Real estate General topic

[JJT]

Your mileage may vary, but many years ago I upped my homeowner's deductible to $10K, saving $800 in year 1. Well worth it to me. Increasing my auto deductible had little impact on my rate.

 

[ning]

I've always carried $1k deductible on policies. Like someone else wrote I found very little savings going above $1k.

Had a tree go through the roof of our ski cabin this past winter. Contemplated whether to fix it myself, out-of-pocket, or turn it into insurance. Insurance is so difficult to get in CA that I really didn't want to rock the boat by making a claim.

I did choose to turn it into insurance. Partly because construction materials are so expensive and in a rural location even more so. Good thing I did. The contractor quote to repair, and the claim, is nearly $60k now. Part of the roof must be removed and a crane will be needed to set new support beams that were knocked askew. Both the contractor and insurance adjuster have said it will not be unusual for more work to be discovered once they open up the walls.

tbh I'm astounded by the notion of a $1k home insurance deductible.... though that's probably a California / high property prices viewpoint.
Going from 1% to 2% was a huge - thousands of dollars - savings.

Perhaps the price curve is such that much less than 1% is (IMO) "very expensive" with not a lot of change until you get near 1%, then there's a significant drop?

That's my guess, because they know that even if you've got a low deductible you really can't afford to make a lot of claims, so they're not actually going to have to pay out that much different.

 

[paulsharvey]

My current policy is $5k+5k; $5k deductible for day to day, but there is an additional $5k deductible (total of $10) once a tropical storm or hurricane is involved.

I've never made a claim, although I've had a 2 sheds destroyed by straightline spring storm winds, and a tree go through a metal chicken coop. Mom had a lightning damage claim, when their well casing got hit; I know it was whole pump, casing and down pipe, but I think they where able to reline the existing casing? Still was like $10k in damage.

 

[WinterDeere]

I think our deductible is 2%.
When you think of a catastrophic loss, 2% isn't a lot, but it does mean that if a tree lands on your roof, you're not calling insurance about it.

Our deductible is more like 0.07% of home value. As noted previously, raising it very substantially made almost no difference in yearly premium.

 

[WinterDeere]

Going from 1% to 2% was a huge - thousands of dollars - savings.

Thousands of dollars savings? As in plural... thousands?

How much are you paying for homeowners insurance?!?

 

[ning]

Thousands of dollars savings? As in plural... thousands?

How much are you paying for homeowners insurance?!?

$8k/year
High-risk fire area.

 

[WinterDeere]

$8k/year
High-risk fire area.

Wow. That's like 5x what I'm paying on a $1M house with $5M umbrella policy.

 

[paulsharvey]

Thousands of dollars savings? As in plural... thousands?

How much are you paying for homeowners insurance?!?

First quote was $3,900 on new home, got it done to like $2700/year. Current place, we are paying $1900/year. None of these include flood or anything. Our old Citizens policy was less, like $900/year, until we got dropped; but that only covered just deprecated value of the home; no contents or anything like that, no injury, ect;

 

[WinterDeere]

First quote was $3,900 on new home, got it done to like $2700/year. Current place, we are paying $1900/year. None of these include flood or anything. Our old Citizens policy was less, like $900/year, until we got dropped; but that only covered just deprecated value of the home; no contents or anything like that, no injury, ect;

You also live in hurricane alley!

Severe weather here is so rare, and I think that gives us rates that are only a fraction of what you guys seem to be paying. I remember paying $650/year on my prior house, and I think we're around $1600 year on this one.

I think the only legit hurricane to hit us in 50 years was Sandy. Many others have hit, but always degraded to "Tropical Storm" before passing over us. We've had precisely one earthquake anyone could even feel, and it was so mild that most people missed it. No wild fires, ever, and only two EF-1 tornados in my 50 years of residency. The area has a lot of localized flooding (creeks), but we are unaffected by that, being on high ground.

 

[paulsharvey]

What have yall done with your "boneyard" when moving; old, but not trash, scrap metal? I know I'm going to scrap a good bit of it; but some of the stuff; like a 6 ft section of RR track, and rebar, ect have a use when needed for a project, and I bet the moment i get rid of them, I'll want to use that RR track for a pasture drag or something. I hate to load it up, and take it to new place, but also hate to just scrap it for $3/100#. Also, stuff like partial rolls of wire.

I'm assuming most rural folks have a similar pile, that when they need a random steel rod, they dig through, or maybe that's just me.

At the price for mixed ferrous metal scrap; I would be just as well to dig a hole and bury it, then spend the fuel to take it in.