The purchase of a new home is an exciting event. It could mean that you’ve finally achieved the “American Dream.” But in order to keep your dream from turning into a financial nightmare, it is important to ensure that you have the right amount of home owners insurance.
When purchasing a home owners insurance policy, there are several items that need to be covered. These include the following:
- Your home’s structure
- Your personal property
- Liability
- The cost of added living expenses (if your home is damaged to the point where you must live somewhere else while repairs are being made)
When considering coverage for your home’s structure, you should make sure that you have enough protection to rebuild at current construction costs. (This, however, should not include the cost of the land). It can be easy to get tripped up here, as many people think that the amount of your structural coverage should be based on the price you paid for the home. But the cost to actually rebuild could end up being more – or less – than that figure.
When it comes to protecting your personal possessions, many home owners insurance policies will provide coverage for roughly 50 to 70 percent of the amount of coverage you have on the structure itself. This, however, may or may not be appropriate. So, in this case, it can help if you take an “inventory” of the items you own, and what it could cost to replace them. In some instances, it could require that you purchase an additional “rider” on your policy in order to place protection on unique or expensive items, such as jewelry and / or collectibles.
If you’re considering making a move, we can help you with finding the right property, and with locating a buyer for your current residence. Give us a call today in order to get the process of finding your new dream home started.
