Disaster decision - Do you need insurance?Written by Jakob Jelling
The expenses involved with owning a home can be overwhelming at times - routine maintenance, repairs, seasonal preparations, improvements. Not to mention taxes, fees, and all those monthly bills. Some homeowners, in trying to reduce their expenses, wonder if they really need disaster insurance. Disaster insurance is typically defined as additional homeowner's insurance to cover events like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods. Home insurance policies typically cover hurricanes and tornadoes (review your policy to be certain in covers damage from such events). But often damage from floods and earthquakes isn't covered. This extra insurance, if desired, must be purchased in addition to your standard homeowner policy, and it can be expensive, depending on where you live. Because disaster insurance can be expensive, it's a type of coverage some homeowners opt not to buy. But in some cases they are required to buy. For example, mortgaged homes in US that are located in designated flood hazard areas
| | At home in your overseas homeWritten by Jakob Jelling
Homeownership, in any form, is a big step for most people. In fact, it's often one of biggest financial decisions of our lives. Despite that, sometimes a homeowner in one country will want to buy a second home in another country, whether for a vacation home or future retirement. Usually they make this decision after realizing they visit same country every chance they get, but sometimes it's because they have relatives or friends nearby too. Anyone considering buying a second home overseas will of course want to make sure they're comfortable with cultural and language differences they're bound to encounter. If you're used to visiting area regularly, you will no doubt already be familiar with some of these. To be sure, you may want to rent a home in that area first, maybe even for a few years in a row, before purchasing your own home.
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