Moving can be an exciting, if slightly overwhelming, time. Especially when you’re moving from a rental property into your very own home, you have a lot of things to consider. While it may not be at the forefront of your mind, properly insuring both places (as needed) and making a seamless transition is an important part of the process. Since we offer both renters and homeowners insurance from a variety of carriers, we can walk you through everything. Starting with…
Getting quotes
Hopefully, if you’ve been renting for a while, you have a good policy in place. Even if you’ve moved a couple of times in recent years, as long as all of the places were in the same state, you should’ve been able to carry your same coverage.
Once you start the home-buying process, though, it’s time to look at insurance a little differently. Since you have more at stake as a homeowner, you need to have more comprehensive coverage. Thus, before you can even close, you’ll have to get quotes for the coverage you want. Not only does it ensure that you’ll be protected as soon as you take possession of the property, but also it allows this additional cost to be automatically built into your monthly payments. For some people, the cost difference between the two types of policies can be a budgeting shock, but many mortgage companies today roll it into your closing costs, escrow, and estimated payments. That way, there are no surprises.
Continuing or cancelling coverage
While you may be tempted to discontinue your renter’s policy once your offer is accepted—or at one of the other junctures on the road to home ownership—if you still have possessions at that property, it’s not recommended. After all, that’s why you got the coverage in the first place, just to protect your valuables at that location. Although you hope nothing crazy happens during the closing process, you never really know; thus, the benefit of insurance.
Additionally, you also don’t know exactly how long it’ll take for your new home to be officially yours. While a fast close can conclude in a matter of weeks, in a more complicated situation (like a short sale) it could take months! In which case, you don’t want to be uninsured for such a long duration.
There’s also the unfortunate reality that not every deal goes through to the settlement table. Many things can occur to prevent that from happening, at which point, you’ll have to start this process all over again by getting quotes for a new property. Therefore, it’s best not to cancel your current renters insurance until your actual move out day.
Ultimately, the most important element to make this entire endeavor go smoothly is to be in contact with your insurance broker. Not only can we advise on what type of coverage best suits your situation, but also we can be on hand to date the policies accordingly. We understand that things change and settlement dates move, so keep us in the loop! If we know what’s going on, we can help you prevent gaps in coverage—not mention take some of the stress out of moving. So, give Freedom Insurance a call!
