MA Home Buying Tips Archives

Massachusetts Home Insurance

Homeowner insurance is designed to protect your home from certain perils such as fire, theft, wind, hail, falling objects, riot, vehicle damage, explosion, smoke and bursting of pipes. Notable exclusions are: flood, earthquake, mold, mildew, rot or animal damage.

When setting up your policy your Massachusetts Independent Insurance Agent will attempt to come up with The Replacement Cost of your home. Not to be confused with Market Value, The Replacement Value is the amount of money it would take to replace you home if it were destroyed by an insurance loss. The Coverage A, Dwelling, amount should represent this Replacement Value.

Protect Your Home-

Your home is one of the largest investments you will ever have. You want to make certain that your coverage is tailored to your individual home and personal needs. Your Independent, Massachusetts Insurance Agent will offer quality, basic coverage with many features and many coverage options to enhance your protection.

Homeowners Insurance Coverage Protects:

Dwelling (your home)
Other Structures, such as a detached garage, shed, fence, mailbox or doghouse
Personal Property, including furniture, clothing, appliances and much more
Loss of Use, for living expenses, when the home is damaged and uninhabitable
Personal Liability Coverage, protects you and your family against a claim or lawsuit if someone is injured or their property is damaged while at your home
Medical Payments to Others

Coverage Options:

Personal Property Replacement Cost Protection. Provides full replacement cost (no depreciation)for your personal belongings
Replacement Cost Protection on your Dwelling. Provides the extra insurance you need to rebuild your house if your coverage amount is inadequate
Personal Injury. Protects you against libel and slander
Schedule Valuable Items. Provides a blanket of coverage that is broader than what a basic Homeowners policy provides. It is the right coverage for people who own valuable possessions such as jewelry, fine arts, collectibles, antiques and other “special items”
Umbrella Policy. Offers an additional $1 million to $5 million of liability protection
Flood Coverage. Flood damage is typically not covered under a home
- insurance policy. This affordable coverage covers damage to your property and provides cleanup reimbursement
- Earthquake Endorsement
HomeownerQuote.com will find you products that are competitively priced & that offer great value with many money-saving discounts:
- New or renovated home discount
- Account discount when you insure both your auto and home with the same company
- Loss free credit
- Non-smoker credit
- Security discounts are available for homes with: smoke detectors, dead bolts, fire extinguishers or alarm systems.
Helpful site for Buyers, Sellers & Owners of Homes – Zillow.com

Home Insurance Tips For First Time Buyers

So you have now purchased your first home. What an exciting time! You probably have some plans on how you want to “make it your own.” In making these plans you should consider the best way to protect your investment. As a first-time home buyer, are you aware that the purchase of a home is perhaps the biggest financial investment most folks make in their lifetime?

All of the paperwork involved can be confusing. The bank that is financing your new home will help when it comes time to close on the sale. But the bank’s concern is protecting themselves. While they will require you to have Homeowner’s Insurance, they will not give you any advice on how to best protect your new home. This is up to you! As a first-time home buyer, selecting the proper policy and coverages can be confusing.

What kinds of Insurance Policies can you buy?

There are 3 types of policies. These are based on the type of coverage provided.

Broad Coverage on your home and personal possessions. This is a list of various kinds of losses that are covered by the While this will cover the most common types of losses that can occur, it does not cover everything.
Broad Coverage on your personal possessions and All Risk Coverage on your Home. While your personal possessions are covered for the most common types of losses, your home is covered for All Risk Coverage.
All Risk Coverage on your Home and Personal Possessions.

How Much Coverage Should I Have on My Home?

In order to fully protect your home you need to consider insuring it for its Replacement Cost (rebuilding cost). To first-time home buyers this concept can be confusing. Just remember that in most cases the replacement cost will be different than what you paid for the house. If you purchased a new house these may be the same, but if you purchased an older house the replacement cost may be higher.

How is the Replacement Cost Determined?

Your insurance agent or insurance company will determine this based upon your home’s size, type of construction, amenities, and other information.

What is covered by a Homeowner Insurance Policy?

Your home.
The garage – whether attached or It can also cover any other detached buildings.
Your personal This includes your clothing, appliances, furniture, tools, outdoor equipment. Most policies will provide a limited amount of coverage when your possessions are away from your home.
Additional living costs. When you have to move out while your home is being repaired after an insured loss, this repays for any increase in your normal monthly expenses.
Someone is injured on your property.
Your liability if you (or a family member) accidently injures someone or destroys their property.

How Much Liability Coverage Should I Carry?

As a first-time home buyer this may be the most difficult to determine. You should consider carrying enough to protect the financial interest you have in your home and other equities (401K, investments, etc.).

What is a deductible and how does it apply?

A deductible is the amount of money you will have to pay when you have a claim for covered damage done to your house, garage, detached buildings or your personal possessions. A deductible does not apply to liability coverage.

Help for First Time Home Buyer is here!

We specialize in helping our customers in finding the most effective coverages and amounts of coverage needed. Call us we will discuss your options. Remember that if we also insure your cars you will get a discount on insuring your most valuable asset: your Home!

Contact HomeownerQuote.com.!

Home Buying Tips

Massachusetts Home Buying Tips:

The home buying process may seem complicated, but if you take things step-by-step, you will soon be holding the keys to your own home!

Know how much you can afford – This depends on your income, credit, current monthly expenses, down-payment and interest rate.
Shop for a loan -Talk to several lenders, compare costs, interest rates, and negotiate to get a better deal. Consider getting pre-approved for a loan.
Shop for a home – Come up with a wish list. This list should include: price, location, rooms (including bathrooms), age, and condition.
Make an offer – Do not be afraid to make a low offer. As told to us by one real estate agent: “There is no such thing as a bad offer.” Be prepared to negotiate and be prepared to walk away from the deal if the home gets too pricey. Try to remain as emotionless as possible and view the purchase like the business decision that it is.
Get a home inspection – A home inspection is a vital part of the home buying process. Make your offer contingent on this inspection. An inspection needs to be done to tell you about the condition of the home. The inspection can assist you in avoiding buying a home that needs major repairs.
Shop for Massachusetts Homeowners Insurance – Mortgage companies require that you have homeowners insurance in place at the time of the closing. We recommend that you get a quote from http://www.MassQuotes.com.
Sign the papers – You are finally ready for your closing. Be sure to read everything before you sign. An attorney can help assist you with this process.
Move in! – Congratulations on your new home!

Massachusetts Home Insurance: Special Limits Alert

Not many Massachusetts home insurance consumers appreciate home insurance until it’s claim time.

Claim time is bad time to find out about your policy’s limitations.

That’s why it’s important to know and understand your coverage before a claim.

Recently a client asked if he was “all-set” when it comes to his coverage. Especially, he mentions, because they’ve spent quite a bit of money on jewelry and watches over the years.

That’s when my inner, Massachusetts insurance agent alarm started ringing in my head:

“SPECIAL LIMITS ALERT! SPECIAL LIMITS ALERT! SPECIAL LIMITS ALERT!”

The standard, broad form, Massachusetts homeowner insurance policy has “Special Limits of Liability” for special items.

Such as: the most the insurance company will pay for loss of money, bank notes, bullion, gold, coins etc is $200; $1,000 limit for jewelry, watches, furs, precious and semi-precious stones theft loss; $1,000 limit firearms theft; $1,000 loss securities, deed, manuscripts, tickets, stamps (etc).

In order to have adequate coverage for such items (& antiques, fine art & collectibles), you should schedule onto your policy per appraisal.

When you schedule jewelry (or other special items) you receive all-risk coverage (vs. named peril coverage), no deductible applies, and the item is insured for it’s actual appraised value.

If you would like a free, competitive, no-obligation Massachusetts home insurance quote, please call or click us today.

Massachusetts Home Insurance

www.HomeownerQuote.com has been giving out free Massachusetts home insurance quotes since 2001. When taking advantage of our services, you are utilizing the power of the Massachusetts Independent Insurance Agent.

Your MA Independent Agent shops your coverage with numerous companies to find you the best premiums and coverage.

In Massachusetts, homeowner insurance rates are not all the same.

Different companies have different appetites for different kinds of risks.

Do you own or are you buying a coastal home?

Is your home in a flood zone?

Do you own a dog?

Do you have a trampoline?

Have you had past insurance losses?

What kind of condition is your home in?

All these questions are factors when determining the most competitive Massachusetts home insurance market.

Give us a call or click us today.

You will be glad you did.

MA Home Buying & Selling Tips

Massachusetts Home Buying Tips:

The home buying process may seem complicated, but if you take things step-by-step, you will soon be holding the keys to your own home!

Know how much you can afford – This depends on your income, credit, current monthly expenses, down-payment and interest rate.

Shop for a loan -Talk to several lenders, compare costs, interest rates, and negotiate to get a better deal. Consider getting pre-approved for a loan.

Shop for a home – Come up with a wish list. This list should include: price, location, rooms (including bathrooms), age, and condition.

Make an offer – Do not be afraid to make a low offer. As told to us by one real estate agent: “There is no such thing as a bad offer.” Be prepared to negotiate and be prepared to walk away from the deal if the home gets too pricey. Try to remain as emotionless as possible and view the purchase like the business decision that it is.

Get a home inspection – A home inspection is a vital part of the home buying process. Make your offer contingent on this inspection. An inspection needs to be done to tell you about the condition of the home. The inspection can assist you in avoiding buying a home that needs major repairs.

Shop for Massachusetts Homeowners Insurance – Mortgage companies require that you have homeowners insurance in place at the time of the closing. We recommend that you get a quote from http://www.MassQuotes.com.

Sign the papers – You are finally ready for your closing. Be sure to read everything before you sign. An attorney can help assist you with this process.

Move in! – Congratulations on your new home!

Massachusetts Home Selling Tips:

Get pre-approved for a home loan – It is important to know if you are qualified to buy another home before you sign a contract to sell your existing house. If not, you may end up renting or buying something that is far from ideal.

Know your mortgage payoff – It is important to know what the payoff is for your current home mortgage so that you know exactly how much you can afford to sell your home for.

Determine how much your home is worth – Determine your home’s fair market value. Real estate agents will usually help you with this process but you might want to order an appraisal. (Zillow.com can help give you a general idea of your home’s value.)

Estimate the costs to sell your home – Costs can include: commissions if you use a real estate agency to help you sell your home, advertising costs, signs and other fees if you plan to sell yourself, attorney, closing agent and/or other professional fees, excise taxes, other fees typically paid by the seller (surveys, inspections etc…)

Estimate the costs to buy your new home – Estimate buying and moving expenses to buy your new home. Expenses include things such as: loan costs, down-payment, home inspections, title work, paying for a new home insurance policy.

Make necessary repairs – Make all needed repairs unless you want the house to be regarded as a fixer-upper. Not, necessarily cosmetic updates but items in need of repair.

Get your home ready to show – Items include: fresh paint indoors and out, organized closets, cabinets, clean windows and appliances, and a clutter-free look. A little work can go a long way and ensure the offer from a potential buyer that you are looking for.

Sell, sell, sell! – Make your home accessible and always ready to show. Know your asking price & know the very minimum offer that you are willing to accept. Do not be afraid to reject an offer if it is not acceptable to you.

Massachusetts Home Buying Tips