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Save Money on These Home Insurance Tips

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:10:34 GMT

Below are seven great tips to reduce your home insurance costs thereby adding more funds to your wallet every month.

#1 Get Rid of Dangerous Toys

There are certain items such as trampolines and swimming pools that insurance companies label as dangerous. Having these types of items in your home can seriously impact and increase your home insurance costs.

It has been shown that trampolines are one of the leading causes of emergency room visits for children. In fact, nearly 68,000 children under 14 were treated for trampoline-related injuries in 2011 alone.

There are steps you can take to minimize the risk of these items and keep your home insurance bill intact. Make sure to install proper protective gear around a trampoline and put a security fence to enclose a pool area. This actually happens to be a requirement for many local building codes too. If you have taken these precautions, definitely get in contact with your insurance agent so they can change your home insurance plan appropriately.

#2 Be Selective of Your Pets

There are certain breeds of dogs that owners can have in their homes that will dramatically increase their home insurance premiums.

Actuarial data has shown that certain breeds of dogs are aggressive and can cause your premiums to go up. If you own a Rottweiler, Pit-Bull, Doberman, German Shepherd, Akita, Great Dane, etc. your home insurance premiums can go up. It doesn’t even matter if your dog is a puppy or if they have never hurt anyone before.

In fact, dog bites accounted for more than 1/3 of all home insurance liability claims in 2012 amounting to about $489 million.

#3 Do Not Insure Your Land

It has become standard practice to insure the land that the home is located on but it is often wasted money. The majority of damages that occur involved in an insurance claim come from inside the home and not from the land. You can really save a lot on your insurance costs from insuring just the home and not the surrounding plot of land it sits on.

The amount of savings you will realize of course depends on the size of your land; you will definitely want to talk to an insurance agent for more information.

#4 Secure Your Home

You can lower your costs pretty easily just by taking the necessary precautions to protect your home. Most insurance companies will provide a 2 to 15 percent discount for devices that make a home safer. These items include window grates, dead-bolt locks, window bars, and smoke/fire/burglar alarms.

By taking these steps you can reduce the damage to your home in the event of a burglary or natural disaster. Thus, when there are fewer damage claims then insurance companies will not need to charge you as much.

#5 Create of Take Part in a Neighborhood Watch Program

By creating or participating in a neighborhood watch program in can actually reduce your home insurance costs. The group’s presence in a neighborhood has statistically been shown to lower crime rates in that particular area.

Insurance companies will not automatically give you a discount for being apart of one of these programs. It can lower your premiums indirectly though because if the crime rate lowers in an area then your costs will be reduced. Crime rates are input into an algorithm that insurance companies use to determine rates. Thus, when crime rates decrease so do home insurance costs.

#6 Perform Smart Renovations

If you make renovations that make your home more disaster-resistant then this can help lower your home insurance costs. For instance, you can actually lower your premiums by installing storm shutters and shatterproof glass, or reinforcing your roof or buying stronger roofing materials.

You can also upgrade your heating, plumbing, and electrical systems. By taking this action you can reduce the risk of fire and water damage thereby lower your premium.

Before making any renovations, definitely talk to your insurance agent first to determine what impact your renovations will have on your home insurance rates. It would not be good if you performed a renovation to lower your rates and it doesn’t actually affect them at all.

#7 Make a Smart Move

This tip doesn’t apply to everyone but if you are moving anytime soon then it can be helpful. If your home is located closer to certain facilities then it can actually reduce your home insurance rates. For instance, if your home is located more than five miles away from a fire department then it can increase your premiums by 20% or higher. Thus, if you move closer to one you can dramatically reduce your bill.

If you live closer to a firehouse then emergency personnel can respond to an emergency at your house more quickly thereby lowering potential damage. This in turn will then lower your monthly home insurance bill.

The surrounding geographical area can also affect your rates. For instance, homes located by forest on the West Coast are more prone to fires. At the same time, homes located near the coast on the East Coast are more prone to wind storms and hurricanes. Therefore, if you live in these regions the risk of damage to your home increases which will in turn raise your home insurance bill.

Releveling - What it is and Why it's Important

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 02:55:33 GMT

Manufactured and mobile homes, unlike stick-built homes, are built on a steel frame that is held up by a number of individual piers underneath the home. As with any home, regular maintenance is of instrumental importance and is something manufactured home owners must take heed of.

The piers under a manufactured home require attention every so often and this action is commonly referred to as a relevel. The pier system under a manufactured home must be regularly maintained to prevent and reduce the damage caused by settling doors not opening correctly, cracks in the walls, floors being uneven, bowed skirting, rusted piers, etc.

So what exactly is a relevel and why is it important?

It is the process of adjusting the piers underneath a manufactured or mobile home in order to equalize the pressure on the main beams of the home. Technically this term is a little misleading because it is considered a support process and not a leveling process.

Typically a releveling action needs to be taken because a manufactured or mobile home is decades old, the home was initially not set-up or installed properly, or the home owners have attached additional structures on their homes over the years when the home was already not level. The primary goal of a reveling project is to ensure that each component of the manufactured home has an equal weight distribution. If performed correctly, this will safeguard the components or piers from dealing with an unequal share of the supporting work and should ensure the system is in compliance with the original manufacturer’s guidelines for weight bearing.

Homes that are decades old can often be cumbersome when performing a relevel. This is because home owners have often made improvements over a period of time even when the house may not have been level to begin with. Caution must be taken so that aggressive adjustments do not cause new problems with the roof, windows, or plumbing.

Another thing about manufactured homes that are decades old, a lot of the original materials over time may have deteriorated or may not be consistent with industry standards anymore. There are a few such examples of this occurring. One is if the piers have become brittle or start crumbling. Another is if the piers and pads have begun to settle into the ground. This can cause either the tops of the piers to be over-extended or the piers to be rusted.

If damage to this extent has occurred, then the understructure may need a more comprehensive overhaul known as reconditioning. This process is used if piers and pads need to be replaced, all of the components need to be brought above grade, ensuring there is an equal spacing distance between piers and pads, and making sure all screws meet the manufacturer’s specifications. All of this is commonly called releveling but the industry term would be equalizing the pressure and reconditioning the undercarriage.

How often should I relevel?

The piers under a manufactured home should be adjusted at a maximum of 3 to 5 years. This standard rule of thumb could change however based on the pier system of the manufactured home, the ventilation under the home, irrigation systems, plumbing leaks, and climate. In moist climates particularly, moisture under the home keeps the ground soft thereby increasing the speed at which the piers and pads settle into the ground.

Natural Pest Solutions for Your Home

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 05:59:30 GMT

Pests are a common problem for many households and people are often forced to
use toxic pesticides and chemical sprays to keep them away. What these people don’t know however
is that there are some very useful natural solutions to control or eliminate pests within or around
your home. Some natural pest control solutions are outlined below:

1) Flies – they hate the smell of basil and are repelled by the plant itself. If you are having issues with flies in your home, put pots of basil at doorways, windowsills, and on the kitchen counter. If you don’t have enough sun for potted basil then you put some dried basil in a muslin pouch and rub it in targeted areas occasionally to ensure the scent stays strong.

2) Mosquitoes – catnip has been shown to repel mosquitoes more effectively
than DEET. If you have a mosquito problem then try to grow some catnip plants at your home.
If this isn’t possible, than you can always buy some undiluted catnip oil and apply it to
your skin every two hours or as needed. Just watch out for any cats that may be around!

3) Spiders- they are not fond of the acidity or scent of citrus. What you can
do is start by mixing water and unsweetened lemon or lime juice in a spray bottle. Then, using this
solution, wipe down doorways and windowsills with it. If they are giving you problems in
your garden, then you spread lemon, orange, or lime peels around and this will repel them as
well.

4) Ants – if you have spotted ants, then make a 50/50 solution of water and
vinegar so that you can wipe down countertops and other affected areas. Ants leave a scent trail
for others to follow while they are searching for a food source. The solution of water and
vinegar will get rid of this scent trail that ants use to navigate.

5) Mice – a pair of barn owls and their brood can eat up to 3,000 mice in a
nesting season. How do you attract these guys to you property then? You can build an owl box for
them to nest in if you don’t already have a quiet rafter or tree crook available. If it is suitable
enough for them, then the same owls could return to this same place season after season.

6) Wasps – they are extremely territorial and they will not build a nest
within 200 yards of another one. Thus, you should buy and put up a fake nest! This can be found in a
number of stores online nowadays and once acquired put one up in the front and back yard and
are all done.

7) Fleas – by salting and vacuuming your floors you can kill flea eggs. Fleas
have a three day reproduction cycle however so you will have to be diligent in your efforts.
As a result, salt every day for nine days and vacuum every third day. Important note: ensure you
empty the vacuum every time or the live ones will crawl right back out again!

8) Dust Mites – Cinnamon bark oil has been shown to control dust mites so
first you can mix several drops into a 50/50 solution of water and denatured alcohol.
Afterwards, spray the solution on bedding, carpets, and any other affected areas where dust
collects.

9) Fruit Flies – You can trap fruit flies by filling a glass three quarters
full with cider vinegar, then adding six to eight drops of dishwashing liquid, and then filling it to the
top with warm water. This solution is extremely effective and should take care of your problem
right away!

10) Deer – quite a few people have found that hanging Irish Spring soap
around places that deer like to eat works pretty well in deterring them. Alternatively, sprinkle shavings
or small chunks on the ground to discourage them from feasting on certain areas as well.

Karsten Manufactured Homes - Balboa Series

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 05:33:14 GMT

As a manufactured home dealer, we find it very important to provide homes to customers that we know we would want to live in ourselves. No one really wants to live in a substandard home that is falling apart. Thus, one of our greatest missions is to ensure that this doesn't happen, we want our customers to be completely happy with their homes purchase. We have put in hours of research in order to make this a reality and we have made our selections. We now can confidently say that we have the best quality and most beautiful manufactured homes available in California. Below is a youtube video that gives a video tour of the brand new Balboa Island home series that Karsten is introducing soon. It is a beautiful looking home and would definitely be great to live in.