How much should i insure my house for?

My house and land (combined purchase) cost $185,000.I have stainless steel appliances, (combined D/W, microwave, fridge, electric stove, central air and water heater. Furniture (contents) not purchased as yet and will be added later. How much should i insure my house for?
*Note -land is not to be insured* Any suggestions on what i need to do, types of coverage and flaws to look out for?
THKS for your kindness

Please take the time to sit down with a local agent who can calculate the cost to remove the debris & rebuild your home based on the square footage and local labor and building supply costs. Most agents have the software available to help you determine this as accurately as possible. If this figure is not accurate and you are underinsured at the time of a loss, you will be penalized by the same percentage that you are underinsured. Bear in mind that the figure you are quoting of $185,000 is based on market value and insurance companies use cost of construction not market value when adjusting a loss. Your cost to re-build might even end up being higher than your purchase price!

In terms of your personal property your calculation should not be based on the current "used" value but the value to "replace" or purchase these items brand new. Your personal items includes your clothing, your furniture, your small appliances, electronics & media (games, cds, dvds, software,etc), dishes, pots & pans. Valuable Items such as jewelry, fine arts & antiques, computers, fine china, silverware, etc. need to be endorsed onto the policy in order to have the appropriate coverage. Normally for personal property the HO-3 Policy form will include a percentage of 50 or 70% of what is listed as the amount of coverage on the dwelling, i.e. if the company insures the home for $200,000, the amount of coverage for Personal Property is $140,000. However, the policy does stipulate specific limitations on Valuable Items hence the need to endorse these onto the policy. Also purchase the replacement cost coverage option on the personal property and on coverage A--the building coverage.

It is very important for you to include ordinance and law coverage and sewer/water back up coverages. In addition I would have a minimum of $500,000 personal liability coverage and $5,000 medical payments coverage. To save money, please consider the following--have whoever writes your auto insurance quote this for you so that you can possibly get a multi-policy discount, take a deductible of at least $500 or $1,000, consider installing a central station burglar & fire alarm system, getting fire extinguishers, etc.

One last note--I would suggest that you do a full inventory including taking pictures, video, etc. of all your personal property and keep these records (along with receipts for big ticket items) in a safety deposit box or other secure location away from the home. If you ever have a fire or other type of major loss, you will find this information to be invaluable in submitting your claim.

Congratulations on your new home. Good Luck

You need to insure the house for the replacement cost. Most good insurance companies prefer to write the policy for replacement. Replacement does not include land value and most of the time has little relationship to the sales price.

Most good policies cover contents at a percentage of the house value and also include replacement cost for contents. Central air is included in the house value but most other appliances are considered contents. Some contents coverage, such as jewelry, has limits so you need to make sure you are covered, which is why you need an agent to go over everything with you. Many auto insurance companies also insure homes and they give you a discount so your auto agent is a good place to start.

How much insurance you need depends on where you live and the size of our home and how much rebuilding supplies and labor costs in your area.

Talk to your agent. If you don't have one call around for some quotes.

No one can answer this.

What is the valuation provision of your policy? Replacement value? Market value? Flat value? How old is the house? Do you have any collections? Are you in a flood or earthquake area? How about a wind prone damage area? Is there a basement? Is it finished? Do you need an HO3, HO7, HO8 form? WHICH ONE? Which is the best deal for you?

Assuming the standard HO3 which is REPLACEMENT value, you need cost to rebuild the house. Average cost to rebuild in most - but not all - parts of the USA is $250 per square foot - which you didn't mention.

This is what an AGENT does for you - they'll calculate the proper amount to insure your house for, and ask you a whole bunch of persona questions, to figure out which of the dozens of endorsements possible, on which of the dozens of policies possible, is best for your situation.

It's impossible to lay all the possibilities out here, with the scanty information you provided. You need a local AGENT to do this. You can find one at www.iiaa.org

The best answer is to take an inventory of your stuff. Right down all of your items and the serial / model numbers. Make sure you include everything you can find, not just the big ticket items. How many picture frames would you need to replace, how many pairs of shoes do you have, etc. I know it sounds like overkill, but if you have a total loss you need to replace all of that stuff and without any details you will be arguing with your claims adjuster over an amount.

Now for dollar amounts, if you know the purchase price of stuff, put that in your list, otherwise don't sweat it. You can always look up items later if you need to.
If you have large collections of items, you may want to get them specifically added to your insurance policy (plates, CDs, computers, etc). Take pictures of everything and make a back up copy of your list and the pictures and store them somewhere outside of your home (parent, friend, work). - That is all for your contents.

Your last property tax statement will show you what your improvements are valued at. This is the total of all real estate minus the land. This is what you need to insure your property for at a minimum. If property values are expected to go up, you can bump the amount a bit, but don't over pay as you will not get any extra from the insurance company.

Last but definitely not least, talk with your local insurance agent and make sure that you have all of the coverages you need.

Good luck.

Your house must be insured at it's mortgage value. I always had mine insured based on appraisal and replacement cost based on inflation annually. You have to estimate the value of your furnishings, and either get separate insurance or add it to the policy with the stipulation it includes furnishing. To reduce the cost of the policy you can have a deductible-say, $500 or $1,000. So if you do lose everything you pay the deductible up front. You need to talk to an insurance agent you trust.

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