Home Insurance Underwriting: Location, Location, Location!

By Author: Norris Rios
Total Articles: 572
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Whenever you work with a real estate agent to by a new home, townhouse or condo, there is one real estate truism that consistently bursts out their lips: Location, location, location! From the real estate agent's point of view, the location of your home is the most important aspect to consider when buying because everything else about your home can be changed. Floors, walls, ceiling, even landscaping of your new home can be altered beyond recognition, but the neighborhood, the view and the area your home or condo is in is something that cannot be edited, influenced or changed in any way.

When it comes to underwriting your home insurance policy, your underwriters also consider your location an extremely important consideration-but not for the same reason as your real estate agent. Your underwriter doesn't care about how your view, location or neighborhood influence your life-they care about the innate risks that these factors carry.

Certain locations could be high crime areas. While you might think that the location is bound for a renaissance and is a good investment, your home insurance underwriter is going to ...
... look at the practicality of living in a crime-filled area and is going to consider how this will affect your experience. Since it means that you are a higher risk for theft, they will likely add extra premium dollars to help hedge that risk.

If you live in a home with a wonderful view of the water it might make waking up every morning a glorious experience, but it also means that you could be more likely to suffer storm damage during a hurricane. The insurance underwriters don't care about your glorious morning routine, they care about the fact that you are delivering increased risk based on your home's location, and they are going to charge extra for that.

So remember, it is one thing to fall in love with the view, the neighborhood or the architecture of your home before you buy it, but it is a whole different story to think about how these considerations will affect your home insurance underwriting. Before buying a home, condo or townhouse, try to find a balance between a location that makes you happy and that makes your underwriters feel safe about issuing your policy. Then you'll end up with insurance that you can afford and a home that you love-and what could be better than that?