California Fires

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Sounds like there are some major differences in insurance between the states. As long as i was using a reputable insurance company the banks didnt care. They only required that i carry enough to cover the loan balance and that they were listed as a beneficiary on the policy. Bills go to both me and the bank. I always picked the coverages. The bank never got involved in any of that except about covering the loan amount. As long as i provided proof of insurance prior to settlement never an issue.
 
We have two homes with mortgages and both are PITI with escrow. We chose the insurance companies for both houses and have changed companies at least once for each house. The insurance for our main residence cost $1082 per year. Below are our coverages. I think I will call the insurance company and see about increasing the dwelling coverage to $600,000 based on recent sales in our neighborhood.
 

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I dont think this would have affected but because we did so many my realtor did a lot of stuff many realtors dont. When we bought this house the realtor here didnt seem as helpful. I thought that was cause things were different here but maybe not.
 
The problem with this, as I am seeing it, is your not being able to control the amount or type of insurance you are getting and how much you are paying for it. Or do you get a copy of the bill and the policy so you can verify that your share of the property and you personal belongings are protected? I can understand that you had no choice, but you cannot compare companies or rates, right?

I have always lived in very low risk areas, so this is new to me.
I just checked the web for the insurance info on my Auburn house. My insurance is well above what I owe on the house and that doesn't include the value of the land under it, as that is difficult to destroy. So I think the 545K$ insurance that covers the $731,900 house (says Zillow) is somewhat close, perhaps just a little low.

My Auburn house is on 1.2 acres and one acre is of land in Auburn is $102,456. $186,900.00 is the difference between my house insurance and land value.

So does this below look correct for a $731,900 (say Zillow) house (includes land) those here who know more about this stuff than I do? I owe $320,057.67 on my Auburn house. I still am not in any hurry to pay it off as I wouldn't know what to do with the extra cash each month. I certainly do not need another RV or motorcycle or anything else. And I don't want to own three houses again. Two houses a hundred miles apart, is just right for me.

So should I see if I can insure for a bit more? :


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-Don- Reno, NV
 
Realtors are usually more helpful to the seller than the buyer. The seller is who is paying the relator.

-Don- Reno, NV
Maybe. I paid my realtor 6% back in pa regardless of whether i was buying or selling. Some places only the seller pays and they split it. Was worth it. She worked her tail off finding me properties.

About your insurance do you want to be covered for the estimated value or replacement?
 
The listing agent ( broker) has a fiduciary obligation to the seller. The selling agent will ordinarily receive 1/2 ( usually 3% and 3%) the commission agreed upon between the seller and the agent when the property is listed. Then both have to settle up with their respective broker. However that's not set in stone. Today there are buyers agents whose fiduciary obligation is not with the seller. And rates of commission are no longer fixed at 6%. There are some agents who take an upfront fee to place the property on the MLS and the seller does all the showing and so forth. The agent will walk the seller through the process once an offer is accepted and a closing date is determined. The latter are however usually not Board of Realtors and frowned upon by the old guard members.
 
Apparently you don't have any coverage other than that the FAIR plan provides, or do you? I read the FAIR plan insurance cost significantly more as well.
From what I can see (message 324) I do not have the CA FAIR Plan at all. Just Farmers. I have no idea why I had both for the first year or two.

I was curious about a few things, so I did some web searching:

Mostly from here.

"FAIR" is an acronym which stands for "Fair Access <to> Insurance Requirements".

"The FAIR Plan is an association comprised of all insurers authorized to transact basic property insurance in California."

"The California FAIR Plan Association was established to meet the needs of California homeowners unable to find insurance in the traditional marketplace. The FAIR Plan is not a state agency, nor is it a public entity."

$1,141.00 per year seems very cheap. I would think they would want more in high-fire risk Auburn to insure 546K$ worth of wood under all those large trees.

The insurance for my Class A motorhome is more than that, $1,331.88 per year.

My class A registration was $2,211.68 last year, almost twice my Auburn home insurance. But the RV registration will continue to go down a little every year as the home insurance goes up a little every year.


-Don- Reno, NV
 
My homeowners ins. co. wrote me and included the documentation; the average cost to replace my house is $283 per sq. ft. If I elected to insure for less, they sent me a waiver to sign and return.
 
I paid insurance monthly or quarterly and taxes twice a year, as they were billed by my township and county.
Just to clarify. The insurance company sent me a bill and I wrote out a check--can't remember if it was quarterly or what.

Ditto for taxes. Township and county sent me bills directly and I wrote them out checks once a year or whenever they were due. No escrow, but I did send the bank a receipt every once in a while. And I think it was cheaper paying directly, and it certainly made me feel better because I know that I was really covered. No trusting the bank to cover me adequately.
 
Napa is in Napa Valley. IOW, 10° cooler than which valley? Anyway, closer to the ocean & fog if you like cool. But even next to the ocean there can be a few exceptionally hot days.

I can recall one day in San Francico during the summer that was hotter than either Las Vegas, NV or Phoenix, AZ. Very rare, but it happens.

-Don- Reno, NV
The Central Valley, namely towns like nearby Fairfield and Modesto, and Sacramento and such.
 
Not many use checks these days. All bills can be paid online one way or another. And no need for a stamp or envelope.

-Don- Reno, NV
Yes, but I sold my home almost 13 years ago. I pay everything electronically now, but then things were not so easy to do so. I still keep checks for times when someone does not accept a credit card or cash, as a handful of RV parks have done.
 
By the way, the climate app says Napa's average weather in July is 78. In Modesto, it is 94, and in Sacramento it is 92. And about 15 miles away, in the Central Valley, Fairfield's average temp in July is 89.

Actually, Napa Valley and the Napa River are extensions of San Franciso Bay. Downtown Napa is only about 50' about sea level, but it has a tiny bit of tide, and they get breezes from San Pablo Bay.

14 years ago when I worked for a few months in two week increments in Santa Clara, in the Bay Area, I could estimate Napa's temperature by taking the temps at SFO and adding the temps at Fairfield, and then dividing it by two. i.e. 65 + 95 = 160/ 2 = 80. (Son was living in Napa and I'd go there every couple of weekends.)
 
The Central Valley, namely towns like nearby Fairfield and Modesto, and Sacramento and such.
Sometimes during the summer, Auburn is even hotter than Sacramento. One would think Sacramento at less than 50 feet elevation would always be hotter than Auburn at 1,500', (35 miles apart) but fairly often that is not the case.

It's been many years since I have been in the Napa area, but I think if I were to move to that area, I would want to first check out the St Helena area, 20 miles north of Napa with hills just a short distance away in just about any direction. Low elevation hills, of course.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
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