The students living off-campus has to consider purchasing the rental insurance in order to protect their personal property. As your landlords insurance doesnt cover your property, you have to think of buying a renters insurance. It is an essential requisite that youll recognize when you fairly need it. Many students consider renters insurance as an unnecessary expenditure, because they think that it will never happen to them. But, it costs you less amount and protects all your properties in the apartment. If youre staying with your roommates, it would be cheaper, as you can share the insurance premium. Why Rental Insurance Is Required For Students:The students living in the rental apartments may possess certain belongings. To protect them from various disasters, rental insurance will be helpful. It safeguards your belongings from the causes like fire, robbery, and destruction. Moreover, it will protect you against your personal liability. Rental insurance is a suitable and an economical method to secure your possessions. To obtain rental insurance for your apartment, you can search online and get the policy quotes and other related information from the websites. Else you can call an insurance representative and find the estimation of your possessions. Get The Right Insurance To Cover Your Property:Usually insurance doesnt cover the expensive items like jewelry, or art collections. It requires additional coverage called rider or floater. Many rental insurances offer two types of coverage, Personal Property: This coverage pays for the repairs and replacements of your possessions, when they are damaged or stolen. This is the regular insurance policy every student purchases. Liability Insurance: It provides protection against the claims of the third party damages for particular perils. Here payment is not made to the insurance holder, but for the loss caused to others by them. It covers your liability for the damages caused to the third party. Important Elements While Buying Renters Insurance:There are certain issues that you have to consider while buying a renters insurance. Some of them are: Get a complete list of your belongings including its price and model number. It would be more viable to take pictures to attach them for documentation. Note the value of your belongings. It helps you in estimating the value of your damaged or stolen belongings. Examine the feasibility of buying a policy together with your roommates, as few policies extend the coverage for the households who are suitable for a domestic partner. Enquire about the coverage limits of your rental insurance and about any other coverage options available in your policy. This information helps you to know how the renters insurance can protect your personal property from causing certain disasters.ApartmentLinks helps you make the best decision when looking for your next apartment by providing all the information you need at one place. ApartmentrLinks helps you in searching for apartments in your target area like sacramento apartment. If you are looking for minneapolis apartment search or apartments in Houston then apartmentLinks will help you in choosing by providing all the information you need to take the decision.
Renters Insurance Guide – Renters Insurance Simplified
Confused about renters insurance? Here’s a renters insurance guide that will help you understand it.
Renters Insurance Guide
Many people think their landlords insurance will cover them if their possessions are stolen or damaged. Not so. Your landlord’s insurance only covers the building you live in, not your possessions. If you want to protect your possessions you need to get renters insurance.
Renters insurance is one of the least expensive types of insurance, yet it provides invaluable protection for you and your possessions. Renters insurance covers three basic categories:
Personal Property
Personal property coverage pays to replace your possessions if they’re stolen, or damaged by vandalism, fire, smoke, lightning, explosions, windstorms, burst water pipes, or electrical malfunctions.
There are two types of personal property coverages available:
Actual cash value coverage – which pays to replace your personal property minus a deduction for deprecation.
Replacement cost coverage – which pays to replace your personal property with no depreciation deduction.
Standard policies only provide limited coverage for expensive items like jewelry, furs, silver, and collections, so you may need to purchase additional coverage for these items. Standard policies also do not cover damage caused by floods or earthquakes, so if you want coverage for these disasters you’ll need to purchase additional insurance.
Additional Living Expenses
This coverage pays for your living expenses – hotel, motel, and restaurant bills – if your home becomes uninhabitable due to the causes mentioned above. Most insurers will reimburse you for the difference between your additional living expenses and your usual living expenses.
Personal Liability
Personal liability coverage pays for another person’s medical expenses if you, a family member, or your pet injures that person. It also covers damages to that person’s property. Some policies do not cover pets such as as pit bulls or rottweilers.
Standard policies usually come with $100,000 to $300,000 worth of liability coverage, but you can purchase more if you have a lot of assets you want to protect from a lawsuit.
Cheap Renters Insurance
Because renters insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars from one company to the next, the best way to get cheap renters insurance is to visit an insurance comparison website to get quotes from multiple companies.
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/renters-insurance.html or click on the following link to get renters insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can also get more insurance tips there.
Landlord Insurance Made Simple
Landlord Insurance is available from a number of different sources and the variety of cover can vary. It is important to know what your landlord insurance policy is covering you and the investment property for. Whether you are buying a property to live in or an investment property to let out, it is probably a large sum of money that you are investing in it. In fact as we all know, property is the biggest investment that many of us make and so it is very important to ensure that your property is fully protected by having the very best landlord insurance.
Cheap landlord insurance could be a false economy. The landlord insurance policy you choose should be with a reputable landlord insurance company that has the ability to deal with claims as quickly and as efficiently as possible and at the very best price. Finding a good landlord insurance company offering the best landlord insurance can be critical to your cashflow as a successful property investor or landlord. Generally insurance is a competitive market, so it can be a good idea to try and find a source where you can Instantly Compare Landlord Insurance Quotes from Leading Insurers
You need to understand exactly what is covered in the landlord insurance policy as there are often a number of different levels of cover available. Some Landlord Insurance Companies can offer better landlord insurance than others so it is important to shop around for your landlord insurance to get the best deal. It is important to know that there may be different cover for different types of tenants.
Whether the Buy to Let insurance is where the tenant is a professional working family, an individual on income support, an asylum seeker, or a student, if your property is let to a Housing Association or the Local Council. And of course the landlord insurance company would need to know if the property will remain unoccupied for any length of time. Get covered. Get your Landlord Insurance Today.
How To Insure More Than One Property
If you are lucky enough to have more than one property then you effectively have a life long investment that you can enjoy. It may be that you own a holiday home and can thus enjoy a few weeks or months in a more relaxing environment every year. Alternatively, you may have one or more properties that you lease out and so will have a regular income well into retirement. It is imperative that you therefore protect you investment as much as possible, and this includes taking out homeowners insurance policies on every property you own and not just the one you reside in full time.
It is possible to cover more than one home under one homeowners insurance policy, but very few insurers actually offer that option. Most will insist on insuring one property at a time. This makes these multiple property homeowners insurance policies very popular. Generally, insurance companies tend to insure your main property and then add additional property onto the policy as an extra, just like they would add emergency cover on. However, the amount of properties you can add on is limited so if you do own several buy to let homes than it may be in your best interests to take out several homeowners insurance policies.
If you do own several buy to let properties then your homeowners insurance policies will be very different for them than your own residential policy. This is because, as a landlord, you only actually need to legally provide cover for the structure, fixtures and fittings. You are obliged to insure your property via a homeowner insurance policy but not your tenants’ property. That is completely up to them to do. However, holiday homes and vacant property will need full cover in the form of vacant house insurance. For more info see http://www.homeowners-insurance-help.com/ on home owners insurance
Vacant house insurance can give you peace of mind if you do have a second home or have bought a property to redevelop or rent out that may actually be left unoccupied for a period of time. Under homeowners insurance policies, you are obliged to leave your house vacant for no more than 30 consecutive days of the year as a rule. However, vacant house insurance has very few stipulations of the nature. You only have to visit one in a while, if that. However, it may still offer you the same level of cover as homeowners house insurance, depending on the policy that you ultimately choose. It can be more expensive though, so be prepared for the in advance.
Insuring more than one home or property does not have to be a complicated process. A broker can help you to find the best homeowners house insurance policies for you because he or she makes a living from listening to the individual and then searching insurance companies to find the best possible policy, or one that can be tailored to your need. This takes the work out of it for you, and gives you that peace of mind that all of your property is well and truly protected!
Purchasing Buy to Let Property
- The first step is to create a financial strategy and calculate how much you can afford to invest.
- Find out about other costs (e.g. solicitors, stamp duty, survey/valuation fees, broker/lenders fees etc.)
- Decide which solicitor you are going to use.
- Research the market. What type of property will provide the best returns (i.e. increase in value and rental returns). Will you manage the properties or will you employ somebody else to manage them for you?
- When you have found the right property, and have all your finances in place, make an offer
- When the offer is accepted, tell your solicitor the basis of the deal you have agreed. NOTE: from this point onwards you are spending your own money. The vendor does not have to sell the property to you until you have exchanged contracts. The vendor could, for example, accept a higher offer from somebody else and you would have wasted your money. Gazumping is commonplace. You need to exchange contracts quickly to stop this happening to you.
- Contact the vendor’s agent on a regular basis to report your progress and to check on progress with your property. Progress reports to the vendor and / or his estate agent will significantly reduce the risk of your being gazumped. Advise them what is outstanding and what is being done to progress matters. Report to them every four days.
- Speak to your solicitor on a regular basis (good ones will call you), ensure they are chasing other involved parties.
- It is now up to the solicitor to exchange contracts. They cannot do this until you can prove that you will have enough money to complete the purchase. This usually means that a mortgage offer is required prior to exchange of contracts. Also, the solicitor is responsible for ensuring that you are purchasing what you think you are purchasing. This will include obtaining local searches, making sure that all previous mortgages are cleared, checking boundaries etc.
- The solicitor will also be responsible for handling the purchase money, i.e. receiving it from the lender and paying it to the vendor. In the case of a refinance the solicitor will also pay off the old mortgage with the new mortgage money.
- Once contracts are exchanged, the property is contractually yours. You must, therefore, insure the property at this point. Use established buy-to-let insurance brokers to minimise costs.
- Completion usually takes place about one week after exchange of contracts. Once completion has taken place you can let the property, subject of course to its condition. If the property is vacant at the point of exchange of contracts, it is in your interests to negotiate a longer period between exchange of contracts and completion, together with negotiating access to the property so that you can decorate it. The vendor does, however, have the right to refuse this.
- Monitor the property value so that you can capitalise on opportunities to release further money through remortgaging or further advances, in order to fund deposits on more properties
Advice On Second Property Mortgage Offers
There are many good second property mortgage offers around, that is providing you know what you are looking for and you know where to go to dig them out. By far the best way to go about getting the best deal when it comes to your second mortgage is to go with a specialist broker. A broker knows the ins and outs of second home mortgages and knows exactly where to look to get the best deal for your needs.
When it comes to getting the best second property mortgage offers then you will of course have to decide what it is you are buying the property for, the type of mortgage will differ according to the fact of if you are thinking of letting the property or are going to be using it as a holiday home for yourself.
Another difference for the two is the insurance you will need to cover your second property; if you are going to be letting it then you will need to take out landlord insurance which will cover the tenants and yourself. If going for a buy to let mortgage then you will have to meet certain requirements set out and these include making sure the property is fully furnished, it has be available to rent for at least 140 days out of the year and you must let it for 70 days within a specific period of time. Of course you can discuss this with your broker to make sure that you get the best deal on your mortgage.
Lenders will calculate the mortgage on different factors, for example if the property is going to be used as a holiday let then the lender will want to know that it is in an area that is going to draw in renters. One of the main factors taken into consideration by the lender of a holiday let mortgage is that you will be able to bring in around 130% of the mortgage from the rent. If you are going for just a second mortgage for your property then the biggest factor will of course be the amount of income that you earn.
Whichever type of property and mortgage you are going for the easiest way to get the best second property mortgage offers is by going to and taking advice from a specialist broker. While you will have to pay for the services of the broker when you take into account that they have the expertise in finding the best deals and giving the best advice you could in the long run save yourself money if you should make a huge mistake by going it alone.
What is Landlord Insurance?
Landlord insurance is an insurance policy that protects the landlord’s investment. The most obvious part of the investment is the building that is being rented to generate income. However the losses that can be caused by a lawsuit or the loss of income from a tenant can be protected by purchasing a policy that will cover those losses.
There are basically two different types of policies a landlord can buy. The first is a peril policy. A named peril policy will only cover a loss if it is specifically stated in the policy as a covered peril. If loss due to a power outage outside the building is not listed, it is not covered. The second type of policy is a comprehensive policy or open peril policy which will cover a loss unless it is specifically excluded from being covered. That means if you suffer a loss and the policy does not say it is excluded, then it is covered. It is a more comprehensive and easier to manage policy, but usually costs more money to have.
Most policies offer coverage for the building. That would include damages caused by fire, smoke, wind, lightning, hail, explosion, fire department charges, emergency removal of property, damage from vehicle, damage from an aircraft, and riot or civil commotion. Some policies will limit coverage’s to either interior or exterior, not both. You must evaluate carefully.
Endorsements are coverage’s that are added to the policy in addition to the basic coverage’s for an extra premium or charge. Some important endorsements include:
Landlord liability, medical payments, personal liability, flood, earthquake, loss assessment, vandalism, and business property. If your policy does not list these coverage’s on the declarations page, chances are you are self insuring. In other words, you have no coverage.
Landlord liability is probably the second most important coverage after the building. Landlord liability protects the landlord from lawsuits arising from damages to the tenant or other person who is injured on the property. Injury does not necessarily have to be physical; it can be emotional such as libel, slander, and discrimination. Liability coverage will usually cover legal expenses and damages if awarded. This protects the landlord from having to pay the injured party should they win in court. It will count as a claim which could make it more difficult to get favorable rates for several years.
Most landlord policies cover the building on either a replacement cost or actual cash value policy. Replacement cost coverage will not take into account depreciation when paying on a claim which makes it the more expensive option. If a building is now worth $65,000 because it is old, a replacement policy will pay to build the same building at whatever that would cost today. An actual cash value pays the amount the building or property is worth, minus depreciation. That means you may have to pay out of pocket to have a similar home rebuilt. Changes in code also has to be considered such as updating a fuse box, that will probably have to be added to the policy and will cover an additional 10% of the building coverage amount.
Increasing deductibles are one of the easiest ways to reduce premiums without having to give up on important coverage’s. Deductibles are a way of self insuring for a portion of the claim. If a claim amount is $10,000 and you have a deductible of $1,000, you pay the first $1,000 and the company pays the rest if it is covered. Deductibles range from $100 to 5% of the coverage A amount, or the building coverage. The decision is simple, the higher the deductible then the lower the premium will be.
Landlord policies do not cover renters. The renter should be required to purchase their own insurance policy. Renters insurance covers their property and can also cover the landlord if they caused a loss such as a fire to the building or someone being injured due to the tenant’s negligence. Anyone can sue anyone for anything. Having a renter purchase a policy and include you as an additional insured can protect you from having a claim paid by your policy when the tenant was at fault. That is call subrogating.
Vacant properties are a very difficult situation to deal with from a landlord position and from the insurance company’s position. A vacant property does not provide income and it also stands to be at risk for things like vandalism, negligence, basic deterioration. A vacant home is a property that is used for showing to potential buyers or renters. It can not be intended to be demolished, under repair, restoration, or remodeling.
A vacant home under renovation is not considered the same as a vacant property. Few companies will insure a home that is vacant and currently being remodeled or “fixed up”. Fix up work includes painting, wood repair, installing new carpet, installing curtains, etc. A vacancy warranty clause states that a home is not undergoing renovation and will cause an insurance company to deny the claim unless they are insured under a vacant renovation policy.
Vacant homes are also limited by the amount of time they can be vacant. Policies will differ from 3 months to indefinite. Most companies will allow a home to be vacant for 6 or 12 months (depending on the company) and will not insure the property if it has been vacant for longer than 12 months. Usually a vacant home will have to be for sale and be a secondary property to qualify for coverage. Few companies specialize in vacant homes and will insure them indefinitely as long as the warranty clause (home is in a condition that is can be shown to potential buyers or renters) is being honored.
Building coverage amounts also affect eligibility for coverage. Some companies will not insure a vacant home over $250,000 while some will not consider the property unless it is worth $250,000. Limits are also to be considered as some stop at $1,000,000 while others will insure the property to the highest limit needed.
Another option to consider when looking to insure your rental home is that some companies will allow you to add the property to your existing home owners insurance policy. That has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are a multi-policy discount and having one agent or company to deal with. The disadvantages are limited coverage depending on the company and a claim will count against your homeowner’s insurance policy. Any claim will raise your rates and could make it difficult to purchase insurance at all.
To evaluate your options and decide which coverage is right for you please visit our website at http://www.getgliga.com or call us at 888-GET-GLIGA. Ask for Don.
Landlords Insurance: Specialist Insurance for Buy-to-let Owners
Landlords already have their hands full with their ever-expanding property portfolio – so when the time comes when you need to cover your property (or properties) against events you can’t control, it’s nice to know an expert is nearby to offer a helping hand.
Even when nature isn’t against you, things don’t always turn out as planned. Accidents happen, and no one can tell what will happen – so landlords simply cannot afford to take the enormous risk of not being properly insured.
Landlord’s Insurance is anything but simple, so you need to be in good hands. Whatever your requirements, most companies understand completely and provide stress-free protection using a range of insurance options to meet your individual needs – but you can also buy insurance specifically designed with the requirements of buy-to-let owners in mind.
Some insurance companies are specialists in Landlords Property Insurance. They make it simple for you to hand-pick the cover, reliability and service you require.
Not just for the landlord
Buy-to-let owners need the peace of mind in knowing that that their insurance will cover almost all potential crises, just like individual homeowners, but the problems landlords sometimes face can be much worse than that of the average homeowner.
For example, in the event of flooding, the problems faced by the average homeowner don’t bear thinking about, but buy-to-let owners with more than one property suffer the same problems, but multiplied by the number of properties they own – and they must also consider their tenants’ problems. They are the ones made homeless, and they have to return as soon as possible.
As luck would have it, the buy-to-let specialists are here to save the day. Both tenants and landlords can sleep at night, knowing that their property is protected against almost anything the world can throw at it – provided it is covered properly, of course.
Landlords Insurance is available at Simple Landlords Insurance (www.simplelandlordsinsurance.com)
A guide to renting out your second home: What you need to know when renting by yourself
It is not surprising that people want to rent out their second home because it is a great business which people take advantage of to make some extra money. Sometimes,you can gain a large steady income even more than the cost of the mortgage. But it seems that it doesn’t happen to everyone. Not all of them are successful. Frankly speaking,it’s not easy to be a successful landlord. If you want your small business to be profitable and productive,you need a guide.
Before your start this business you need to know the risk of the letting. Since you’re the owner of the property,you’re responsible for the maintenance and repairs of the place. The costs can take an unwelcome bite out of your budget. It would be
worse if you can’t find any tenants, you will lose your money.
Now if you’re still interested in being a landlord, here are some landlord tips to help you to be a successful landlord.
1.Learning the landlord-tenant laws in your area. You need to educate yourself thoroughly on landlord’s rights and responsibilities,including federal and state laws, exercise particular caution when it comes to rental agreements. The more you know, the better. This help you a lot when you run this business.
2.Buy landlord insurance. Landlord insurance serves to protect landlords during circumstances where they are prevented from using their property to earn an income.
You need to purchase landlords insurance to protect your investment. Not all insurance policies are the same.The basic insurance should cover all types of accidental losses,such as fire,wind or explosion.This can help protect you from devastating losses.
3.Take real estate tax planning.Although the income that we earn from being a landlord is subject to federal and state income taxes,tax planning of rental property still help us open up many opportunities to deduct considerable tax.
You have the right to take a tax deduction for rental expenses on your tax return.Technically, you can deduct any expense reasonably necessary to manage or maintain the property. Obviously,the deductions can include mortgage payments, insurance premiums, service payments, maintenance, repairs, cleaning expenses and so on.
4.Screen tenants. Choosing tenants is the most important.It is said that landlord’s biggest trouble is not managing and maintaining their rental properties, but handling problem tenants. Your sensible choice can help you avoid fair housing complaints and lawsuits.You need to check your potential tenant
Insuring Your Future By Letting Properties
Buy to let property is a fantastic way to ensure your future. Why are there so many people interested in purchasing properties? Instead of investing your hard earned money in the stock market some people recommend that you buy properties to let because it can be a much safer and stable way to earn money on your investment. In fact, those people that formerly relied on the dividends provided by shares to build up their pensions are now turning to this type of investment.
Michael Flannagan, a property owner explains why everyone is interested in buying property: “I can trust that my properties will be worth something in the future. It’s not like shares where I don’t have any guarantees and nail biting is common.”
People are buying up property as fast as they can because the return on the investment is far more reliable than any other short or long term investment. Becoming a landlord is an excellent way to earn a decent return on your investment—once the mortgage is paid in full, all of the income associated with the property you let will be profit; less tax and the cost of property maintenance of course. If you do things wisely, the money earned from the property you let can actually pay the mortgage. Unlike the price of shares which can fluctuate wildly, the value of property rarely declines. Clearly, the act of letting properties is based on the safety of the investment.
Nevertheless, when you start buying properties to let there are a few things that you will need to consider. First, being a landlord is not always a simple task: at least it is not as simple as it first sounds. As a landlord, you will be legally responsible for the property and will be governed by various legislation that applies to letting properties. The best person to advise you about your rights and obligations as a landlord would be a solicitor—one knowledgeable about properties and property letting.
You will also need to consider that there may be times when the property is vacant between tenants so good accounting needs to be applied. Remember, if you are counting on the money you get for letting the property to pay the mortgage you won’t necessarily have the cash immediately available. Clearly, if you begin buying properties with a view to letting them, it would be better that you have a contingency to cover the mortgage during the periods where you will find yourself without a tenant.
Another thing to consider as a landlord is that not every tenant is going to be the perfect tenant. In fact, some tenants may damage the property and you may be forced to make repairs to the property before you are able to let the property again. Again, having a cash reserve for such occasions is warranted in order to be truly prepared for whatever mishap may come your way. Better yet, investing in building and contents insurance is a must if you plan on letting any property—insurance should help you cover some or all of the damage to your property.
When you decide to invest in property you will want to buy in an area that has many resources for the potential tenant. In fact, the more resources available for the potential tenant or tenants the better—resources such as nearby shopping areas, recreational facilities and schools all make the property you plan to let particularly attractive. By purchasing property that is surrounded by resources, you will find that you will have a much easier time in letting the property. This is an important forethought when choosing your property.
Experts also advise that you keep the property you purchase for the long term if you really want to gain better returns from your purchase. Ken Derby, a property agent states it well, “Be prepared to hold on to the property you purchase for the long term. Don’t be in a hurry to make a fast turn around and don’t panic if the property prices drop suddenly. Property prices will rise again and your investment will be fine if you don’t panic.”
Don’t expect to rake in the cash once you purchase a property. Remember, like shares, purchasing property is an investment in the future, one that can make you a considerable capital profit over time. Only after the mortgage is fully paid off will you begin to see a significant turn around in terms of income but on the other hand, you can establish a regular moderate income by letting properties that are geared correctly—where the rent is more than the mortgage payment—of course, you won’t want to set the rent too high as it could deter tenants in a competitive market.
There is money to be made buying properties and letting them as long as you buy the right property and are willing to hold on to your initial investment as well as being properly prepared for the “down” periods. For all intents and purposes, the buy to let trend is replacing the market in shares investment because there are far fewer risks associated and buying a property to let can be a more stable environment for your hard earned cash. If, however, you’re looking for a little more risk and excitement in your investments, you can always try your luck in the capital markets and trade forex.