Obtaining a Home Insurance Quote

Are you an expert in buying home insurance?

Unless it's been your occupation, you probably need help. You need to find yourself a good, local agent that knows the area and knows your exposure.  You see, every home has it's up and downs.  An experienced insurance agent will ask the necessary questions to get to the best insurance value for your money. Sure it may take a little longer than 15 minutes but when you are done you know you have done the right thing!

Your agent will ask you a series of questions pertaining to your home that will help determine the replacement cost value of your building.  Contents, other structures and loss of use coverage will be automatic percentages of the buildings replacement cost value.  If you need more you can request more.

Here are some of the details needed to determine your replacement value.

• Dimensions
• Number of stories
• Quality of materials
• Number of  families and bathrooms
• Type of construction: wood, brick, stone, log etc
• Basement: finished or unfinished, daylight?
• Garage: how many cars, attached or detached, finished room above?
• Size of deck, porch and breezeway.
• Type of flooring, hardwood, tile, carpet etc
• Exterior: wood, vinyl or other

Pretty easy questions that you probably already know!

Here are some of the things you want to look for when buying a home that any insurance company would love to insure.

• Roof: Has it been updated in the last 20 years?
  Wiring: Is it circuit breakers and copper wiring updated since 1970?
• Heating system: Has it been updated in the last 20 years, whole new furnace or at least the burner?
• Plumbing: Is it copper pipes and PVC updated in the last 20 years?
  Handrails: If the porch is over 18 inches high be prepared to install a railing.
• In ground pool: Is the yard or pool fenced in?
• Above ground pool: Is there a self latching gate for security?
• Check the flood zone to find out if you will be required to carry flood insurance for the life of the mortgage.  The town office can help you with this.

If you are buying a new home to insure, your realtor or your home inspection can help you with these answers.

And don't forget these...
Your monthly mortgage costs including taxes and insuance should equal no more than 36 percent of your gross income. A safe rule may be, don't buy a home more than 2 1/2 times your gross annual salary.
Your credit score matters.  Keep your card count low, your balances no more than 75% of the card limit and keep your payments on time.

At some point you will want to make changes to your new home. Before you start any construction, call your insurance agent and let them know your plans.  We can only insure what we know about and if we don't know about your new deck or your 2nd story addition we can't properly insure your total exposure.  We are here for you and we work hard to be sure you have what you need so don't hesitate to call and let us know what's going on at your home.

Owning a home is a wonderful experience and with the right insurance agent by your side you can rest well knowing your properly covered.

Here Today To Insure Tomorrow!