[quote author="jvna"]I guess I was just wondering what people estimate for home owner's insurance. I know that some condo HOA fee cover the house itself so owners just pay to cover what's inside the condo and liability. The SFRs have to get coverage to rebuild the house and was wondering if Irvinites pay for more coverage vs someone in surrounding areas such as VOC.[/quote]
I moved from Irvine to LN and my insurance costs were only a little more (for a much bigger house). I believe they are quoting me a rebuild cost of $180 sq. ft. with a 50% overage allowance.
When I was looking for a new house and had quotes on several homes in different areas, it seemed as if the premium was affected the most by two things:
1) The company you were getting the quote from
2) If you were in a high probability flood/fire zone.
I found out that AAA does not insure homes within XX ft. of open areas or hillsides. There were homes 3-4 blocks from a hillside and they said it is uninsurable per their fire danger policies.
When I recieved a quote from AAA for a home that was bordering their exclusion zone (but not in) due to a hillside, the quote was over $3K a year. I then recieved a quote from 21st Century for the same house and it was well under $1K.
Just shop around and have the typical answers ready for them:
1) Sq. Ft. of home.
2) Attached garage? How many?
3) Living space above garage?
4) What is flooring material?
5) Distance to nearest fire hydrant?
6) Gated Community?
7) Monitored burgalar/Fire system?
8) Any home insurance claims in past three years?
9) Number of bedrooms? Bathrooms?
10) Number of floors?
11) What is the exterior walls made of (stucco, paneling, etc.)
12) What is the roof material (shake, tile, composite)
13) Any Dogs? What kind? Any bite history?
14) What upgrades were done to home?
15) Foundation type?
16) Number of fireplaces, Gas or wood?
On and on and on....