Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, Colorado have experienced severe fires both last year and this year. In June of 2012, the Waldo Canyon fire ravaged almost 19,000 acres, killed two people, and destroyed 347 homes. The Black Forest fire that happened in June of this year torched over 14,200 acres, killed two people and destroyed 509 homes.
In the category where truth is stranger than fiction, news wire services reported in January of this year the account of a St. George, Utah couple whose home was struck by a boulder measuring 12 feet by 9 feet. The rock broke free from the cliff above Scot and Wanda Denhalter’s home at about 3:00 a.m. and crashed through the master bedroom wall while Wanda was sleeping alone in their bed.
I was talking with a new client two weeks ago. We’d just completed the insurance on the new home they’re buying and they were finalizing everything for their move to Dallas. The client had one last question about his new policy. He’d met with the moving company earlier and wanted to know whether or not the home policy we’d written for them would cover their property during the move or should he buy the movers insurance?
I received a letter last week from the University of Alabama, Birmingham alumni association. I graduated from there with a business degree, I’ll let you guess when. The letter was to offer me savings of $300 to $400 a year on my car insurance with a company I was with before I started Wise Insurance Group. As an alumnus of UAB, I qualified for an insurance discount.
I was running through Wal-Mart yesterday to pick up a few things and noticed several aisles stocked with back to school supplies. There were notebooks, pens, paper, computer keyboards and mice in an assortment of colors, calculators, etc. Moms and dads were comparing available supplies with lists from schools and loading up their shopping carts.
In case you missed it, the Biggert-Waters Flood Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) was passed by the U.S. Congress in July of last year. The goal of BW-12 is for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and other agencies to make changes in how the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is administered.
I received a call on Friday from a woman in Frisco, Texas on Friday who wanted me to review her home and car insurance. The family’s rates are going up on their upcoming renewal in August, and like most people she doesn’t want to spend more on her insurance than she has to. I don’t blame her!
Last Monday I introduced David and Deb (not their real names). They’re a couple who just purchased a home in east Dallas they plan to completely renovate. The home was originally built in 1962 and has never been updated. They’ll gut it and bring it up to date in a contemporary style befitting the original vision the architect had when it was first built.
Did you catch the story last week about the toddler who bought a car on eBay with her dad’s smart phone? Sorella Stoute, a 14 month girl in Portland, Oregon, was playing with her dad’s smart phone. She opened the eBay app on dad’s phone and submitted the winning bid on a 1962 Austin Healey.
You’ve been watching HGTV and pouring through copies of This Old House Magazine and you’ve become inspired on what you want to do with your home. Or maybe, you’ve found the perfect home to buy that matches the vision you have for it and nobody else can see past the dated kitchen, bathrooms, and flooring. Congratulations! I can’t say I have that gift and am amazed to see what friends and clients have done with a home that looked one way and made it uniquely theirs.
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