Flood insurance popped up on the national news feeds in late March of this year. The Biggert-Waters Flood Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) went into effect in October of 2013 impacting home and business owners along coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, as well as in the Missouri River Basin (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/flood-insurance-reform-act-of-2012/).
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of working with two retired people in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. What they have in common is quite admirable, they own their homes outright. One paid off the mortgage while the other person paid cash for their current home. That, however, is where the similarities end. The person that paid off their mortgage dropped their home insurance when the mortgage was paid in full, while the person that paid cash for their home continues to maintain a home insurance policy.
hink about the last time you purchased something, anything at all. Let’s say it was a can of soup. Imagine the canned food shelves are crammed and disheveled as you look for your brand. You’re getting annoyed. The first couple of cans you spy are dented and the labels torn. In fact, is that a rodent’s dropping on the top of that one? Disgusting!
Last week, I helped a family in Allen, Texas change their home and car insurance from the carrier they were with to one of the insurance companies we work with. The wife and I were reviewing what the new home insurance policy covered and she asked an excellent question: does the new policy cover the air conditioning unit? Instead of simply answering her question, I wanted to confirm what she meant by the policy covering the air conditioning unit. It turns out, she wanted to know if the home insurance policy will replace their A/C unit when it wears out.
The Dallas Morning News published an article on Friday, March 7th on the rising home prices of close in Dallas neighborhoods. In 12 months, prices have skyrocketed to historic highs while inventory of homes available for sale are at a 20 year low. Traffic at open houses has jumped and many sellers are receiving multiple offers for their home with most above the asking price. People who would normally be in the market to sell their house and move up are sitting on the sidelines for fear of not being able to find a home before they sell theirs.
I’m helping a number of people across the Dallas / Fort Worth area review and evaluate their home insurance. Rates across north Texas have sky rocketed over the last 2 years and each family is looking for ways to reduce their expenses without sacrificing coverage. Invariably, one of the things I’ve discussed with each family is which options they want their home policy to include. Here are the 5 options I recommend they keep or add to their home insurance policy.
I’m currently working with several Dallas area families on their home insurance. These families include three families who are wanting me to evaluate their current insurance and see if we can provide them with lower cost insurance options than they currently have. The other two are first time home buyers that were referred to me. They want me to find the right level of insurance for them, save them money, and educate them in the process.
This past week I helped a new client with condo insurance for his new home. The condo is in a high rise condominium tower located in the Turtle Creek area of Dallas. It’s beautiful and the view is amazing. He’s very excited and has been wonderful to work with. There was one little issue we had to work through involving the amount of insurance for his new home and what the mortgage underwriters would approve. It was an interesting conundrum.
I talked with three people who are buying homes in the Dallas / Fort Worth area in the coming weeks. There are a number of questions I ask anyone buying a new home or rental property. In addition to discussing the finish out of the home it’s important to know about the updates the home has had and when they occurred. This is especially true if the home is over 10 years old. The updates insurance companies want to know about and that I discuss are in four key areas: plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, as well as the roof.
New home mortgage guidelines went into effect on January 10th. The new guidelines were drafted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and they are designed to protect consumers from some of the lending abuses that led to the financial meltdown in 2008. Lending practices were relaxed prior to 2008. This enabled some people to qualify for home loans who would not have qualified under the previous and stricter guidelines. When the market imploded, millions of people were unable to make their mortgage payments and lost their homes to foreclosure.
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