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Showing posts from 2013

Do You Have A Trouble-Free Home?

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I was thinking about how many of the seemingly peripheral parts of the home buying and selling process people tend to short change.  Is it to save a buck when so many of them (bucks) seem like they are going away, or are they just lost in the shuffle when there are so many things to do to get the transaction closed?    In my last blog I mentioned flood insurance, and how big a gamble it can be to “save” a few hundred dollars by skipping that.  What got me wondering again was reading about Home Warranties (aka Residential Service Contracts) , and how valuable they can be, but how they might be under-utilized, again, maybe to save a buck?  Well, I can tell you from experience that they are worth the cost whether the buyer or seller is footing the bill:  As our southeast Texas spring heated up a few weeks ago and the temperatures started rising, we switched to A/C, only to find that it was not getting cooler in the house. THEN I realized that the old condenser unit outside

Are You A Gambler?

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Are You A Gambler? I recently renewed all of my home insurance policies, the regular Homeowners policy, plus Windstorm and Flood Insurance.  Here in the Houston area, hurricane country, home insurance is always a hot topic, and a major pain in the wallet!  Where I sit, halfway between downtown Houston and the Gulf of Mexico, pretty much everyone understands that the wind can come calling and lenders generally require basic property hazard policies, but Flood Insurance is optional.  That seems odd to me actually, since I would expect the lender to demand as much protection as they can, and of course, they ARE in a position to insist.  Even more surprising, my insurance agent told me there are a LOT of people who don’t think they need flood insurance!  I find it hard to believe there are that many gamblers out there!   I just thought I’d share a few thoughts... and no, I’m not selling insurance, and I am not getting any kickbacks from the insurance folks! Part