My Buyer Broker Advocate!

Your home is probably your most valuable asset.  You want to make sure your home is fully insured.  But, you don’t want to be over-insured. 

Many home owners don’t fully understand all the coverage options of their home owners’  insurance policy.

This blog post will give you 10 quick tips on how you can SAVE  money on your home owners’  insurance premium.

1. One insurer, multiple policies – It is best to have all your insurance policies (home, auto, boat, life, etc.) with one company.  Almost all insurance companies will give their customers multi-policy discounts.
2. Raise your deductible – You can possibly save between 12% – 37%, if you have a deductible of $500 to $5,000.  You might not want to carry the same deductible amount for your auto and home owners policy.
3. Newer is better – Home owners’  insurance premiums are less expensive for newer built homes.  Older homes are typically more costly to rebuild and newer homes have safe, new mechanical systems. (electrical, heating, plumbing, etc.)
4. Location, location, location – Do you live in earthquake prone California?  Do you live in Florida where hurricanes are a fact of life?  Other location issues to consider; are you close to a fire station?
5. Insure the house, not the land – A fire and high winds will destroy your home, but not your land.  Your land cost typically makes up  15% – 25% of your total home value.
6. Don’t insure what you don’t have – Review your policy at least once a year.  Make sure you aren’t over-insuring possessions (furs, computers, jewelry, guns, etc.).  Also, pay close attention to endorsements on your policy.   The amount of insurance protection that your receive per  endorsement premium dollar  is typically very costly.
7. Better safe, than sorry – Smoke detectors, monitored security systems (fire/police), fire extinguishers, etc. can save you discounts from 5% – 20%.
8. Where there is smoke, there is fire – More than 23,000 residential fires happen in the USA due to  smoking issues.  Some insurers offer discounts if all residents in home are non-smokers.
9. Group discounts – Some insurers offer discounts to certain business or alumni associations.  Make sure you ask your agent about this discount.
10. Don’t jump around – If you are satisfied with your insurance company or agent then stay with that company.  Most insurance companies offer discounts if you stay with them for 3, 5 and 10 years.

As always, you want to check with a licensed insurance agent before making any changes to your home owners’  insurance policy.  I am NOT an insurance agent.

Special thanks to Stephen Evanko, Jr, Insurance Advisor and Author for reference material for this blog post.

Good luck out there!

Home Buyer Advocate Mike