Dwelling coverage in homeowner's insurance

[mms2020]

I have been shopping around for home owner's insurance and gotten a few quotes.  Dwelling coverage on those quotes varies from $140 - $200 per square foot.  Obviously cost is lower for lower dwelling coverage.  What would be a reasonable dwelling coverage for an Irvine home?
Thanks for your responses

 

[SubSolar]

Just switched my house to Geico after getting several quotes. Dwelling coverage is $329,000 for a 1974 square foot house. Geico was the best price by far, $300 a year. Previously I had used Wells Fargo/QBE since that was the who did the loan on the new house and it was double that. Have since switched everything to Geico including auto and umbrella.

 

[Perspective]

This is a complicated question. You have to compare apples-to-apples. So the coverages and deductibles for each policy must be the same. Then there are discounts for multiple policies at larger insurers.

e.g. A premium to replace a $500K structure could be $1,500, but after discounts could be $500.

 

[Irvine Dream]

Just switched my house to Geico after getting several quotes. Dwelling coverage is $329,000 for a 1974 square foot house. Geico was the best price by far, $300 a year.

That is insanely low price.  I thought Geico doesn't even have in-house insurance for Home and uses vendors with whom they have a marketing relationship.  How were they able to offer such a low price?  Is this because it is a new house?  Are they giving that much discount for new construction?

 

[mms2020]

My question was more about the dwelling coverage (replacements cost if I understand correctly). Hence what should the replacement cost for a 2900 square for home in Irvine?
With my quotes, GEICO was the cheapest ($775 with 2500 deductible) but then their dwelling coverage was also lowest ($412,000). AAA on the other hand was the most expensive ($1147 with $2000 deductible) and had a dwelling coverage of $600,000.

I don't want to spend too much money but do want want to have decent coverage in case of catastrophic events.

Thanks for your responses.

 

[SubSolar]

Just switched my house to Geico after getting several quotes. Dwelling coverage is $329,000 for a 1974 square foot house. Geico was the best price by far, $300 a year.

That is insanely low price.  I thought Geico doesn't even have in-house insurance for Home and uses vendors with whom they have a marketing relationship.  How were they able to offer such a low price?  Is this because it is a new house?  Are they giving that much discount for new construction?

Correct, they use vendors. Actual insurance is through Stillwater. Not sure why it's so cheap but QBE, Farmer's and others were much higher. The umbrella insurance also lowered the car insurance around 10% I believe so it ended up being almost free.

I'm a big fan now:

 

[paperboyNC]

Geico quoted me $822 for an annual homeowner's policy for around $400-500k earlier this year so I stuck with Liberty Mutual for under $600.

 

[SubSolar]

Yeah varies from house to house. I tried to see if Geico was cheaper for my parents' houses but they weren't because my parents have had their policies for decades and I guess they don't raise the policies if you stay with the same company.

 

[freedomcm]

I have been shopping around for home owner's insurance and gotten a few quotes.  Dwelling coverage on those quotes varies from $140 - $200 per square foot.  Obviously cost is lower for lower dwelling coverage.  What would be a reasonable dwelling coverage for an Irvine home?
Thanks for your responses

If thinking about a catastrophic fire, for example, you would need an architect and then builder for a one-off project.  I would guesstimate closer to $400/sf, maybe more.