When you are buying insurance for your home, you want to be sure to take your time and you want to do your homework. The last thing you want is to purchase insurance on a whim or without first doing your research. When it comes down to it, you want to find the right plan for your home, but you also want to find a plan that fits your budget, your lifestyle and your geographic region. If you live in an area where there are earthquakes or other natural disasters, the last thing you want is to wind up with a plan that won’t cover the damages. Here are some helpful insurance tips for first-time home buyers.

1. Make sure that your credit is in order – you may even want to get approved for an insurance plan before you purchase your home, because going into escrow could knock your credit score down a few points. If your credit is down a few points, you may want to see what is causing the issue. It could be that you need to have a debt repaid or you need to ask a creditor to remove the debt, so that your credit score can be repaired.
2. Make sure that you shop around for the best plan – if you jump on the first plan you see, there is a good chance that it is the wrong plan. Plus, you don’t want to be swayed by special offers and other bells and whistles that won’t end up helping you in the long run. When it comes down to it, shopping around not only means looking at different companies – you also want to get actual quotes from representatives and agents at various insurance agencies.
3. Make sure to think about adding your home insurance plan onto an existing insurance plan – this can help reduce costs and it can streamline the insurance process. The truth of the matter is that you can easily add a home insurance plan onto an auto insurance or health insurance plan – if you have one. You may want to ask your agency what your options are.
4. Make sure that you get specific with your plan – if you live in Tornado Alley, you want a plan that covers tornado damage. If you own a boat, there is a good chance that you will go with an insurance company – like Anchor Marine Underwriters Inc. – that covers that type of insurance. The same thing goes when you are looking for home insurance. Ideally, your plan should have preparative coverage for all the natural disasters that you are faced with in your particular region.
5. Make sure that you take into account all the other risks – you don’t want to skip a specific type of coverage simply because you don’t want to pay for it. If you can pay for it, you should add it on to your plan. Some risks are just too great – like floods and fires – you don’t want to wind up without the monetary backing to make the necessary repairs and you don’t want to lose your house altogether.