Archive for November 4th, 2009

An Introduction to Home Insurance

November 4th, 2009

If you’re a first time home owner, then first of all, congratulations. Home ownership is a dream for many, and not everybody manages to make the dream come true. So, for starters, be glad that you’ve arrived at this juncture.

Secondly, you’ll probably want to look into getting homeowner insurance, or improving upon your existing policy, fairly soon. Insuring your home can be a tedious, difficult, headache-inducing process, but it doesn’t have to be that way. All you have to do is take a few moments to sit down and educate yourself on the ins and outs of home insurance.

What it boils down to is that every state has minimum requirements, and you might have specific needs yourself, or just insurance coverage you’d like to have to feel a little more secure in your home. However, if you don’t know exactly what you need, then the entire process can be incredibly difficult.

So, to boil the process down to its bare essentials, we’ll start with the basic home owner’s policy. This policy will generally protect against “eleven potential perils”.

These perils are…

-Fire or lightning
-Windstorm or hail
-Vandalism and malicious mischief
-Theft-Vehicle and aircraft damages
-Explosions, riot, and civil commotion
-Glass breakage
-Smoke
-Volcanic eruption
-Personal liability

Floods and earthquakes might also be listed depending on your location. It may seem a bit much. After all, how many people living in, say, Utah, have ever suffered damage from a volcanic eruption?

Nonetheless, this is what you’ll be covered for when you take out a basic policy. Now, home insurance isn’t mandatory in most areas, but, that doesn’t mean that it would be wise to skip it. You may never have a vehicle or aircraft crash into your home, but vandalism, theft and fire are all too common.

Personal liability is especially important. If someone, say, slips on the ice and breaks their ankle on your driveway, and they opt to sue you, you can either pay for that out of your own pocket, or let personal liability take care of those costs for you. In essence, home insurance is, like an umbrella, better to have and not need, than need and not have.

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Planning For A Home Extension

November 4th, 2009

An extension can be a worthwhile addition to any home if you have the room to build it. It can also add value to your home if you are thinking of moving at some point in the future.

But you need to consider how to finance such an improvement as well. A secured or homeowner loan is generally the best option as it is secured on your current property. You can usually get a secured loan for a larger amount than an unsecured loan too, so it can make larger home improvements such as an extension much easier to manage.

Before agreeing to any kind of extension it is a good idea to get some quotes on how much the work will cost. This will depend on the size of the extension and whether it will be single or double storey. You can then get an idea of how much your secured loan will need to be for.

Finding out how much you can get a secured or homeowner loan for isn’t the only financial question you will need to ask either. You also need to take a look at your current personal finances to see whether you can accommodate the payments for such a loan. If you can’t you will need to rethink your monthly budget to make sure you can indeed apply for a homeowner loan successfully. The last thing you want is to get into trouble with your repayments and find you cannot afford them.

But if the sums work themselves out and you do get a loan, you will find that a new extension is within reach. It will involve a lot of upheaval while it is being built, but the end result will be worth it when you can enjoy your newly extended home.

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