Home owners Insurance and Termite Insurance (Phoenix, Peoria: sale, how much, first time home buyer)

[phoenix_new]

I am a first time home buyer, i will like to know what kind of coverage i should have for home and also Termite ?

And how much are you paying ?

[Stokes172]

1400 sq footer 460 a year. Regular insurance with no flood insurance.

termite insurance? Never heard of it but have your house inspected as a condition of sale if possible.

[AZJoeD]

Homeowners Insurance is a must, especially if you are financing your home. Your insurance agent will be able to provide you better estimates of the cost. The things to understand are that there are two components to homeowners insurance. Insuring the building and insuring yourself against liability.

You can vary the deductible amounts for insuring the building ($250, 500, 1000, etc.) and you can specify repair or replacement costs. For liability (in case someone gets hurt on your property) you can vary the coverage $200K, 300K, 1M, etc. By changing the formula you can vary the cost.

Insurance can range from approx $600 - 1200 annually.

As for termite, I have never heard of termite insurance here in Phoenix (not to say it does not exist), but you can have pest control company treat your home against termites and they will warranty it for some period of time (1yr, 5yr, 10yr). Again cost is based on size of home and length of warranty. Many termite warranties are transferable, so if the home you buy has a warranty, you can keep it going for minimal cost.

DM me if you want the name of a good insurance agent or pest control company.

[dacubz]

1800 SF in Peoria $414 for homeowner's insurance. Termite prevention treatment $699 for 5 years.

[Zippyman]

One tip you might not have heard of with house insurance - buy a policy to close the deal, then, after closing, start shopping it again after a month - many insurance companies have a MAJOR discount for someone changing policies in the first year. My first year policy was $400, and the new policy was only $250. In year two it went back to $400.... but it was nice to get a break that first year...

One more tip - a termite "inspection" will usually cost $40-$75, and any company that does one (or if they do a "treatment") is required to file a copy of the report with the government -

AZ OPM - ERROR

Go to that link, and only type in the house number - don't put in the street name or the city - if your address is 2221 e oak avenue, just type in "2221", then scroll down to find out if it was inspected or treated for the past ten years.

If it's been treated within the last five years, and the termites come back, the company is required by law to come back and run them out again.

Keep in mind, an inspection isn't the same as a treatment - if you really want to be sure, you can have a treatment done for most houses for around $800-$1200, and most pest guys recommend that it be re-done every 7-10 years.

[dacubz]

Thanks for the info Zippyman! I checked my property and see that my treatment is recorded, as well as the original construction inspections. Definitely a link to hold on to.

[AZPam]

I always tell people that there are two types of houses in Maricopa County. Those that have termites and those that are going to get them. My termite inspector once told me that Maricopa county has an average of 80 termite colonies per acre.