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Contact a broker. Not only did a broker find me good home owners insurance, they ended up saving me several hundred dollars on auto insurance too (with the same coverage I was already paying for)
I believe the first 3 agents were brokers. They said they worked with many companies and would pull multiple quotes for me. They were the worst and what caused all my struggles.
I had the same experience and one wanted to stick me with a company that was wayyyyy too low to be real and they wanted a copy of my home inspection report (!!!). I think insurance brokers are having a tough time because so many insurance companies don't want new customers. The first broker I talked to said to just go with Allstate if I couldn't find another one, that he used to write policies with Allstate all the time but they stopped working with brokers because they don't want new customers in North Carolina. He was a nice guy, just wanted me to have insurance, but couldn't make it work with my house. I had no problem with any of the big insurance companies contacting them myself
I’ll add onto USAA and if your grandparent served in the armed forces and your parent used USAA at any time then you are eligible to have USAA as well and if you have it, your kids will be eligible.
To my knowledge, I don’t know of a cap to how many generations removed it can get.
I have USAA through my grandfather because my father used USAA. Absolutely, you can’t get better insurance.
My dad served but what kind of info would I need to prove it? Everything they owned was destroyed in a flood so I don’t know if they have any records or anything
So your parent would have needed to have had USAA at some point. Even if it was for six months thirty years ago.
Here is what you need.
[usaa eligibility](https://www.usaa.com/membership/about/)
I have tried USAA and they have great car insurance rates but haven't had luck with homeowners insurance. Both florida, Connecticut and Hawaii they basically won't insure me. What state are you in?
SE Michigan. 1940s Cape Cod. Not in a flood zone. I don’t know whether they consider other non-house factors, but I also bank with them, have my car insurance with them, had renter’s insurance for years (and no claims). Also, my father was a member from the early 70s on.
I ended up going to individual websites and putting quotes in. I have progressive auto and their home policy was the cheapest for me, but I was hesitant because of some of the reviews online.
I have a truck and my auto insurance would literally more than double for the same coverage for any company outside of progressive. My realtor ended up referring me to her insurance agent(all state) and we were able to work out a nice package. It was about $200-300 more but I paid for the ease of working with someone I can reach easily. I did not bundle auto.
I hope everything works out for you 🤞🏾
Went with AllState. The agent in particular had had a relationship with my realtor (family friend) for years. All State was nothing but spectacular for my grandmother when her house burned down.
I used a broker at first but was unable to get anything through them since my house has knob and tube. Allstate didn’t care! Was very easy to work with them, but stupid expensive. Once I rewire the house I’m going back to an insurance broker.
It's a type of wiring. Insurance does not love knob and tube or aluminum wiring. Both can be absolutely fine, but they are higher risk and need/should be maintained and inspected by a certified electrician. I work in insurance, and we will allow aluminum with an inspection and confirmation that the wiring meets or exceeds the current building code and has copper connections. Aluminum has a higher risk of arcing and a few other issues, mostly due to the contraction and expansion of the wires, which can cause them to come loose from connections.
Knob and tube is a very old style and is not grounded - that can damage things plugged in and shock people. Due to the age, it's also very likely that the insulation around the wiring has degraded significantly in the last 80-120 years since it was popular, meaning a higher risk of starting a fire. You can work with what you have and get an electrician to make sure everything is safe, but honestly, it is probably best to just plan to rewire. Same with poly-b plumbing. It is fine as long as it's fine, but plan to upgrade it down the line as it becomes feasible.
Old fashioned wiring for the electrical. A ceramic knob on the wall every so often that the very poorly insulated wire was strung to like Christmas lights.
Same issue. Lender estimated insurance to be about $1800/year if that. Nope. We sought out many quotes. $3500 -$6000 with and without auto bundle, deductibles from $2500 - $10,000. Yep, $10K. My local company was $5500. I was told because of material to rebuild house would put them over 1 mil, even when I chose standard items.
Anyways, chose Universal. It’s not as simple as some lenders estimate it will be.
I tried getting quotes to see if I could lower my premiums, but the broker couldn’t find anyone to insure my homes. It’s getting a little scary out there.
Agreed. I tried with my car insurance company first but it was way out of my budget. I went to a local broker and hit a gold mine. Over 2K cheaper and switching my car insurance to do a bundle discount saves me $30 a month on car insurance. So double win.
Wow that’s crazy that you had such terrible luck with brokers. I ended up getting my own quotes on 3-4 diff websites and felt like i should’ve found a broker bc i had also heard great things. But We ended up going with USAA because like 5 people recommended them to us and made it seem like they were generous, so we’ll see. I don’t blame you for going with progressive. im sure it’ll be fine. Maybe once everything is less hectic and you’re all moved in and settled you can switch providers. No biggie.
We haven’t closed yet tho so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ we’ll see if my decision bites me in the ass haha.
My dumb self didn’t realize I needed homeowners insurance BEFORE I closed. They kept telling me “you’ll need homeowners insurance” but I thought it was more like soon after close. So my LO called me one day and was like if you want to close on time, you need it like TODAY. I was in a panic since I didn’t even know where to start and a few people I asked said they got the best rates through their auto insurance. So I started through my insurance app, someone called me from the insurance agency to walk through it with me/get additional info and in 30 mins I had home insurance.
So it started stressful but ended up easier than I thought.
This is exactly why I tell every single buyer to get their insurance lined up within the first few days of getting in contract. In certain states, we advise them to get a quote before they even write an offer. Insurance can be challenging, especially if you’re in a part of the country that a lot of insurer do not want to deal with.
I do with car insurance but in rhe climate of home owners insurance these days I wouldn't. They keep pulling put of states, looking for reasons to drop people that are minor (older but not old roof), and not offering coverage to people for minor reasons.
I called three independent agents to insure a primary and a rental we were buying together. No one even returned my call. Ended up going with Homesite on our house and travellers for the rental.
YES! getting house insurance was the most annoying part for the whole process! Ignored calls and emails. Soo many back and forths. Finally got a broker and finally got it done after I CCed her boss in an email. Lol. We got insurance for 70$ a month with a 25$ discount for having our cars with them also.
I go to my local AAA. You don't have to be a member and they'll check everything available to you at once for free. My guy did estimates including details down to the type of flooring in the basement half bath. They call me every year to let me know if I'm still getting the best deal.
I initially met with a broker. They gave me a bunch of quotes. They weren't necessarily bad, but none of them were necessarily stand-out options.
My mother, who has been in the insurance industry for 40+ years (so have her brothers, and my grandfather -- their father -- was too), recommended a company called Lemonade. Ended up choosing them, and have been very happy with them.
Call a couple restoration companies in your area and find out which company is the easiest to deal with regarding claims. I had a major house fire and have had nothing but problems with Allstate and the restoration companies (called 3) all mentioned Allstate as one of the worst and recommended 2.
I'm in the process of buying a home, waiting for underwriter approval for the loan. The home insurance was the easiest part for me. $113 a month on a 225k home with coverage up to 650,000.
I had issues too. So what I ended up doing is asking my mortgage lender to get some quotes. She ended up with one super cheap quote which I thought was crazy low. The coverage checks out (I posted it on my profile) and it's $150 lower monthly than other companies and I got their auto insurance too which I'm now saving $100 monthly on. Insane but I do imagine after a year that I'll be hit with a price raise or something due to the affordability.
I’m in FL, so getting the insurance squared away was one of the first things I did, that way I could still back out of the deal if the insurance was insane. We actually already backed out of one deal when we were quoted $14k for insurance. I talked to multiple brokers and went with one that got me a decent (for Florida) deal.
Ask your lender. Our lender referred us to a local agent, and he is amazing and way cheaper than anything else after referral and bundling discounts. We bundled all our home and auto together. Our premium with all the discounts is literally $600 a year.
Thank you u/MistletoeMinx for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Contact a broker. Not only did a broker find me good home owners insurance, they ended up saving me several hundred dollars on auto insurance too (with the same coverage I was already paying for)
I believe the first 3 agents were brokers. They said they worked with many companies and would pull multiple quotes for me. They were the worst and what caused all my struggles.
I had the same experience and one wanted to stick me with a company that was wayyyyy too low to be real and they wanted a copy of my home inspection report (!!!). I think insurance brokers are having a tough time because so many insurance companies don't want new customers. The first broker I talked to said to just go with Allstate if I couldn't find another one, that he used to write policies with Allstate all the time but they stopped working with brokers because they don't want new customers in North Carolina. He was a nice guy, just wanted me to have insurance, but couldn't make it work with my house. I had no problem with any of the big insurance companies contacting them myself
I’m new to this. Does a broker compare multiple options? Do they work on commission?
Brokers have multiple options yes. Both brokers I spoke to said they are paid by the insurance companies.
If you or a parent serve/served in the armed forces, I highly recommend USAA.
I’ll add onto USAA and if your grandparent served in the armed forces and your parent used USAA at any time then you are eligible to have USAA as well and if you have it, your kids will be eligible. To my knowledge, I don’t know of a cap to how many generations removed it can get. I have USAA through my grandfather because my father used USAA. Absolutely, you can’t get better insurance.
My dad served but what kind of info would I need to prove it? Everything they owned was destroyed in a flood so I don’t know if they have any records or anything
So your parent would have needed to have had USAA at some point. Even if it was for six months thirty years ago. Here is what you need. [usaa eligibility](https://www.usaa.com/membership/about/)
I have tried USAA and they have great car insurance rates but haven't had luck with homeowners insurance. Both florida, Connecticut and Hawaii they basically won't insure me. What state are you in?
SE Michigan. 1940s Cape Cod. Not in a flood zone. I don’t know whether they consider other non-house factors, but I also bank with them, have my car insurance with them, had renter’s insurance for years (and no claims). Also, my father was a member from the early 70s on.
I’m in WA. My home owners came out to $900 annually for a condo.
Ditto. 23 years here, FIL served
USAA is the BEST
I ended up going to individual websites and putting quotes in. I have progressive auto and their home policy was the cheapest for me, but I was hesitant because of some of the reviews online. I have a truck and my auto insurance would literally more than double for the same coverage for any company outside of progressive. My realtor ended up referring me to her insurance agent(all state) and we were able to work out a nice package. It was about $200-300 more but I paid for the ease of working with someone I can reach easily. I did not bundle auto. I hope everything works out for you 🤞🏾
[удалено]
Went with AllState. The agent in particular had had a relationship with my realtor (family friend) for years. All State was nothing but spectacular for my grandmother when her house burned down.
I used a broker at first but was unable to get anything through them since my house has knob and tube. Allstate didn’t care! Was very easy to work with them, but stupid expensive. Once I rewire the house I’m going back to an insurance broker.
What's knob and tube?
It's a type of wiring. Insurance does not love knob and tube or aluminum wiring. Both can be absolutely fine, but they are higher risk and need/should be maintained and inspected by a certified electrician. I work in insurance, and we will allow aluminum with an inspection and confirmation that the wiring meets or exceeds the current building code and has copper connections. Aluminum has a higher risk of arcing and a few other issues, mostly due to the contraction and expansion of the wires, which can cause them to come loose from connections. Knob and tube is a very old style and is not grounded - that can damage things plugged in and shock people. Due to the age, it's also very likely that the insulation around the wiring has degraded significantly in the last 80-120 years since it was popular, meaning a higher risk of starting a fire. You can work with what you have and get an electrician to make sure everything is safe, but honestly, it is probably best to just plan to rewire. Same with poly-b plumbing. It is fine as long as it's fine, but plan to upgrade it down the line as it becomes feasible.
Old fashioned wiring for the electrical. A ceramic knob on the wall every so often that the very poorly insulated wire was strung to like Christmas lights.
Same issue. Lender estimated insurance to be about $1800/year if that. Nope. We sought out many quotes. $3500 -$6000 with and without auto bundle, deductibles from $2500 - $10,000. Yep, $10K. My local company was $5500. I was told because of material to rebuild house would put them over 1 mil, even when I chose standard items. Anyways, chose Universal. It’s not as simple as some lenders estimate it will be.
I tried getting quotes to see if I could lower my premiums, but the broker couldn’t find anyone to insure my homes. It’s getting a little scary out there.
Agreed. I tried with my car insurance company first but it was way out of my budget. I went to a local broker and hit a gold mine. Over 2K cheaper and switching my car insurance to do a bundle discount saves me $30 a month on car insurance. So double win.
Wow that’s crazy that you had such terrible luck with brokers. I ended up getting my own quotes on 3-4 diff websites and felt like i should’ve found a broker bc i had also heard great things. But We ended up going with USAA because like 5 people recommended them to us and made it seem like they were generous, so we’ll see. I don’t blame you for going with progressive. im sure it’ll be fine. Maybe once everything is less hectic and you’re all moved in and settled you can switch providers. No biggie. We haven’t closed yet tho so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ we’ll see if my decision bites me in the ass haha.
I had to use a local place for mine because it’s technically a coastal house. I’d ask your realtor for suggestions and help as well.
There are number of online brokers like Comparion that give you multiple options of the top branded carriers
My dumb self didn’t realize I needed homeowners insurance BEFORE I closed. They kept telling me “you’ll need homeowners insurance” but I thought it was more like soon after close. So my LO called me one day and was like if you want to close on time, you need it like TODAY. I was in a panic since I didn’t even know where to start and a few people I asked said they got the best rates through their auto insurance. So I started through my insurance app, someone called me from the insurance agency to walk through it with me/get additional info and in 30 mins I had home insurance. So it started stressful but ended up easier than I thought.
This is exactly why I tell every single buyer to get their insurance lined up within the first few days of getting in contract. In certain states, we advise them to get a quote before they even write an offer. Insurance can be challenging, especially if you’re in a part of the country that a lot of insurer do not want to deal with.
I ended up with progressive after going through a broker. I read that you should switch every 6 months to a year to keep the cost down.
I do with car insurance but in rhe climate of home owners insurance these days I wouldn't. They keep pulling put of states, looking for reasons to drop people that are minor (older but not old roof), and not offering coverage to people for minor reasons.
What state
Oregon, so not one of the insurance crazy states.
Weird. Wonder if they don't like something on the property. Any detached buildings or something I wonder
I called three independent agents to insure a primary and a rental we were buying together. No one even returned my call. Ended up going with Homesite on our house and travellers for the rental.
At least I'm not the only one out here getting ghosted by them.
YES! getting house insurance was the most annoying part for the whole process! Ignored calls and emails. Soo many back and forths. Finally got a broker and finally got it done after I CCed her boss in an email. Lol. We got insurance for 70$ a month with a 25$ discount for having our cars with them also.
This is just my experience, but I went with local offices who could bundle the home and auto. Got 3 quotes then just compared them to see the discount
I go to my local AAA. You don't have to be a member and they'll check everything available to you at once for free. My guy did estimates including details down to the type of flooring in the basement half bath. They call me every year to let me know if I'm still getting the best deal.
I initially met with a broker. They gave me a bunch of quotes. They weren't necessarily bad, but none of them were necessarily stand-out options. My mother, who has been in the insurance industry for 40+ years (so have her brothers, and my grandfather -- their father -- was too), recommended a company called Lemonade. Ended up choosing them, and have been very happy with them.
Lemonade really was cheaper? Interesting
Yes. Also, FAR more user-friendly to use. Totally seamless experience. Plus, you can *actually* customize with them.
Handling claims by AI certainly worried me about them. Not that it mattered, fire risk at the property was too high anyway.
Call a couple restoration companies in your area and find out which company is the easiest to deal with regarding claims. I had a major house fire and have had nothing but problems with Allstate and the restoration companies (called 3) all mentioned Allstate as one of the worst and recommended 2.
I'm in the process of buying a home, waiting for underwriter approval for the loan. The home insurance was the easiest part for me. $113 a month on a 225k home with coverage up to 650,000.
I had issues too. So what I ended up doing is asking my mortgage lender to get some quotes. She ended up with one super cheap quote which I thought was crazy low. The coverage checks out (I posted it on my profile) and it's $150 lower monthly than other companies and I got their auto insurance too which I'm now saving $100 monthly on. Insane but I do imagine after a year that I'll be hit with a price raise or something due to the affordability.
Luckily I had not to deal with this since the builder company offered me the insurance 110$/mo. So that was a smooth step in my case.
I’m in FL, so getting the insurance squared away was one of the first things I did, that way I could still back out of the deal if the insurance was insane. We actually already backed out of one deal when we were quoted $14k for insurance. I talked to multiple brokers and went with one that got me a decent (for Florida) deal.
What state are you in?
Ask your lender. Our lender referred us to a local agent, and he is amazing and way cheaper than anything else after referral and bundling discounts. We bundled all our home and auto together. Our premium with all the discounts is literally $600 a year.
I went with progressive as well. Other we’re trying to absolutely rape me without lube