5 Things To Know About Home Owners Insurance

Many insurers have been raising rates to make up for losses they suffered during the financial crisis, industry experts say. At the same time, insurers are competing hard for new customers, which means some of them are cutting better deals for new policy holders than for existing ones, says Deeia Beck, executive director of the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, a state consumer agency in Texas. 1. Loyalty is overrated When your annual renewal statement lands in your mailbox, check InsWeb.com and NetQuote.com to see if you can snag a better deal elsewhere. Consider moving your auto policy too; bundling home and auto coverage with the same insurer can cut your total premiums by 5% to 15%. 2. You may have too much coverage It's common for policies to contain inflation-protection provisions that automatically increase your coverage amount. "In most years, that's a good thing," says Scott Richardson, director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Now that construction costs have fallen? Not so much. For now, pass on inflation protection and adjust your coverage amount to a more realistic figure. Lowering replacement value from, say, $300,000 to $250,000 might shave 10% off your premium. 3. A bad rep can cost you Just as lenders check your credit history before figuring out what rate to charge you, insurers tap into national databases such as the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) to see what claims you've filed in the past. Those records can be full of errors, warns Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, an insurance advocacy group. Check your insurance report for mistakes at choicetrust.com; it's free if you've been denied coverage ($19.50 otherwise). 4. Small claims can cost you, too Go with the highest deductible you can afford and bank the savings to cover the cost of minor repairs. Filing a claim for every broken window or leaky pipe can drive up your premiums by 10% to 15%, says Don Griffin, a vice president at Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. (Some experts say that even inquiring about making a claim can raise a red flag.) Increasing your deductible from, say, $500 to $1,000 can lower your annual premium by as much as 25%, according to the Insurance Information Institute. 5. A home's history matters In the market for a new house? It may seem unfair, but claims associated with the property before you buy it can result in your paying more than you would otherwise. "Certain locations [such as those vulnerable to flooding] may be more prone to claims," explains Kiran Rasaretnam, CFO of InsWeb. To get info on past claims, ask for a copy of the seller's CLUE disclosure report (see No. 3). Yes, you're stuck with the history of the house you buy, but you can use what you find to negotiate a lower price with the seller. Article By Sarah Max, courtesy of CNN Photo by David McNew / Getty Images

5 Tips To Get The Best Price When Selling Your Property

For whatever reason, if you have to sell your property as soon as possible, don't panic! It's easy to be overwhelmed but the best way forward is to set out a plan for selling and work through it step by step. Don't be deterred if the word on the street is that 'it's a bad time to sell'; just keep the following tips in mind and selling your property quickly, and for a good price, will be achievable. There are five common mistakes that homeowners make when wanting to sell their place quickly. I am going to tell you the mistakes then give you some advice about how to overcome the error. The five most common critical mistakes: 1. Constantly reducing the price, little by little When prospective buyers see a price dropping regularly it spells ‘desperation.’ Before you list your property do your own research to find out its value. Check out what the prices are of similar places in the area. The most inspected places on the market are those that are the cheapest and also the newest listed. By placing your property at the top of the list in both categories you will have yours sold in no time at all. 2. Hiring the Real Estate agent charging the least commission To get the quick results that you are after it is essential that you hire a top real estate agent. Ask your friends, family and colleagues who they would suggest and who they have used. If you can employ a professional agent who can negotiate you another $15,000 on your selling price for $3,000 more commission, you are better off than using an agent who will ‘give your place away.’ Look for an agent who you can communicate with, who is prepared to go that extra mile for you, who has drive, commitment and will guide you through the selling process at a comfortable pace. 3. Waiting for the market to improve Waiting does not ensure a better selling price. There are hundreds of home owners who do not need to sell quickly and they will be coming on the market each and every day. You will always have competitors so if you have to sell do it now and do it with care and conviction. Who says the market is going to better in the next year or two anyway? 4. Listing your property before you have staged it One of the absolute worst mistakes is to present your place to buyers when it has not been cleaned and spruced up for sale. It is called ‘staging your place’ and can make an enormous difference to the amount you get offered. Clean out the junk – sell it or store it. Touch up any areas in the property that are showing wear and tear and get the garden regenerated, especially in the front. Potential buyers are there to look at your place and how their family could live in it, not at your belongings, so have as few personal belongings around as you need to have to live in reasonable comfort while it is on the market. Tidy the bedrooms and get rid of any excess furniture so that all the rooms look larger. 5. Consider every offer A common mistake for owners, especially those needing the highest possible sale price, is to turn down the first offer. In selling there is a saying that ‘the first offer is the best offer’ and if you talk to a salesperson in any job where price gets negotiated, they will tell you that the statement is true in the majority of cases. You will get a lot of lookers in the first couple of weeks and if you are still on the market after that the number will drop quite dramatically. If an offer comes in during the first week or two, sellers are tempted to turn it down thinking the inspection rate will stay the same, but of course it does not. So, seriously consider every offer, especially the first. Every investment you make in property requires your best attention. Large sums are made and lost through selling property, so learn how to avoid the above listed common mistakes Article by Reece Coleman