WHAT IS RENTER'S INSURANCE & DO I NEED IT?Written by dan the roommate man
If you are moving into an apartment you may want to consider investing in insurance. Along with first month's rent, chances are you will be asked to pay a security deposit. This is a type of insurance for your landlord. The landlord can use this deposit to pay for any damages caused during your residency. For you, security comes in form of renter's insurance.Most renters use homeowner's form of insurance known as HO4 policy. This policy will typically cover furniture, clothing, and most personal property in event of fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm, or water damage from plumbing. In most cases, insurance company will take your word for what you think your property is worth. However, if you're wanting to insure your jewelry, art pieces or other collected items, you might need to pay extra for what's called a "Scheduled Personal Property Endorsement." For this type of coverage, insurance company will send out an appraiser. An appraiser will also be sent out to your property in event that your insured items have been damaged. For a little extra, most insurance companies will cover your things on a replacement-cost basis. For example, if your old microwave is only worth fifty dollars, but it would cost one hundred and fifty to replace it, company will insure that microwave for a hundred and fifty dollars. That way, in event of an actual disaster, or if your property is damaged and your insurance company is going to cover it, you won't be reimbursed for a ten year old refrigerator or a five year old couch, but for what it will cost to replace them.
| | COLLEGE ROOMMATES 101Written by dan the roommate man
"Don't expect to be best friends with your roommate, just settle for not killing each other...""You would not believe how weird my roommate is..." "My roommate from hell did it again..." Yes, I heard all roommate stories before I started college. The majority of them were about how awful roommates were and how it was impossible to get along. I had a major case of roommate phobia before I started college and I was convinced that I would get a psychopath for a roommate and everything would go downhill from there. To my surprise, my roommate and I became best friends and we decided to live together again this year. I know it is definitely rare that my roommate and I ended up best friends, but truth is, everyone can learn to get along with their roommates. It doesn't require that two of you become best friends, or even friends at all. You just need to practice common courtesy. Here are a few helpful tips and guidelines: Dan's Roommate Survival Guide 1. The first thing you and your roommate should do is to sit down and write a living contract together. List rules for room that both of you agree to follow. For example, quiet hours, telephone calls, borrowing each other's things, having friends sleep over, etc. Writing contract together ensures that both of you understand what is agreed upon. Also, when one of you breaks one of rules, there is written proof that contract was violated, as opposed to two of you arguing day in and day out about what rules were in first place. 2. After contract is written, try your best to follow it. When you break one of rules, apologize and acknowledge that you broke a rule. Don't pretend it didn't happen or hope that your roommate didn't notice. They probably did, and they will get upset with you if you pretend it didn't happen. Also, when your roommate breaks one of rules, be forgiving, especially if you've broken a few rules yourself. Don't hold grudges and keep tabs of when your roommate broke rules and bring it up every time two of you have a fight. This is extremely annoying and your roommate will end up doing same. Then two of you will have hour-long fights as both of you bring up everything that other person did wrong since beginning.
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