Home Insurance, Renters Insurance, & Title Insurance Basics
April 20th, 2008
One integral part in home ownership is having home insurance. Home insurance plays a vital role in protecting your property from disaster and protecting you, in the form of liability protection. It’s important to understand that many home insurance policies don’t automatically protect against earthquake or flood. These disasters often require additional protection. These can be purchased in the form of home insurance riders, or through special government organizations, designed for specific disaster protection. On the liability side of home insurance you’re protected against harm that may happen to you, your friend, and family. The importance of property is important, but the liability protection that comes from a good home insurance company should not discounted.
Much like home insurance, renters insurance, protects your property and liability when renting a home or an apartment. Renters insurance is one of the less utilized forms of insurance. But it really shouldn’t be. Renters insurance is relatively cheap when comparing it to its home insurance brethren. The main reason is that you’re not insuring the home’s property with renters insurance. This is the most costly portion of home insurance. Because you’re not covering the major risk and expense, renters insurance comes at an extreme discount to home insurance. It is not at all uncommon to see a renters insurance policy as low as $15 per month. This is a small price to pay when you get both the protection of all your property and protection against accident. Moreover, many landlords are requiring renters insurance when it comes to signing a lease. So, shop around online, and you’ll be sure to find an economic renters insurance policy.
If you’ve bought a home in the last few years you’ve probably heard of title insurance. Title insurance is one of those forms of insurance that are often required by a lender when buying a home. The reason being is that title insurance protects them (your lender) from any title issues. So, your buying title insurance to protect them. To make matters worse, many lenders get kickbacks when it comes to referring title insurance companies. So, the lender is getting free protection through your title insurance policy, but also getting paid at the same time. It’s just one of those closing costs that ends padding the pockets of your lender. Title insurance can be purchased to protect you; this is called personal title insurance and is much less popular than the required title insurance covered above.
One final important note, when purchasing a home in this volatile real estate market. When deciding between a fixed mortgage and an adjustable rate mortgage it’s important to understand all the variables. For the new homebuyer, the adjustable rate mortgage is very tempting. It will often come with a low introductory rate. This will make your initial adjustable rate mortgage payments lower when comparing to a fixed product. It’s not always the best solution, however. We can look at this housing mess we’re now in as a prime example. The combination of a declining housing market and the adjustable rate mortgage resets, makes for a poor combination. The historical thinking when it comes to buying an adjustable rate mortgage is that you can always refinance when the adjustable rate mortgage resets. That type of thinking is teaching a valuable lesson as adjustable rate mortgage owners can’t refinance because their home values have declined. Unfortunately, for many of these individuals, they’re either looking at much higher mortgage payments or foreclosure. Tread with extreme caution when considering an adjustable rate mortgage.
Entry Filed under: Business And Finance
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