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Insurance.Insurance is necessary if you want to protect your valuable assets. It is essential because with so much money invested in your assets, particularly a home it would be very poor planning to not protect them. Life doesn't always go the way we plan it so it makes sense to have adequate protection. Look at as a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of potential financial loss. |
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In relation to real estate you want to make sure you are protected with both buildings/structures are adequately insured, as well as the contents.
Building insurance.Discounts are available for things like. 1. By placing your buildings and contents insurance with the same insurer you can receive a discount on your premium. 2. No claims discount - Just like a motor policy you can receive a discount for a claim free record. 3. Security - If you have a house alarm you may be entitled to a discount. 4. Neighbourhood Watch - Being part of an official Neighbourhood Watch scheme can entitle you to a further discount. Insurance, points to consider.Wide range of cover, you can choose from a range of policies that cover a variety of homes from one bedroom houses to large country mansions. or select your own level of cover. |
Your lending institution may require you to have your home building insurance in place in order for you to settle on your home loan.
So you should organize your building insurance as part of your preparation for settlement.
If you are working out the value to insure your building it would be wise to add 20 per cent to cover temporary accommodation, removal of debris, and loss of rental income for an investment property.
Contents insurance.Many people choose to combine their home and contents insurance as this is often less expensive than having two separate policies. There are many types of house insurance policies that you can choose from and only you can say which policy is going to suit you best. It is probably wise to have the most coverage that you can comfortably afford. That way in the event that something happens to your home and property you won't be left financially wiped out. |
Insurance, read the fine print.
Take the time to read the fine print as there can be exclusions on some policies, and you don't want to discover that there were details about your insurance policy that were unclear when you are making a claim.
For example on contents insurance policies you may be offered 2 choices of insurance Indemnity or replacement/reinstatement insurance.
Indemnity is where you are paid the depreciated value of your home and contents based on the age and condition of the items.
Replacement/reinstatement pays out the full cost of rebuilding or replacing the items to an equivalent standard.
Insurance, shop around online.The great thing about finding insurance online is that you can easily find the best deals right from your computer. You can fill out a few different applications online and see which one has the best offer for you. When you think you have found the best offer you can then still phone the other insurance companies and ask them if they can give you a better rate. This demonstration should show you the power of shopping around which is so much easier thanks to the internet; the plan is that your insurance premiums will be a lot less each year, because you shopped around to start with. |
As stated at the beginning, insurance is just another one of the expenses you will have as part of being a real estate owner, but as you have worked so hard to obtain your assets, it is worth while to protect them.
Buying real estate, what are some of the benefits of buying property, read more...
Real estate refinancing.
Today’s competitive home lending market
makes refinancing much easier than in the past. There are many reasons
to consider refinancing. Perhaps your financial circumstances have changed,
you have started a new job or are
dissatisfied with your existing lender. Maybe your current mortgage no
longer suits your needs.
For example,
if you took out a mortgage on a new home when interest rates were high,
it would be to your
advantage to look into refinancing when interest rates fall - not only
will you save money over the life of the
mortgage, but you can reduce the length of the term as well as your monthly
repayments.
You can also refinance a loan to have more
available cash. This is a situation where you refinance the loan for a
higher amount of money - this means that you will owe more money than
you originally borrowed and that you may lose
the low interest rate you had.
Refinancing can also be used to consolidate other debts which may have higher interest rates such as credit cards debts or car loans.
Refinancing takes time and costs money. Be clear about why you want to refinance. Decide the type of loan you want, list the required features and do your sums to make sure you won’t be worse off in the long-term.
If you are considering refinancing approach it in a similar light to applying for a whole new home loan.
If you would like some free advice on applying for a home loan, read more here...
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