If you want to insure for what is known as “replacement coverage,” you need to keep in mind several different things. The biggest thing is: “how much is it going to cost me to rebuild this home or this building if there’s a total loss?” Your insurance agent can help you determine that: what’s known as cost estimates for construction. What we take into account is square footage, features of the home, site locations, and there’s a couple other items that we take into account, but those are the largest ones. What you want to do is you want to work with your agent, give them as much information about the home as possible so they can come up with an idea of what it cost to rebuild this home if there’s a total loss, fire, tornado, whatever.

How do I get homeowners insurance? How do I go about doing that? What do I need to provide to the agent and how do they get a quote and set up coverage for me?

Call an agent. We don’t recommend trying to get insurance online or through an 800 number. With homeowner’s insurance that system has not been perfected yet. Using an agent who is going to act in your best interest is going to be your best bet.

One of the calls we get frequently is, “I’m buying a new house or a condominium and my mortgage guy said I have to have homeowner’s insurance or hazard insurance. Can you help me with that?” Well let me explain what homeowner’s insurance does. When you purchase a new home or a condominium or an existing home, you want to make sure you have homeowner’s insurance. This is going to protect you in case the home is damaged due to an instance, say, of wind damage, tornado, or fire, or something along those lines. So we want to protect the structure itself.