How To Value a Home For Proper Home Insurance

There are many ways to value a home. Let’s consider the different ways and how to obtain adequate home insurance coverage. If you prefer, you can simply call your agent at Compass Insurance, serving Centennial, CO and the surrounding area, and make them do all the work. They will review existing insurance that you have, if any, and give you a professional recommendation that you can rely upon as being in your own best interest. To be a better-informed consumer it is helpful to know how home valuations are calculated.

How does valuation work?

A home has five valuations, which are:

1. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)

2. The Purchase Price

3. The Resale Value

4. The Reconstruction Cost

5. The Replacement Cost (including the contents)

Over 60% of homes in America are either not insured or underinsured. That risk you want to avoid.

Private Mortgage Insurance Valuation

Private mortgage insurance (PMI) is sometimes required by a lender to close the loan. This adds a monthly premium included in the monthly mortgage payments. This insurance only covers the remaining balance on the loan for the home. 

PMI does nothing at all to protect a homeowner. It is often wrongly thought by the homeowner to be adequate insurance, which it is not. It does not cover any money paid for the down payment or the closing costs to buy the home. It does not cover any equity value that might increase over time.

Purchase Price Valuation

The purchase price is easy to calculate. You simply look up the total price paid including the down payment and the closing costs in the document to buy the home. Insuring a home for the purchase price is also underinsured for two reasons. Usually, the home goes up in value or it becomes more expensive to rebuild it if it is destroyed.

Resale Value

The resale value is what the home would sell for to another person. This is estimated by using three comparable homes that are listed for sale. They should be as close to the characteristics of your home as possible. Usually, this value is higher than what you paid for the home but not always. In depressed real estate markets, homes sell for a fraction of their purchase price. Those homeowners are "underwater” because the homeowners owe more for the home loan than what it is worth.

Reconstruction Cost

This value is the average price of construction of a new home of the same type in the same area. This is the gold standard for home insurance coverage. It needs to be regularly updated as construction costs increase or the home is improved.

Replacement Cost

This adds to the gold standard and may be set up to cover the cost to replace anything lost including the contents of the home, up to the policy limits.

Summary

Now, that you are well-informed, talk over your circumstances with your agent to make sure you have adequate coverage. Ask about flood insurance too, which is a separate coverage that everyone needs. To get an insurance review and a quote, contact your agent at Compass Insurance in Centennial, CO.

Is Auto Insurance Required in Colorado?

For a lot of people in the Centennial, CO area, owning a car is a necessity. When you have a car in this area, it will be a lot easier to get around the Denver metro area. If you are going to have a car, no matter how often you drive it, considering your insurance needs is important. There are several situations when auto insurance is required in Colorado. 

When Driving on Public Roads

One situation when having auto insurance is required is when you are going to be driving your car in public. Similar to other states, those in Colorado need to have liability auto insurance whenever they are going to use public roads. When you have this form of auto insurance, it is going to allow you to have coverage to pay restitution if you were to cause damage during an auto accident.

When Taking Out a Loan

The majority of people that purchase a vehicle today need to take out a loan to finance the purchase. As long as the loan is outstanding, you are going to need to have auto insurance. Auto loan providers will want you to have this coverage as it ensures their collateral is covered and protected. This way, if your car is stolen or damaged, you will at least have enough coverage to pay off the loan.

Having a car in the Centennial, CO area is very common. When you do get a car in this area, choosing the right auto insurance policy is a big decision. Due to the challenges that come with this decision, working with Compass Insurance is a good idea. The team at Compass Insurance can help you to find an auto insurance policy that works for you based on your needs.