Whether owning your first home means that you’re still under a mortgage, the rational thing to do is to protect your home and belongings, your family, friends, and neighbors by investing in insurance coverage.

Insurance for homeowners isn’t solely about protecting the structure of your home from fire, wind, and other damages, it’s also about protecting your personal possessions and replacing them if you’ve had damage or suffered a loss due to an incident such as fire, theft, or vandalism.

Get a Home Inspection

Hiring a home inspector to check up on the house you bought or plan to buy can save you a lot of headaches down the road. The benefits of a home inspection are not only to verify the condition of the house but to also negotiate the price down, for example, to cover the necessary repairs or to check what other conditions are possible to fall upon your home, and you need to purchase additional policies.

Hire an inspector who has proper licenses and favorable reviews from clients. A qualified home inspector can find issues with the home that may not be visible to the naked eye, or problems that you wouldn’t know to look for otherwise.

The Right Type of Insurance

There’s no denying the need for homeowners today to purchase home insurance, especially if you’re getting a mortgage which, on the contrary, doesn’t require life insurance, for example.

The biggest issue here is what type of insurance is best for you and your home since there are many coverage options to choose from. The good thing is that all homeowners insurance policies cover your personal property, personal liability loss, costs of dwelling, additional living expenses but will also cover other structures on your property, like a fence or detached garage. You shouldn’t accept any less.

Replacement Cost vs Market Value

Considering that your insurance will be normally based on the replacement cost of your home, you should know the difference:

• Replacement cost is the cost to rebuild your home with the amount that an entity would have to pay to replace an asset at the present time. Be sure that this amount is enough to provide for an overall loss.

• A market value only covers up to the current cash value of your home. The cost of rebuilding your home will most likely be greater than its cash value, so a market value policy will only cover a portion of these reparations.

Why Not – Bind It All

Insurance companies very often offer a “binding” – multi-policy discount on one policy if you also purchase additional policies, such as a car or life insurance, boat, and other valuable items, with their company.

There are other ways to save on home insurance, including having a security system, maintaining a good credit score, living near a fire station… and all this can likely help you save money on your premium.

Choosing the best policy to meet the needs of your family and your home, while taking care of the neighborhood in which you live, is not always smooth and straightforward, and it’s good to do some research and advising regarding what you actually need and what are redundant costs and obligations.