Insurance is complicated at the best of times, and getting a feel for different types of insurance when buying a home are some of the most confusing details. Let’s clarify a few details to help you know what you have and what you should consider as options.
Learn about Title Insurance
What is title insurance?
Contrary to what many think, title insurance is something entirely different from homeowner’s insurance. Homeowner’s insurance protects your home and its contents from basic coverage risks like fire, theft, etc. Title insurance protects your actual ownership of the property that you’ve purchased from risks that came into place before the purchase date itself.
Title insurance is a one-time cost at the time of the sale, and it protects your ownership for the total amount of time that you own the property. You must purchase the policy before you close the sale.
Why do I need property title insurance?
This is a different kind of 'protection' insurance. Title insurance helps protects you from unpaid property taxes, paperwork fraud or forgery charges, and any future claims on the property after the sale. These kinds of complications happen a lot more frequently than most realize! Since all of these can be massive headaches and very expensive problems that have absolutely nothing to do with you and your ownership, but something that may have happened before you, this is important to consider!
Buying a house? Get a pre-approval
If you’re looking at this because you’re in the process of house shopping, you’ll want to get a preapproval before you head out shopping too much. It helps you prevent any disappointment in the process and helps you get a feel for just what your options are. Plus, to remind you what your ceiling is and hopefully you will stay within your means.
While you’re at it, get a few quotes for homeowner’s insurance. Since you’ll need homeowner’s insurance at the very least, it’s a good idea to know what kind of premiums you’re looking at for the properties that you’re considering so you can add that into your total bottom line.
This can even help you decide whether to go further on one house versus another. If the premiums are high or you need to consider additional coverage for things like flood insurance on one property versus another, you’ll have the information you need to help guide your search!
Contact your insurance agent for help
If you’re feeling confused or frustrated in determining what you should have or what you need, your Harbour Insurance Services local insurance agent can help clarify things for you! Since they’re also who you’ll be dealing with when it comes to getting a quote for homeowner’s insurance, this is also a great time to ask about both and what works best for you!
While insurance can be frustrating, it’s a good idea to know your options before you go too far into the process of buying a home. Title insurance and home insurance are a must to protect your most expensive physical asset. Talk to your insurance agent for more information.
Contact My Harbour Insurance Services at (281) 520-4090 or request a Free Online Quote to get started today. We can help with all of your personal insurance needs, so contact us today.