HomeOwners Insurance question

[ducter]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

Check that out before you decide.

In all the townhomes I saw, this was absolutely not true. The HOA didn't have any insurance on your home, only the common areas.

In the massive Beazer Homes fire on Capital, there was a big mess over the decision of some owners not to rebuild. The HOA didn't have the insurance, the owners each insured their own townhome.

You may have been guided totally wrong by an inexperienced loan officer.

Unless the building is a condo, you totally own your unit. The advice would be right for a condo,

And as you can see that many insurance co. are ALWAYS looking not to pay out when the damage happens. Do your homework...

[saturnfan]

Originally Posted by Auntie Jo

Just a note reinforcing what others are sharing. Double and triple check this with the property management company/homeowner's association. Also, your real estate agent should be able to help make sure you're getting reliable information.

What I'd recommend you do:

1. Find out what your association's master policy covers for town homes - when we were shopping for insurance rates, the insurance agent asked us what was covered by the master policy. We started by calling the on-site sales rep for the development and got directed to another internal rep, and then to someone in property management.
2. Ask about certain scenarios when you call to find out about the master policy and/or when you talk to your insurance agent. Ask about anything that comes to mind, but here are a few examples:

• "what if a tree falls and damages my roof?"
• "what if there's a fire in the community and both the exterior and interior of my property is damaged?"
• "what if my neighbor's upstairs bathroom springs a leak and the water seeped into our unit and caused damage as well." Or
• "what if there's a sewer problem that originates in pipes outside of my unit, but it caused damage in my unit?"

We're buying a town house with Centex and found that we are responsible for full coverage on our town house. According to my man, who is doing all the ground work securing insurance, he mentioned we're adding an addendum for getting insured for sewer back ups. It doesn't amount to much $ each year to add it. (I can't find our estimates at the moment, but when I do, I can double check other extras we're including in our coverage.)

Your insurance agent should have asked you to find out what your association's master policy covers for town homes. I'm not an expert with terminology, but from what I recall, some condos and town house (although probably more common with condos?) master policies will cover "studs out" which means you'd need to get "studs in" coverage. When the master policy does not cover "studs out" you are required to get full coverage. (Honestly, I still have a lot of questions about what "studs in" really covers. But since we're required to get full coverage, I haven't really searched for answers on that.)

It might not hurt to go to a few different insurance agencies just to get quotes. The exercise may also help uncover answers (or even more questions) about the level of coverage you should consider. You may also find an insurance agent who proves to be more expert in guiding you.

Beware of a big hazard we saw in the Centex townhomes we visited.

Your water heater and associated plumbing is probably in the attic as were the ones we saw.

A pipe rupture or heater leak could cause extreme damage.

I'd run this by a good home inspector to be sure Centex put in a capture pan and drain line to lead any possible heater leak outside. In addition, check your proposed insurance to see what protection you'd have if a water leak got down to the living area (mold).

I rejected the Centex townhome for that reason.

[DanielChang]

Even with the pan and drain, if serious problems happened with the heater and the overflow valve was triggered, there would be so much water in such a short time that the pan would likely overflow.

[saturnfan]

That's true.

If the pain was connected to a pipe routing the water outside, it might help.

Unfortunately, you probably will never check the drain pipe to be sure it works and hasn't been colgged by a bird nest, etc.

[Grizzmeister]

Originally Posted by StMichael929

I've recently purchased a townhouse (3 days ago) and was trying to line up insurance quotes. The mortgate lender and the sellers agent said I would only need an HO-6 policy. Many of the insurance companies I have spoken with act like I need something else. Is HO-6 sufficient for a townhouse in most instances? I want to make sure Im getting the coverage I need.

Thx,
Brian

The HO-6 policy is designed for someone who does not need to insure the building itself except for some interiors (washer, dryer etc). Read your by-laws and speak to the management company for the property. If the townhouse is set up as a condo association, you will need the HO-6. If a homeowners association you will need an HO-3 policy that will insure the building.

[Gretchen B]

Generally speaking, with a townhouse you own your walls. With a condo, you do not own your walls, just the interior space. So it would seem to make sense that a homeowner's policy that covers you if you were buying a condo would be sorely lacking in coverage if you were buying a townhouse. You would probably need no coverage for the structure if you were buying a condo, but you definitely would need to insure the structure if you're purchasing a townhouse.

[shellytc]

Again, as another poster said, it is not the TYPE of home that is in question, but the type of home ownership. You can have a single family home condo, a townhome condo, an aparment type condo... All are condo ownership!! The condo ownership should have the insurance of the building (but not always). You should have recieved condo doc's prior to purchasing if you are in a condo ownership. Read them. The insurance will be covered in there.

Shelly