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Posts Tagged ‘Personal Finance’
4 Tips To Lower Homeowners Insurance For Your Home
With the prices for everything skyrocketing these days, every penny counts. This includes your homeowner’s insurance costs. If you’re thinking of buying a home and need homeowner’s insurance, here are a few tips on getting quality insurance for a fair price:
Tip #1: Shop Around
Ask family and friends about their homeowner’s insurance. Check the Yellow Pages, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the state insurance department.
Other places to shop for insurance include consumer guides, insurance agents and online insurance quote services. Don’t just look for lower prices, however. You need a fair price for the services you need.
Tip #2: Raise Your Deductible
The deductible is how much you have to pay before the insurance company starts to pay a claim on your home. The higher the deductible, the lower the premiums. If you live in a disaster-prone area, your policy may have a separate deductible for specific types of damages.
Make sure, when reading the policy, you carefully go over damage-specific information.
Tip #3: Use The Same Insurer
Some companies will take five to fifteen percent off your premium if you buy more than one policy from them. If the insurer offers homeowner’s, auto and liability coverage, you stand a chance of having a lower premium than if they only offer one or the other.
The key is to make sure that the combined price is lower than if you bought them separately.
Tip #4: Improve Home Security
By installing a sophisticated fire sprinkler system and a fire/burglar alarm that rings the monitoring stations, some companies will cut your premium as much as fifteen or twenty percent.
For a smoke detector, burglar alarm or deadbolt locks, you can usually get at least a five percent discount. Check with your insurer to make sure that the system you’re installing will lower your premiums, though; the systems aren’t cheap and not all of them qualify for a discount.
Read everything carefully before you sign, to make sure the policy covers your insurance needs without adding on hidden fees. Even a little money saved can go a long way toward making it easier to live within your budget.
Ready to buy a home? Let me help you find the perfect home and get it at the best terms and price. Call or email your trusted real estate professional.
Mark Taylor | Arizona Home Loans | Blarming | Will You Listen to Me | Arizona Short Sales | Arizona Foreclosures | Arizona FHA Loans | Arizona USDA Loans | Real Estate Websites | Arizona HUD Homes | Ariona VA Loans | Fix My Broken Credit | Arizona Mortgage | Arizona Short Sale | Power Ranch Bank Owned Homes
3 Common Myths About Real Estate Short Sales
There is a lot of misleading and incorrect information about Phoenix real estate short sales.
Many people don’t have a clear understanding of the purpose of short sales or how they actually work.
Essentially, a short sale is when one sells their home for less than the balance remaining on the mortgage attached to the property.
The proceeds from the sale are used to repay a pre-negotiated portion of the balance to settle the debt.
A short sale can be a solution for homeowners who really need to sell their home but owe more on the mortgage than the home is worth.
Understanding the short sale process can help make the most out of a real estate sale.
Here are some common myths and why they are false:
A short sale damages one’s credit record as much as foreclosure
In many cases a short sale is less damaging to your credit record than a foreclosure. Some lenders may think that the short seller acted in a more responsible manner than simply walking away from the property.
Although the amount paid may have been less than the mortgage balance outstanding, the loan was settled with the lender. Opting for foreclosure is often seen as a lack of responsibility.
To qualify for a short sale one must be behind on payments
This might have been true in the past, but it’s not anymore.
You just need to be able to prove that you are in financial hardship, which could be due to death in the family, divorce, job loss, mortgage rate hike or even loss of property value.
After a short sale you can’t buy again for five to seven years
This may be true in some cases, but not all. In certain situations the waiting period can be reduced as low as two or three years before you are allowed to purchase another home.
It would be wise to speak with licensed real estate professional or home financing specialist to get the most current options in the marketplace.
Pass it on
These are just a few examples of commonly believed short sale myths. A clear understanding of the short sale and the benefits it can provide is important for financially strapped homeowners.
Feel free to pass this important information on to someone that you feel would benefit from it.
Mark Taylor | Arizona Home Loans | Blarming | Will You Listen to Me | Arizona Short Sales | Arizona Foreclosures | Arizona FHA Loans | Arizona USDA Loans | Real Estate Websites | Arizona HUD Homes | Ariona VA Loans | Fix My Broken Credit | Arizona Mortgage | Arizona Short Sale | Power Ranch Bank Owned Homes