11
Jun
By support
Real Estate Tips

4 Tips To Lower Homeowners Insurance For Your Home

4 Tips To Lower Homeowners Insurance For Your HomeWith 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.

10
Jun
By support
Credit Scoring

Understanding Your Credit Score And How It Impacts Your Home Ownership Prospects

Understanding Your Credit Score And How It Impacts Your Home Ownership Prospects

Understanding your credit score and how it impacts your home ownership prospects your credit score is an important part of your financial profile. It has a direct impact on your ability to take out loans.

The score itself is a numerical reflection of your credit history. It gives lenders a way to discern your reliability before approving a loan like a mortgage for instance.

Though this is the basic function of a credit score, it can also have a far-reaching influence over other aspects of home ownership.

Mortgage Loan Approval: Will Your Score Make the Cut?

First and foremost, the status of your credit score is a deciding factor in whether or not you are approved for a loan.

Even if you put down a large down payment on your home, a low credit score can still cause the loan to be rejected. For this reason, it’s best to wait until you’ve built up a good credit score before looking to purchase a house.

Mortgage Interest Rates: The Lower The Score The Higher The Rate

High interest rates are another reason to hold off on purchasing a home until you’ve obtained a very good credit score. While applying for a loan with the minimum credit score required might get the loan approved, it also means having to pay higher interest rates.

Shooting for a credit score above the bare minimum before applying for a mortgage will increase the likelihood of receiving a much lower interest rate. A higher credit score demonstrates a credit history of timely payments and the ability to successfully pay off debts, which are key factors in mortgage approvals.

Homeowner’s Insurance Approval And Premium Rates

An insurance broker running a credit check might seem a little out of the ordinary, but in actuality when is comes to home insurance, companies frequently run credit checks on prospective clients. When an insurance company inquires about your credit history, all they receive is your credit score and nothing more.

The nitty-gritty details of your credit history remain private. So, why are insurance companies running credit checks in the first place? Credit scores are an integral part of the scoring system they use to determine premium rates for each client.

Though your credit score might seem irrelevant in determining how likely you are to file an insurance claim, the industry argues that there is a documented connection between those who are more likely to file insurance claims and the lowly state of their credit scores. This trend has led insurance providers to offer higher insurance premiums to those with lower credit scores.

In some cases companies may refuse to insure a client based on a poor credit rating. Credit scores have a profound influence over financial transactions. You ability to make a large purchase like a new home can be severely hindered by a poor credit score.

If you have a low credit score, consider taking some time to repair your credit history before applying for large loans. Correct any lingering errors on your credit report and get into the habit of making consistent, timely bill payments.

Addressing these issues could dramatically improve your credit score in a year’s time, putting you in a much better position to tackle home ownership.

23
May
By support
Around The Home

Did You Know? How Paint Color Choices Can Drastically Affect The ‘Mood’ Of Your Home

Did You Know? How Paint Color Choices Can Drastically Affect the 'Mood' of Your HomeWhether you’re sprucing up your house to sell or simply looking for a color to bring out the beauty of your home, it’s imperative that you do your homework.

Before you head off to your local DIY store with a paint sample in one hand and a wallet in the other, you need to ensure that you’re picking the colors that are right for your home and your personality.

It is true that you can never go wrong with a neutral, but you can also go so much more right with the correct color in the appropriate space, whether it’s a neutral or not.

Give The Buyers The Blues

Blue is a great calming color and has even been known to lower blood pressure. When a person walks into a blue room they feel tranquil and at peace.

Blue is also the color of trustworthiness and dependability, so if you are selling your home, or if you just want to make your guests feel welcome, put a blue paint color on the walls of your front hall or foyer.

Eat Your Heart Out Red

Red is a high-energy color and it has been proven to stimulate the appetite. This makes it a perfect color for a kitchen. An accent wall splashed with a deep, rich red can bring interest and vibrancy to an ordinary kitchen. Be sure not to overdo the red though; one wall or a back splash is enough to get the point across without becoming garish.

Approach Yellow With Caution

Yellow is one of the most difficult colors to pull off correctly in a home. The light plays tricks with it, and what you thought was a sunny yellow in the store might become a sallow jaundice on a cloudy day.

If you must paint with yellow keep it very pale and keep it in a less used room. It can be a soothing color but it’s best to leave it out of the main rooms.

Give Green A Go

Green is said to be the most restful color on the eyes. Certainly, when we think of green, we think of the outdoors. Experts say the color green taps into our need for balance and makes us feel safe and at home.

With all that going for it, the color green is an ideal choice for any room in your house; especially a master bedroom where the restfulness of the color invites you to climb into bed and have lovely dreams.

Visions Of Violet

Purple or violet is often a favorite color of children. As we grow older, we tend to forget about this under-used color. The truth is, however, it can be an absolutely stunning color in a family room or living room.

Although we associate purple with children, a deep royal purple can give your room a regal look, which is perfect if you have high or vaulted ceilings. If you want to give your home a feeling of luxury with a bit of decadence, then violet or purple is the color for you.

No matter what colors you choose in your home, if you’re looking to resell it’s a good idea to consult an expert to ensure that your colors are compatible with one another. There’s nothing worse than a house that has a chopped-up effect due to its rooms being painted a myriad of different colors.