Homeowners insurance. Shoestrings. Toilet paper. What do these things have in common? We buy them and promptly forget about them. Until we need them, that is; and that’s when we find out if they are adequate.
Unlike toilet paper, you should update homeowners insurance coverage on an annual basis and/or after significant home improvements. In most cases, your insurance provider should be glad to help you figure out what the replacement price tag for your home is.
My insurance company is State Farm and they’re very helpful. In fact, they just sent me a letter on this topic which prompted this post.
This is what you have to consider: replacement; not what the state or county says the property is worth when they send you that inflated estimate of home value for tax purposes. It’s also not the same as market value, which is what you realistically could sell it for.
If you hire a building contractor to remodel a kitchen, obviously the replacement cost of your home will go up. But what if you make no improvements throughout the year? Most folks assume that the status quo remains static but they would be wrong!
Why, you ask demurely? Because material and labor costs rise.
Improvements Affecting Insurance Payouts
Just a sampling of home improvements to consider -
- Installing hardwood or laminate flooring
- Upgrading to energy-efficient krypton or Argon filled windows with a Low-e coating
- Bathroom or kitchen remodel
- Remodeling your basement
- Siding replacement with Hardiplank fiber cement siding
- Replace your central air conditioner with one with a higher SEER rating
There are more, of course, but this gives you an idea. The more money you pour into the homestead, the more reason you have to update your insurance policy.
Friday, 20. March 2009
I enjoyed reading your work! GREAT post! I looked around for this… but I found you!
Sunday, 22. March 2009
I REALLY liked your post and blog! It took me a little bit to find your site…but I book marked it. Would you mind if I but a link back to my site?
Wednesday, 15. April 2009
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right
Sunday, 19. April 2009
I really appreciate the great research you have done to provide your readers with Valuable content like this. There are many mis-informed people out there and you are definitely helping to keep them on the right track. This is one of the reasons why I created my site too,
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Friday, 1. May 2009
Thanks for the review!
Thursday, 10. September 2009
Thank you lol I’ve been searching for this everywhere >_<
Wednesday, 16. September 2009
Thank you so much for this!
Such a great blog!!
Friday, 23. October 2009
I think that when you are remodeling you want to be around the project as much as possible!
If you can do a lot of it yourself that helps on quality and money.
Usually the best job done is the one you do because you know how you want it done and you
want it done nicely because you’ll be seeing it everyday - the contracter wont!
Thanks for this blog it had a lot of great information!
Sunday, 24. January 2010
Interesting read! I have been looking to save money on my energy costs since money is low these days. I found your post extremely helpful. Thank you