozen pipes.

The cost of not having the right insurance: 

The standard homeowner insurance policy or standard landlord policy becomes invalid after 30 days of a vacancy.  The cost of having the wrong type of insurance can get very expensive if there is a claim that they will not pay, plus you are out all those premiums paid.

The cost of real estate taxes: 

You either pay this as a part of your mortgage or you pay on it once or twice a year, so you may not think about this expense until you write the check in December.

The cost of the HOA: 

Not all houses have this, but some do and again, when it’s not paid monthly you don’t think about it.

This house in the Northland of Kansas City that we purchased this past year had about $650 to $700 a month in costs paid by the previous owner while it sat vacant for 4 years.  If you would rather not pay the holding costs associated with your vacant house any longer click here to tell us about it and find out what we might offer you to purchase the house.