Home Insurance rates in Austin (Lake City: credit rating, relocating, property taxes)

[misturafina]

I've been reading that Texas has the highest home insurance rates in the country. I live in Seattle and am thinking of relocating to Austin. The average insurance rates here are $400-500 a year. I also have a house in Salt Lake City and the rate there is $350 a year. I can't find specific info on rates in Austin can anyone there tell me what they are paying in home insurance rates? Thank you.

[cdelena]

I have been told that .008 * appraised value gives a good approximation on Texas HO insurance.

[AustinTraveler]

Here's a link to a recent thread. You will see a post by me where I outlined my insurance statement. Note, of course, that it depends on value of home, discounts, etc. so everyone will be different.

If you know what your housing budget will be, I would suggest you call an agent in the area just to get an estimate. You can even pick a house from the MLS and give the agent that address just so they have an idea of whether the home is stick built, brick, etc. and what area it is located in.



HOI in Texas

[austin-steve]

You'll pay between 0.5% and 0.8% of the insured value in home owner insurance, depending on a lot of factors such as your credit rating, previous claims you've made, previous claims against the home you buy, the age and condition of the home, riders you elect to add (such as mold coverage, glass breakage, etc.), zipcode of the home, etc.

Newer homes are of course much cheaper to insure.

My advice, get the highest deductable you can stand and NEVER call in a claim unless it's something big. Even calling to ask a question can be logged as a "claim" in some instances.

Steve

[Trainwreck20]

My agent recommended high deductibles, except for the schedule that covered hail damage. That one paid off, and will for many, many people in central Texas (depending on the difference in premium for the deductibles, which was very reasonable at the time that I got the policy).

[austintree]

The rates here are likely 2-3 times higher than Seattle - Property taxes on my 150K house is $3700. /yr also. The insurance industry has been very good friends with George Bush, Tom Delay, and Governor Perry - they take very good care of each other.

[GANKS]

I have this same question. Currently I pay $750 per year for homeowners (can't remember my deductables off the top of my head) for a home valued around $500K Looking for a home in the 400-500K range and assumed TX was cheaper than Seattle.

[AustinTraveler]

GANKS,

If you copy and paste this link, you will see a post where I outlined my homeowner's insurance bill. Hope this helps. Sorry, but homeowner's is definitely more here in Texas.

HOI in Texas

AT

[Trainwreck20]

Texas homeowners insurance is very high for several reasons, although many people would say that there are not enough reasons for how high the insurance is...

• Hurricane risk goes further inland than you would expect.
• Tornados are more common than out west, as are 'wind events' and hail.
• Risk is somewhat spread out over the state for hurricane damage, which can be a huge burden.
• The infamous 'black mold'
• The ratio of house cost to land cost.

Black mold is, for the most part, a crock. Mold has been around for eons, and suddenly everyone needs to suddenly pay huge amounts in extra insurance. Actually, the consumer is as much to blame for this one as the insurance industry.

As for housing to land cost ratio, land does not generally suffer damage in an 'event', so if your 350k house on a 50k lot burns down, insurance will need to cover the 350k replacement cost (or about 7/8ths of the appraised value). If it was a 200k house on a 200k lot, insurance only needs to replace half the appraised value.

[jwb123]

Definitely more than Seattle.

I think we paid $25 a month for insurance in the Seattle suburbs. Home was valued at high $300k.

Now, we are looking at at least $100 a month.

It's ridiculous.