Posted by admin | Posted in Home Insurance | Posted on 01-09-2010
Home owners insurance is an integral part of our lives. If the devastating happens, you don’t want to lose everything you own and have to start over. Homeowners and/or renters insurance will help you out in the event the worst ever does happen.
There are several ways to keep the cost of your home owners or renters insurance lower. One way is to comparison shop.
Comparison shopping is very easy to do, especially using the internet. You just have to go to the website of several insurance companies, fill in some data on questions they will ask, and you will receive the quotes online. If you have questions there is often an agent on duty that can answer them online or on the phone. You can save a great deal of money by comparing quotes and it is always worth the time you take in research.
Another avenue for savings is to consolidate your auto and homeowner’s insurance. Many companies will give you up to a 30% discount on your home owner’s insurance if you insure your other valuable with them. It also makes it much easier to be dealing with only one agent.
One thing that many people do is raise their deductible. Your deductible is the amount that you have to pay yourself before the insurance company has to pay anything. Raising your deductible can alter the price of your policy considerably. Many homeowners will set their deductible for $500. Changing that to $1000 will save you about 25% each year on your premiums. Increasing your deductible to $2500 can increase the savings on your premium as much as 35%. With just a few years with no losses your savings can be significant.
Installing home security devices will also lower your premium. Simple things like having deadbolt locks, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, fire alarms or burglar alarms can decrease your policy from 5% to 25%.
Finally you can request a discount. There are often discounts for military personnel, single parents, non-smokers, seniors and law enforcement officers, as well as many others. It never hurts to ask and may save you a great deal of money in the long run.
Watch the video related to home owner insurance
www.utahinsurancedoctors.com How to make sure your claims are paid in full, and don’t let the insurance companies off the hook.
Help answer the question about home owner insurance
should i get home insurance as a home owner or a rental ?i own a house and i rent out part of it . i pay about 925 per year. i am moving out of state should i switch to "rental property" rather then owner occupied insurance ? which one is better or cheaper
Your asking all of the right questions. First, you do not have to go stated income even if self employed, you can provide tax returns however if your tax person did their job right then tax retuens will most likely not work for you. With your scores there should not be any real penalty for stated income.
To determine if a single loan with PMI is right… Have your broker give you the payment with PMI and as an 80/20. Which ever payment is best is the way to go. You will pay additional closing costs for an 80/20 but not all that much more… You'll have 2 recordings (1st lien/2nd lien) etc… Your loan officer should be able to get you the closing numbers from the closing agent going either way. This will allow you to make a smart decesion.
You will need to have homeowners insurance at closing, however the lender will not fund the loan without the insurance in place so now is the time to get it. Find an insurance broker or a direct agent (State Farm, Allstate etc…) for your quotes. They will issue a binder with a policy start date the same as your closing date. You can either pay them for the year when your at the office or have it paid through escrow. I would elect through escrow just in case the purchase falls through you won't have to wait for a refund from the insurance company. I have several agents I have worked with in Florida if you would like thier info.
Regarding the taxes… the sellers portion will be prorated up to the date title transfers. You will see taxes on your closing statement as it is a part of closing costs. You will most likely receive a supplimental tax bill at the end of the tax year which will be charging you for the difference in the tax base from the seller to you. Your taxes for the remainder of the tax year will be calculated at the rate the sellers paid. You will owe a difference as your taxes will be calculated based on your purchase price.
As for insterest only… Your interest rate will be higher for IO then if you amortize although your payment will be lower since your only paying interest and not any principal. I would look to see if you can comfortably pay an amortized payment first. If not then go with the IO. Keep in mind that when the water heater breakes at 3am and starts to flood your going to have to deal with it. It is always wise to make sure you are not really dumping all of your money into your payment. With stated income loans this is easy to do since the lender does not verify your income. They just make sure what is stated is reasonable for the job title/industry.
As for borrowing the monies from your parents… this may actually be better for you. They will need to secure a lien against the property in second position and your lender on the 1st will make sure that your DTI works with that note but I will bet your parents will give you a better interest rate than a bank! Just make sure that you pay them on time every month, with a check. Write mortgage payment in the memo line. When you try and refi one day the new lender will need copies of the cancelled checks since your parents won't be reporting your payments to a credit reporting service. The checks will prove you were never late on the payment.
If you need additional assistance, drop me a line.
Kevin 866-562-6838 x 106
kruorock@firstratelending.com