What Homeowners’ Insurance Discounts Are You Missing?

May 7, 2013

By: Deidre Woollard 

Homeowners insurance isn’t a topic that most people like to think about except as the funny/scary ‘Mayhem’ ads for Allstate. For first-time homebuyers the prospect of adding home insurance to the other long list of costs can seem daunting. Yet homeowners’ insurance isn’t just required for your mortgage, it’s an important part of a plan to keep you and your home safe.
Generally homeowners’ insurance covers damage from fire, most storms (some insurance does not include flood damage), theft, and more.  It can also protect you in case someone is injured in your home. It is a wise investment in your financial safety.
Luckily there are some ways you can improve your home that not only may boost resale value, but can also knock a little off your homeowners’ insurance rates. Trusted Choice conducted a national survey in 2011 and found that over 34% of respondents did not know about all the homeowners insurance discounts available to them. Below are a few key areas to focus on.

1) Home Security–Those who live in a gated community may be entitled to a discount. Gated communities tend to have lower rates of theft, vandalism, and other crimes. Having a security system in place can pare as much as 15 percent off your policy depending on the provider. Dead-bolt locks can also be a discount for some providers.

2) Fire Safety–The installation of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors isn’t just necessary protection for your family, it’s also something insurance underwriters smile upon. Also for fire protection, a sprinkler system, heat detectors, fire escapes and plenty of fire extinguishers are also important. And keep those flammable substances outside the home at a cool temperature to avoid overheating and fire risk.

3) Home Maintenance–You may be able to qualify for an age of wiring discount depending on how old your wiring is.  Is your roof resistant to hail? Roofing is graded as Class 1 through Class 4. Class 4 roofs are often eligible for discount.  New pipes can also qualify you for a discount. Do you have handrails installed alongside your staircases? If you have a pool is it surrounded with a fence at a gate? Safety measures also can count toward your policy. If your home was recently renovated or is newer that may entitle you to a discount. Older homes can be retrofitted with materials that make them more earthquake and weather resistant.

4) Policyholder Discounts–If you haven’t filed a home insurance claim in the last 10 years you may want to ask about a discount. Homeowners who haven’t made a claim can often get as much as a 20% reduction. If you are older and retired you may also be entitled to a discount. Bundling your home insurance with other policies can also yield a savings as can being a long-term policyholder.  Another money-saving factor you may consider is raising your deductible, which can lower your premium but make sure that in the event you need to use your insurance policy that your budget will accommodate a higher deductible.

In today’s competitive market, it’s important to shop around, because you may receive  disparate quotes on policies that offer essentially the same coverage. Check consumer guides, insurance agents, companies and online insurance quote services. This will give you an idea of price ranges and tell you which companies have the lowest prices.
Courtney Ronan contributed to this story.

Create A Backyard Water Garden This Weekend 

By: Scott Garner

 

 

 

An outdoor water garden provides focus, beauty, and value to your home’s backyard. And while it may seem like an expensive project, it doesn’t have to be a wallet-busting proposition. You can easily create your own backyard oasis for less than $500. It won’t take long, either: by following our DIY guide, you can create a beautiful water garden over one weekend.
Tools and Materials:

• Small plastic pond or pond liner
• Shovel
• Large and small rocks
• Plants (both regular and aquatic)
• Submersible water pump
• Hose for the water pump

1) Determine Placement of the Water Garden
Ideally, the water garden’s location should be a flat, level surface somewhere near an outside power outlet. Depending on your location you choose, you may want to install a dedicated outlet for your water garden’s pump so there are no extension cords running across the surface of the ground.

2) Dig the Hole for the Water Garden
If you are using a pre-molded plastic pond, dig out the shape and depth of the pond so it can be dropped in. If you are using a pond liner, then you can make the hole as deep and wide as you like as long as the liner fits inside and overlaps the edges of the hole by a foot or two. If you are using a liner and you want a cascading effect, dig the hole so it has two layers, or depths.

3) Position the Rocks
Use the largest rocks to frame the edges of the water garden (the larger rocks will also help hold the pond liner in place if you used liner). Fill in the gaps using the smaller rocks and pebbles. If you dug a two layer hold for your liner, place large rocks along the top shelf and the bottom to hold the shape of the pond.

4) Insert the Pump and Run the Hose
Set the pump in the deepest part of the pond and run the water hose to where you want the waterfall to originate. Secure the pump in place by placing stones around it.
You can have the water stream directly out of the concealed hose and over the rocks at the highest point on the pond or you can build a unique design using terracotta pots or other items which the hose can be connected to.
Tuck the hose along the inside edge of the pond and use lightweight stones to hold it in place. Don’t use heavy stones or they may crimp the hose and stop the flow of water.

5) Fill the Pond with Water
Fill up the pond with water and plug the pump in. Once water starts flowing out of the hose, top off the pond with water.

6)  Plant the Flowers
The whole point to a water garden is to have it look like a garden, so plant your flowers, shrubs and other prized plants in strategic places around the pond. Keep in mind that they will grow, so don’t bunch too many plants in one location.

7) Insert the Aquatic Plants
Aquatic plants are plants that will grow inside your water garden and therefore, they do not need to be planted. Just place them in your pond in the place they look the best and that’s it.

Dave Donovan contributed to this post.

9 Tornado Preparation Tips for Home Owners

• Published: September 24, 2012

It’s prime tornado season. Are you ready?

    
 While tornadoes can occur in the United States during any month, weather conditions produce a peak season that runs through October. In areas of the country subject to the harshest storms, winds can far exceed those of even the strongest hurricanes, averaging between 110-205 mph.

Try these nine tips from the Hanover Insurance group to get ready:

1) Make an evacuation and communication plan so that when a tornado watch is issued, you’re ready. In many cases, you’ll have only minutes to get to a storm shelter, the basement, or to an inner windowless room or interior hall.

2) Create an emergency preparedness kit that has what you need to live in your home for awhile, even if it’s wrecked or if you’re without electricity and water. The kit should contain a week’s worth of non-perishable food, bottled water, paper plates and cups, eating utensils, medicines, first aid handbook and bandages, blanket, a radio, batteries, flashlight, soap and toiletries, bleach for disinfecting, and spare clothing. Store the kit in the basement or other safe area.

3) Have debris removal tools on hand. There may be a significant amount of debris following a tornado that will have to be moved just to exit your structure. Some of this will be splintered wood and glass. With this in mind, store helpful items — including heavy soled shoes, gloves, eye protection, and a small shovel to safely move debris. This should be kept in the same area as your survival kit.

4) Create a home inventory. Tornadoes can destroy your home and its contents. A proper home inventory helps you document and value your possessions. Photograph or shoot video of your entire home or business, including the contents of each room, and store these with a written inventory and serial numbers in a fireproof safe or safe deposit box. Automate the process using a free online inventory tool available at www.hanover.com.

5) Make sure you’re not over- or underinsured. It is always a good idea to review your home owners policy with your independent insurance agent, ensuring you have enough coverage for your contents and the physical structure as well. Also ask about other coverage that may be of value to you in the event of a tornado loss, such as reimbursement for temporary living expenses.

6) Create and share contact info. All family members should have the personal and business contact information (phone/email) for quick communications. Also ensure you have your agent and insurer’s claims office numbers stored in your mobile phone. After a storm, cell service may be more accessible than local land lines. Have important numbers on hand to help expedite your recovery after the storm.

7) Wait for official notice before returning home. If there is an evacuation after a storm, wait for official notice that it is safe to return to your home. When returning to your home, be cautious when entering a damaged structure. Stay away from damaged or weakened walls.

8) Take photographs and/or video documenting claim damage. Should your home or business be damaged in a tornado, take pictures of the entire scene and document all damage — provided it is safe. Try not to remove items until an insurance adjuster has had an opportunity to visit the property and assess the damage, but do what you need to do to protect your home from further damage, like putting a tarp over holes in your roof.

9) Keep an accurate record of any temporary repairs or expenses. If you do need to make temporary repairs to help preserve the remains of your home or personal property, keep all records to ensure that they may be considered in your claim.
Source: Hanover Insurance Group, Inc.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/news/tornadoes-severe-storms/9-tornado-preparation-tips-home-owners/#ixzz2SjZjzkLf

6 Quick And Cheap Ways To Give Your Home A Spring Makeover

Apr 26, 2013

By: Scott Garner 

Spring is here, and just as every year you swap your heavy, dull winter clothes for freer, lighter attire when the days begin to warm and lengthen, you want to do the same for your house. Best of all, optimizing your house for spring doesn’t have to take a lot of money or time. You can do it all over the weekend, and a few inexpensive touches are all you need to purchase. Here are six quick and easy ways you can give your home a spring makeover without breaking the bank:

1) Laced with sheer beauty
Take down your heavy winter curtains and replace them with sheer curtains, valances and or panels that are embellished with Swiss polka dots, swirling ivy vines, bumblebees or stripes. These simple window treatments can slip onto your existing rods, or, for a real change, try a wrought iron rod with fanciful finials. The white, cream or ivory tones of the sheers will give a real lightening and brightening effect to a room once encumbered with the wintry warmth of heavier fabrics.

2) Add nature’s (Lemon) zestUse all-natural ingredients to infuse your home with a fresh, organic feeling. Fruits, bright green artichokes, forced branches, and pebbles and stones are standard fare for any room where you want a touch of spring. Take two glass vases and fill with small, shiny river stones for a textured decorative treat. Or fill one with fresh, bright yellow lemons from your local grocer; pile up shiny green limes in the other. Use this fresh, natural decoration on your luncheon table, flanking your mantel or on a low, oversized coffee table and surround them with clean white candles.

3) The impact of hardware
Want to make a remarkably quick but effective upgrade? You’ll be amazed at how simply changing the knobs and drawer pulls on your kitchen or bath cabinets will make an instant, eye-popping difference. Do you have traditional cherry cabinetry? Unscrew the brass hardware and replace it with something in trendy brushed aluminum—perhaps old-fashioned “bread drawer” style pulls, or knobs shaped like beehives or twigs, or whimsical knives-and-spoons. For a light, fresh look, choose clear or lightly tinted, multi-faceted glass knobs shaped like flowers or sleek squares.

4) Wash your windows
Washing your windows inside and out can give you one of spring’s greatest gifts: the ability to look out and clearly see nature in all its glory. And it will allow bright, clean sunshine inside, giving your home added glow and enhancing the colors of walls, carpets and artwork inside. When you wipe down your windows, use old newspaper – yes, old newspaper – or even better, newspaper that isn’t yet printed, which you can find at packing stores. The texture and inherent qualities in the newsprint make for a streak-free finish. You’ll be amazed at the difference this simple cleanup will make in your home.

5) Flower power
It simply wouldn’t be spring without oodles of pots filled with blooming classics like gloxynia, hydrangeas, tulips and paperwhites. But instead of using a regular old terra cotta pot, use unusual containers for real drama. Line your kitchen windowsill with bright daffodils set in old, round yellow country bowls. For an elegant, traditional touch, set ivy topiaries in tall, painted tole urns.

6) Scissors, paper and glue
Bring new pattern and color into your room schemes by upgrading an old open-faced hutch or freestanding shelf with wallpaper or fabric applied to the visible shelf back. Select a lively stripe, busy floral, or old-world toile wallpaper and line the shelf backs with cut-to-size pieces. Or try your favorite fabric cut with pinking shears and applied with tacky spray glue. This simple project can add immense charm to an old piece of furniture and change its look completely, and it’s more economical than papering an entire room.
Jill Davis contributed to this story.

Read more at Realtor.com

Look at Your Home Through “Green” Eyes

Real Estate News

Apr 28, 2011

   

More and more people today want to live in a house that is cost efficient, environmentally sustainable and responsible and healthy for all of its occupants.
Portland, Oregon Realtor® Joe Menashe notes that with each passing day our world gets greener and greener so your home had better be eco-friendly to make it meet the new ”green” standards.



“New technologies and heightened intolerances about how building materials affect our health are becoming an important focus for home buyers. And if these issues are important for buyers then they are important for sellers.
After buying your new home, the natural thing to do is to make it your own. This is accomplished through taking care of the previous owner’s deferred maintenance and most likely improving weatherization issues including the heating and cooling systems, painting, flooring, lighting, etc. It is important that as you address the personalization of your new home, that you look at your home through green eyes. The future buyer of your home, expecially in the next five to ten years, will focus on how green your home lives and how healthily they can live in your home.
They will most likely want to know the EPS (energy performance score) of your home. I will explain this issue in more depth in a future blog. So as you approach the extensive ‘to do’ list, you will need to enhance your’ green living’ education and approach each project as if you will be marketing all of these improvements to the homebuyer of the future.
Even though your home was built to code, the code standards are changing rapidly. These changes are being driven primarily by the Green Movement.  Keep a house record of all that you do to improve your home. Any green retrofits will be appreciated by the next owner. But more importantly the retrofits needed to make your home a healthy one should be completed as soon as possible so that you can enjoy the benefits while you are living in your home.
Sure, your home can become outdated cosmetically, but a healthy environment, along with a home that is affordable to operate year after year, is something that never goes out of style. A green certified real estate agent is a professional Realtor who can help you become educated about greening your home and guide you through the issues that will help you accomplish your goals. In many instances they will help you find rebates and tax incentives for your projects. It will not be far down the road that homebuyers will be asking, “how healthy is this home for me and my family and the environment?”

Learn more at Realtor.com

How To Use Your Tax Refund To Increase Your Home’s Value

Apr 9, 2013

By: Deidre Woollard 

 

Most people dread the thought of gathering their tax information but for homeowners there can often be some good news.  Your home isn’t just a place where you hang your hat and create your memories; it’s often a nifty tax savings that can net you a nice refund. The average tax refund last year was just under $3,000. If you are expecting a refund check you may want to take some of that money and put it toward home improvements that can really pay off.

Under $500
If you have just a few hundred dollars to spend think basic maintenance. If you are planning to sell soon and want to make sure things are sparkling clean you can rent a pressure washer to clean the house, walkways and patios. Or you could put the money toward paint and freshen up your home’s interior or exterior. Landscaping is another way to add to curb appeal without spending a lot. If there has been a task you’ve been dreading such as cleaning out your gutters or trimming trees you can hire someone to take that task off your hands.
Another way to use your money to save money in the future is to consider energy saving improvements such as adding weatherstripping, installing insulation, or putting in a smart thermostat such as Nest.
You can do a lot with a little. Even $100 can be enough to give your bathroom a whole new look.

$500-$1000
With a larger refund you can either do a lot of little projects or consider one major purchase. In addition to painting and sprucing up you could also make some cosmetic fixes. Think lighting–add dimmer switches, install new lighting fixtures or replace existing overhead lighting with fans that also have lighting included.
If you are looking for a single purchase consider a new Energy Star appliance. Not only will you get a new appliance you could also get credit toward next year’s tax bill. While most home improvements are not tax deductible there are federal tax credits for purchasing green improvements. MSN Money reports that this is generally 10% of cost up to a total of $500. This can include water heaters, furnaces, heat pumps, insulation and more.  Check out the Energy Star tax credit page for specific details.

$1000-$3000
If you have a larger refund you may want to consider a larger project such as replacing some of your doors and windows.  The National Association of Realtors and Remodeling magazine found that installing a steel entry door has a cost of $1,137  with a resale value of $974.
Another investment that can pay off well when it comes time to resell your home is to consider updating your flooring. Depending on your part of the country, adding hardwood floors or refinishing existing ones can contribute to your home’s resale value.

Over $3000
If you have are among the lucky recipients of a larger refund it might be worth it to concentrate on a single room. Depending on how large your refund is and how much more money you are interested in adding in on the project, this might be the time to either repurpose existing space, add on, or remodel. Kitchens and bathrooms are always favorite rooms for updates, and for good reason.  The 2011-2012 Cost vs. Value survey from Remodeling Magazine showed that a minor kitchen remodel of just under $20,000 had a cost recoup rate of over 72%.
No matter how you choose to spend your money make sure to keep good records and hold onto your receipts. Having a designated folder, either online or offline that catalogs all your repairs and improvements can come in handy both at tax time next year or when you do decide to sell and want to tally up all the work you have done on the home.

How to Unclog a Gutter

• Published: January 23, 2013
• By: Douglas Trattner

Unclog a blocked rain gutter as quickly as possible to prevent damage to your landscaping, home exterior, gutters, and foundation.

 

Leaves and twigs get lodged in gutters, causing damage to the gutters and the house itself. Image: Lauren Finkel Photography

Clean your rain gutters at least twice a year. Otherwise, debris like leaves and twigs can clog up your gutter system, causing potential harm to your house and landscaping — not to mention the gutters themselves. Here’s how to identify and fix a clogged gutter.

Is My Gutter Clogged?

When it rains, here are the telltale signs of a clogged gutter:

• Water spills over the edges of a gutter.

• Water sprays like a fountain from gutter seams and elbow joints.

• Water doesn’t flow out the bottom of downspout extensions.

If it’s not raining, look for these telltale signs:

• Eroded earth directly below a gutter.

• Peeling paint on siding and fascia.

• Wet, moist, or dirty siding beneath the gutter.

• Gutters pulling away from the fascia (likely caused by excessive weight).

Where’s the Gutter Clogged?

The downspout cage, a wire strainer designed to trap debris while allowing water to flow through, is located where the downspout intersects the gutter. Often, this item is bent or out of place.

Gutter hangers and spikes often slip free from the fascia, landing in the gutter. These obstructions catch leaves and twigs, causing clogs.

Downspout elbows and seams are likely spots for clogs, too. Working your way down from the gutter, tap the outside of the downspout with a screwdriver and listen for a dull thud (as opposed to hollow ring). This will indicate the location of the clog.

If you still haven’t identified the location of the clog — and you have downspouts that descend below ground level — then the clog likely is in an underground pipe.

How to Unclog a Gutter

If the clog occurs at the downspout cage:
1. Remove and clean it.
2. Remove all the accumulated debris in the gutter.
3. If the cage is in good shape, firmly re-seat it into the downspout hole.
4. If the cage is damaged or missing, replacement screens cost just a few bucks.

If the clog is caused by loose hangers or spikes:
1. Clean debris from clogs.
2. Reposition or repair the gutter supports.

If the clog occurs at an elbow or seam — and you can reach it from above:

1. Try to free the obstruction with a stick, plumbing snake, or pressure washer outfitted with a telescoping wand.
2. If you can’t reach it, simply disassemble the downspout and remove the clog.

If the clog is below-grade, it’s the most difficult to clear, and may require excavation. But before that:

1. Remove the downspout where it enters the ground and try to clear the clog using a plumbing snake.
2. Turn on a garden hose and force it into the underground portion of the line; the water pressure may dislodge the clog.
 

Douglas Trattner has covered home improvement for HGTV.com, DIYNetworks, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He lives in a 1925 Colonial.

 

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/roofing-gutters-siding/how-to-unclog-gutter/#ixzz2PKtGIovq