I spent some quality time today with a contractor hired by a bank to winterize a home.  The home is a Short Sale, but with the damages some banks suffered in last Winter's freezes, somebanks aren't taking any chances. Only several months into the short sale (vacant house) the contractor was sent to check on the condition of the property and to winterize all utilities and shut off water and gas to the property. I saw PLENTY of homes last winter with the ill effects of bursted pipes that were caught all too late (sometimes so bad that they flooded nearby yards and damaged other homes from the floodwaters).  I can completely understand the bank's motivation to secure homes before the Northwest gets our deep freeze.Surprisingly, this was the contractor's eighth winterization since Thursday, and one winterization was the THIRD year he's winterized it for the bank (he wouldn't give me the address, but claims it's up in Indian Trail... I'll have to scope this house out).  This goes to show that bank transactions and short sales can take a long time.While waiting for the contractor to finish up, I spent some time chatting with a nearby neighbor who offered to lend a helping hand, he noted that we were "clever" for winterizing this home, I wasn't as impressed.  Having been sitting on an offer (submitted to the bank) for over four weeks, this is a sign that we have a bit more waiting to do... at least I don't have to worry about the pipes in this house.