$207,000. As of April, that is now the median price for a home in north Texas. It represents an average 14% increase in home prices across the metroplex over 2013. The new median home price represents an increase of almost 60% over 2010’s valuation, at the depth of the recession. When compared to the previous high water mark set in 2007, the gain is over a third.
I’ve received several calls from clients over the past couple of months. In each case, they’d received a notice from their mortgage company notifying them their mortgage payment was changing due to a deficit in their escrow account. They had the option of paying the escrow shortage or it could be factored into their already increased monthly home mortgage payment. The same thing happened to Sheri and me.
Larry Taylor, a Texas State Senator from Friendswood, introduced a bill to restrict homeowners’ ability to sue insurance companies over unpaid claims. The Senate passed his bill last Wednesday in a 21 to 10 vote, and it’s headed to the House to be voted on. If approved it, the bill will go to Governor Abbott to sign or veto it.
There are 20 homes in Carrollton, Texas on Barclay Drive which back up to Dudley Branch Creek. The retaining wall behind the homes is failing causing the lots to sink as the soil begins to move downhill toward the creek. Some of the residents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Carrollton saying it’s responsible for repairing the retaining wall while the city contends it’s the homeowners’ responsibility to repair the wall. The estimated cost to repair the wall is $3 million. Home insurance won’t help the homeowners either.
For the last 10 years, Texans have had the ignominious distinction of paying the highest or second highest home insurance rates in the nation. This year, we caught a break and are currently number three with an average annual premium of $1,625. Florida beat us out to take the top spot with an average annual premium of $1,991 followed by Louisiana with an average annual premium of $1,722 according to Value Penguin for 2015. Rounding out the top five were Mississippi ($1,451 a year) and Oklahoma ($1,428 a year).
A friend of mine called me a couple of weeks ago. She and her husband recently bought their first home together in east Dallas and are remodeling it. They smelled gas and called Atmos Energy who discovered a leak in the gas line between the meter and their home. She wanted to know whether her home insurance policy covered the repair of the gas line.
No home policy covers everything, so options allow people to tailor their policy to meet their specific needs by adding the coverage they need, but not paying for coverage they don’t need. Here are 5 more options worth knowing about.
Last week, I introduced 5 home insurance options home owners should consider, but that barely scratches the surface. Depending on the insurance company, there may be up to 2 dozen options, and what would life be without options?! Since no home policy covers everything, these options help tailor the coverage of a policy to the individual needs of each home owner. Here are 5 more options worth knowing about!
What would life be without options? Most people assume that all home insurance policies provide the same coverage, or that they cover everything that could potentially happen to a home. They don’t. Due to differences in policy types and what insurance companies provide as standard coverage, there are several options I recommend to most home buyers or owners.
Texas home insurance policies are divided into sections. The first section outlines four core property coverage items (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-core-property-coverage/). Last week, we looked at the second section which outlines liability coverage, or coverage that protects you if something happens to someone in your home or on your property (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-liability-coverage/). This week, we’ll continue this by looking at policy deductibles.
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