Welcome to Learning to Buy A Home... Free Education for Home Buyers and Home Sellers
Share with your Friends --->
  • Home
  • Upcoming Home Buyer Classes
  • Upcoming Home SELLER Classes
  • Buyer/Seller Education Blog
  • Find a home
  • About Tracie DeMars
  • About Chris Berg
  • How to get started
  • FAQS for Home Buyers
  • 5 Reasons to take a Home Buyer Class

Homeowners Insurance....what buyers need to know, and ask

6/17/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
Happy Sunny Sunday!  :-)

...and to those of you father's, may I wish you a very wonderful Father's Day!  In Woodland, this weekend is Planter's Day weekend so we have been busy with our community.  I think most people around here love this week, and most of us love our community events where we love being a part of it.  Planters Day weekend is always Fathers Day weekend here, so my husband kind of gets two weekends because this weekend ends up being taken over by the community event.  We all get a little sun burnt yesterday though...today was SO much better, and the classic car show was in town too....  :-)  Now I am working, and my husband is having some quality time by himself and the xbox.  LOL!  I hope that the fathers in your life are having a wonderful day as well.  

So this week we are going to talk about homeowners insurance as it is very important to you as a home buyer.  Homeowners insurance is also known as Hazard Insurance, and once you have a home you need to call around for some insurance quotes.  Homeowners insurance typically runs about $400-$600 a year...but that doesn't cover what you really think it does.  

Homeowners insurance is really about the 3 C's....Custody, Care, and Control.  What an insurance company considers is this:  Was the damage something you could have Controlled?  Was the damage something within your Custody?  With Care could the damage have been prevented?  

What this means is if a tree falls on your home there really isn't you could have done about it, so covered.  A car drives into your home?  Covered.  Did you pipes freeze while you were out of town?  Question:  Did you perform preventative maintenance?  Covered.  You haven't performed any preventative maintenance?  You might have a problem.  Your water heater goes out?  Not covered...that would be a home warranty...however, the damage from the water heater may be covered.  You have a roof leak?  Depends...Did a major storm come through?  May be covered.  No major storm....that would be a maintenance issue...meaning something that you could have controlled or was within your care and no...it isn't covered.  A fire would be covered.  

Why is homeowners insurance important?
If your home burned to the ground you still have to pay your mortgage, but you would be paying mortgage for a home you can't live in.  Homeowners insurance will cover the cost of re-building the home so you still have a place to live....especially since you are still paying mortgage on it!  Don't forget that just like with car insurance you have your deductible.....and you have to make sure that your homeowners insurance covers the rising cost of your home if you needed to rebuild it.  Raising your insured dollar amount on your home will increase your mortgage payment as that is part of your escrow.

What else doesn't your homeowners insurance cover?
Earthquakes!  Our area is the #1 earthquake danger zone.....crazy, isn't it?  When I bought my home earthquake insurance was part of my regular homeowners insurance....about a year or so ago they stopped covering it due to the question of not 'if', but 'when'.  I very much encourage you to purchase earthquake insurance for your home.  Mine is $127 for the year.....I can deal with that.  

Other insurances?
Flood.  I live in Woodland, and yes, I carry Flood insurance as well as my other insurances.  Flood insurance costs range and vary on the home and location in Woodland.  There are other areas in Cowlitz and yes, Clark County too, that are required to carry Flood insurance.

Umbrella Insurances....  I also have dogs, and I drive a lot.  I also carry an Umbrella Insurance policy because if some one were to jump into my back yard and one of my dogs bit them (why are they in my back yard anyway?) then sadly, yes, they can sue me.  If some kid falls on my driveway or sidewalk and breaks his/her arm, whether I am home or not, they can sue me.  I know, crazy, right?  Anyhow, this umbrella policy goes on top of my regular policy to provide me with extra protection...just in case...

Some things that can increase your insurance costs?
Dogs, pools, trampolines, location of home, previous claims on the home...these are the most common culprits, and yes, I love my dogs so it is worth it!  :-)

Don't forget that by putting your homeowners insurance and car insurance with the same company can reduce your costs as most insurance companies will give you a discount for 'bundling' your policies with them.  

DON'T FORGET!!  If you know anyone who is thinking about buying a home, our next class is Saturday, June 23, 2012, at the Vancouver YMCA located at 11324 NE 51st Circle from 10am-2pm!  With reservations, lunch is included....  :-)

Please let me know if you have any questions! And again as always, if you are looking for a buyer's agent, please give me a call or drop me an email...I would love to help you with your home buying adventure!

Please call, email, text, or even facebook me (at Tracie DeMars Real Estate Q&A) anytime with any questions, or if there is anything I can do to assist you with your home buying adventure! As a buyers agent, I am, as always, here to help!! :-D

Thank you again for your business and for your referrals!

If there is anything you would like to see on here...please let me know and I will make it a weekly note!

...as always...if you have already purchased a home, or no longer would like to receive these emails from me, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from receiving any more.

Thank you again for attending the home buyer education classes, and I hope that you will continue to refer the classes out to your friends, family, and co-workers. Upcoming class dates and times are located at www.freehomebuyerclasses.com.  Just click on the link on the left hand side.  We appreciate your referrals and word of mouth!  Also, if you have somewhere that we can place the flyers at, please let me know....
:-D

Next Week: Other items to look into when buying in a new area/town/school district.  
Last Week: More on Title Insurance (CCR's & Easements)

Remember that you can always go to 'Free Home Buyer Education' on Facebook for all of my weeklyblogs and upcoming class dates/times/locations. I post the weekly blogs on there as well. 

Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon, 
;-D 
Tracie DeMars
Buyer's Agent
Re/Max - Van Mall 
360/ 903-3504 cell 
360/ 882-3600 fax 
www.traciedemars.com 
find me on LinkedIn
traciedemars@aol.com


“Interested in free and non promotional home buyer classes?  Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com or www.learningtobuyahome.com for local upcoming classes, or facebook free home buyer education.” 


*****Remember that if you are interested I can, and will be happy to, set you up on an email that will automatically email you with new home listings in your area and price range as they come up on the market. This email will include all bank owned homes and anything with price changes. Just send me what you are hoping to find, your top 3 things in a home, and price range...and I will set that up within 24 hours for you!
  
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." 
   - Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 - 1999).

1 Comment
insurance linked security link
7/17/2012 09:12:20 pm

I love this blog post. You share amazing blog post with us. The content is really good. I amazed to read this blog post. The information you shared about the homeowner insurance is really good.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Tracie DeMars
    real estate broker with Re/Max

    I have been in real estate for about 16 years now, and I have seen the market up, down, and now going up again.  I teach the Clark County Free Community Classes for Home Buyers & Home Sellers to help buyers learn about the loan, and home buying process; and sellers to learn about the paperwork and process of selling a home.  We are volunteers, and have no affiliations so we are able to tell it like it is...with no sugarcoating.  The pros, the cons, we tell it all in a fun, engaging, direct manner that encourages class attendee interaction and involvement.  Classes are free and non-promotional and held at community locations.  Walk -ins are welcome and all are invited.  
    ​Whether you're buying or selling a home, Education should always be your first step! 
    **we now offer Home SELLER classes too, by reservation.  It is a sellers market out there, and the classes are designed to go over all the paperwork, the 'right' questions to ask, how to make sure your agent is really working for you, what a CMA (comparable market analysis) is, and what is considered a comparable home....and going over the settlement statement.  What are the fees?  What are you going to net???

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly