Homeowners Insurance

depends on sq. footage of home and limits you want. recommended to get $1,000 deductible instead of $500. premium is based on dollar value covered which is usually the cost it would be to REPLACE the home, which should be less than what the FMV is.

however, mortgage company usually wants to see that the insurance company GUARANTEES 100% replacement cost and while insurance company will tell you its 100% covered, they can''t GUARANTEE it, so therefore mortgage co. will want to see that dollar value covered equals the mortgage amount.

ex. buy a $400,000 house, put down 20% and you have a $320,000 mortgage.

insurance co will tell you based on sq footage, details of home (fireplace, wood floors, etc), etc. that the dollar amount covered will be $180,000 - this is what they consider to be full replacement cost.

unless the ins co can say its GUARANTEED, the mtg co will want that $180K to be bumped up to $320K.

our home - about 1700 sq ft - at a $320,000 coverage, insurance is costing us $900.yr. we needed this amount to satisfy the mtg requirement. next year at renewal, we wil ask them to assess down and it should be at around $520, not including any rate hikes.

We''re paying $755 a year with State Farm.

ETA: That's with a $1,000 deductible. $500 deductible would have been $955.