Can I Get a Home Insurance Quote Before Buying A House?

When you buy a house, you must insure the property. Homeowners insurance is a benefit to owners of properties both large and small, high-value and low-value, and it’s an instrumental piece of security in the face of numerous property damage risks and other liabilities. 

Your homeowners insurance will be there to help you if you ever need cost assistance following property damage, loss of possessions, lawsuits lodged against you or other unexpected challenges arising on your property. However, you have an interest to make sure you get the policy that is best for you, and this will mean doing your research. Your home insurance agent will be there to help you when comparing different policy options for this purpose. 

Still, if you haven’t yet finalized your home purchase, you might feel that you don’t need to start the process of getting your home insurance. This is not true. You actually have an interest to start looking for coverage as soon as you start the process of actually buying the home. You’ll want to have coverage in place from the moment you close the deal and take possession of the home. 

Why You Can Get Quotes Before You Buy  
It’s a complicated process to buy or build a home. You will face a variety of legal and financial hurdles before you come to the closing process, which is the time when you finalize the purchase in conjunction with your mortgage lender and your realtor. Usually, this takes several weeks of negotiation, application and approval among the different parties. 

At this time, you should start your search for homeowners insurance. Generally, this is a mandatory process for all home buyers, particularly those who finance their homes. Because there are many homeowners insurance providers and policy options on the market, you will need time to review your coverage options, determine your coverage needs and make the decision on which plan to buy. 

Insurance Requirements for Home Buyers with Loans  
The vast majority of home buyers take out mortgages or other financing to buy their homes. Under these loans, the bank provides the funds to pay the seller at the time of the transfer of ownership. However, the owner is obligated to repay the value of the loan to the bank in regular installments. 

For as long as you have a mortgage, your bank has a financial interest in your home. Therefore, homeowners insurance is not only a benefit to you, but also to your lender. The lender, as a result, has the right to demand that you insure your property for the duration of the financing. 

A home insurance policy can ensure that the homeowner is able to financially protect their property regardless of whether it sustains damage. Therefore, if they do face significant recovery charges following a hazardous event, they will not run the risk of choosing between repairing the home and paying the mortgage. Insurance benefits will also ensure that the property owner doesn’t have to be stuck with a mortgage on a home that doesn’t exist anymore because they cannot afford to rebuild. 

Things to Remember When Getting a Quote  
It is your absolute right as an insurance customer to compare benefits and prices between individual policies and among multiple carriers. Getting the right policy will mean paying attention to some very specific demographic information related to your property and personal insurance needs. 

Keep these tips in mind when working through the process of getting the right policy: 

• Some lenders will require you to get certain policy limits. Therefore, your coverage must meet these stipulations, so ask your insurer about them as you work on the quote.
• To repair or rebuild your home, you will need dwelling insurance. More importantly, you will need to get enough of this coverage for the home’s replacement cost value. The replacement cost is the total amount of money you will need to rebuild a destroyed home. This is not the same value as the price you paid for your home.
• Keep in mind, construction costs change as the economy changes. Therefore, the initial replacement cost value of the home might change, and it could exceed your original policy limits. Your coverage therefore might need to contain a more specific policy limit like guaranteed replacement cost or extended replacement cost insurance. 
• To determine the appropriate replacement value of your home, you will need to have a home appraisal. Some realtors provide this service, but professional appraisers usually have the best insight into the home’s full value.