Storm Roof Insurance Tips

No one can predict weather. Hence, if you live in storm prone regions in the United States, it is advisable that you take up a storm insurance. When you are purchasing storm insurance, ensure that it is covering roof insurance in it. Roof is one of the most damaged parts in a house when hit by a storm. Therefore, once the storm is over, go out and check your roof for any damages. Take photographs and make a note of the damages caused to the roof. These will be needed when you contact your insurance agent to get the claim from the insurance company.

When you contact your insurance agent, tell him in detail regarding the damages such as leaking that are caused due to the storm and any repair that would be needed on an urgent basis. After you have contacted your insurance agent, you will get a call from adjuster from the insurance company. In most cases, he will come to the house and see the damages caused due to the storm. He will then inform the insurance company regarding the estimated cost of the damages.

So, when purchasing storm insurance, check in detail if the insurance company is covering your roof in the claim or not.

Earthquake insurance

Earthquake insurance is ensuring one’s property in the eventuality of an earthquake if the policyholder’s house gets destroyed. So, if you reside in an area which is prone to earthquakes, getting an earthquake insurance policy will be a viable option for you. The rates of insurance for earthquakes policy varies as per the location and likelihood of an earthquake. There are many regions in the United States, such as the mid-west, which are prone to earthquakes. Some of the states included in mid-west are:

1. The New Madrid Seismic Zone in southeastern Missouri: This region includes eight states of Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Tennessee.

2. The Wabash Valley Seismic Zone along Illinois: This region includes three states Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky which are bordering Indiana.

California and Charleston area in South Carolina are also among high earthquake prone regions in the United States. California is the state with maximum number of earthquake insurance than any other state in the country. A lot of homeowners are already covered under earthquake insurance but those who are not should consider it to safeguard their biggest financial asset against it. Making an investment towards earthquake insurance will help you greatly if unfortunately your area is stuck by the natural calamity.

Home Affordable Refinance Program

With the rising inflation rate and poor housing market, anyone can get in a deep neck situation with their mortgage loans. In such scenario, Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) can come to their rescue. In the United States, HARP was set up by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2009 as a federal program to homeowners who are looking for refinancing their mortgage loans. These are provided to homeowners who are ‘underwater’ and ‘near-underwater’ conditions with their home mortgage loans.

The program aims at helping homeowners with mortgage refinance whose mortgage payments are current but are not able to refinance their mortgage loans due to the U.S. housing market correction.

Some of the qualifying criteria to apply for HARP are:

1. Regular payments for the past 12 months

2. The loan to value ratio at the time of applying should be more than 80 percent

3. Mortgage loan should be backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae

4. Mortgage must have closed on or finalized on or before May 31, 2009.

5. Mortgage loan has not been refinanced in the last 3 years.

So, if you have been looking to refinance your mortgage loan but was unable to do so, HARP can come to your rescue and help save a substantial amount in your monthly payments.

Foreclosure Process

A foreclosure is the process where the property is seized due to the owner’s inability to pay the monthly installments. Delinquency, Foreclosure & Eviction are the various stages that the owner goes through to be forced out of his or her property.

If a homeowner misses the mortgage payments on the first of the month, a late fee is charged on the mortgage amount for the next 15 days. However, if the homeowner misses the payment by 60 days, then a demand letter is sent, noticing and giving them an extension of 30 days to pay the delinquent amount.

Going further, if the homeowner passes 90 days in paying the amount, then the loan is transferred to the foreclosure department. The default notice is then transferred to the county and the same is mailed out to the homeowner within ten days. From here, the homeowner is given another 90 days to make the payment for the delinquent amount.

In case of no payments are made after a period of 90 days, a notice of sale is recorded. According to the notice, the lender will sell the house within a period of 21 days. The copy of notice of sale is recorded on the county and a similar copy is sent to the homeowner. Following the sale of the property, the eviction process starts from the foreclosed owners.

529 College Savings Plans

529 College Savings Plans were created by the Congress in 1996 to help parents save for their children’s college fund. These saving plans are also known as ‘Qualified Tuition Program’ and give tax benefits on the principal amount. So, if you are a parent of a new-born, then saving in these plans can reap you maximum benefits. There are two types of 529 College Savings Plans:

1. Pre-paid Tuition Choice: In this option, one can pay a child’s tuition fees at the current rate for the eligible state colleges or universities. The plan is also applicable if he or she decides to attend a college outside the state. Private colleges are also covered under this plan that allows parents to buy a tuition unit for a year.

2. 529 Savings Option: This plan allows parents to save money towards their children’s tuition fees. Funds from the account can be used to pay towards a child’s tuition fees, school fees, books, room rent and various other expenses towards higher-education expenses. Every state has their own specific rules and regulations with the underlying same law governing all of them.

So, save towards your child’s educational fund, so that when he or she grows up you are able to secure their future by providing them higher education.

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Accident Health Insurance plan

Accident health insurance plan is a practical solution for anyone who is looking to insure themselves against any accidents. These plans come under indemnity category and will provide insurance for your injuries resulting from an accident.

There are no qualifying criteria for applicants when applying for Accident health insurance plans. The best part of these plans is that they can be redeemed from any doctor, hospital and other healthcare facilities. The plan has the coverage amount of $2,500, $5,000, $7,500, or $10,000 for its beneficiaries.

The typical deductible amount that a person needs to pay before he or she receives the amount is $100 dollars. When you have covered yourself under an accident health insurance plan, medical bills such as ambulance charges, lab tests, x-rays and other such expenditures are also paid under the cover plan.

Under most cases accident health insurance plan will pay for a person’s accidental injuries. However, they are not applicable if the person during the time of the accident is found to be under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.

So, if you haven’t insured yourself under accident health insurance plan, it is advisable that you insure the most important thing in your life i.e. yourself.

Home Purchase Loan for Self Employed

It is everyone’s dream to purchase their own home, but it is not an easy process. Applying for mortgage loans can be a tedious and tiresome process, with months in waiting. However, self-employed people find it more difficult than people with fixed regular jobs in finding the lender which will provide them with the best interest rates.

One of main reasons behind this difficulty is the uncertainty associated with incomes and job-security of a self-employed applicant. There is no guarantee of a fixed income of the debtor affecting the loan repayment. But that does not mean that self employed cannot apply for the loan.

When a self-employed person is applying for a home-loan, there are certain qualifying criteria’s for qualifying. The applicant needs to provide income proof that will furnish as the status that the person business is going fine financially.

Apart from the income proof, there are other documents that need to be submitted with the bank to apply for a mortgage loan. These include the business credit report, trading tax returns and business license. Another criterion is that the person should have been self-employed for at least a period of three years prior to applying for the loan.

So, if you are qualifying the criteria, you can apply for a mortgage loan to purchase your own home.

Foreclosure and Eviction Process

Many times due to unfortunate circumstances, several homeowners have to face foreclosure and eviction from there homes. The process can be exhausting process with the family leaving the property and moving to a new place.

Foreclosure is the process of selling a debtor’s property to recover the loan amount. Generally, a foreclosure takes place if the debtor is late behind his/her payments for around 3 to 6 months. If the debtor is unable is pay the amount after this period, banks order foreclosure of the property to recover the loan amount.

Once the property is put for foreclosure, the eviction process law varies from state to state. Some states give a period of one year for homeowners to stay and redeem the property and some states do not have any eviction period. An eviction process generally takes about 2 to 4 weeks, where the homeowner is given the notice to look for another place to live. But once, the notice period gets over, locks are changed and the homeowners are put on the streets if they have not evicted the property yet. Therefore, it is better to look out for a new place before the sheriff comes home for the eviction process.

College savings with 529 Plans

In the United States, college fees are extremely high with a big expenditure on the part of the parents. But at the same time, they are an investment for your child’s future. People who have a better educational background earn and live a better life with better amenities and money to support their own families.

If you are a new parent, it is best to start investing in your child’s education from today itself to make sure that you have saved enough money for your child’s education. Among many plans, 529 plans are a good option to invest your money.

The 529 plan is a state-operated savings plan, which has various benefits such as tax-exemption on the capital amount. The plan was introduced by Congress and is also known as qualified tuition programs (QTPs). Introduced in 1996, it is one of the popular investment plans offered by all the states in the country.

Every state offers differ plans to its citizens, but there are two major divisions offered by all the states.

• College saving plans

• Prepaid tuition plans

529 plan offers are exempted from federal taxes even in the case of withdrawals, as long as the withdrawals are towards paying college fees of your child. So, of you are planning to invest in college funds 529 plans are a viable option.

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