What Is My Home Worth? Market Value vs. Reconstruction Cost - Part 2

Reasons 4 - 6

4. Use of Labor - When a builder constructs many homes at once, they can efficiently schedule labor for carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other workers. For a single rebuild, labor is not as efficient and contributes to higher costs.

5. Access to Work site - Work site access is easier for brand new construction. For reconstruction, obstacles such as other homes, trees, lawns, fences & other landscaping prevent easy access. Transport then becomes longer, more difficult and consequently drives us costs.

6. Building Code Changes - Changes in building codes may require costly updating, even for undamaged parts of a home. This may include wiring or other utilities and is costly, especially for older homes.

What Is My Home Worth? Market Value vs. Reconstruction Cost - Part 2

Why is reconstruction (insurance rebuilding a property) more expensive than new construction?

1. Economies of Scale - It costs more for a contractor to build one home at a time because materials are not purchased in bulk. A single household item that matches the one that's been destroyed will nearly always cost more than if it had been part of a larger purchase.
2. Top-Down versus Bottom-Up: Repair work for a partially destroyed home is done from the top of the home down as opposed to from the foundation up. This is more time consuming and labor intensive.
3. Demolition & Debris Removal - This step is necessary before construction can begin and adds to the total cost.

See reasons 4-6 in our next post.

What Is My Home Worth? Market Value vs. Reconstruction Cost - Part 1

One of the most common questions we get when writing policies for homeowners and other types of property owners is "...how did you come up with that number to rebuild my house.."? Part of the problem is that there are so many values people encounter related to the property they own. Four of the most common values are:

1. Market Value - Used by realtors as a calculation of a home's worth for buying and selling.
2. Appraised Value - Value used by appraisers (often in new purchases and refinances) to calculate the worth of both the home (structure) as well as the value of the land it sits on.
3. Tax Value - Calculation used by a variety of municipalities to determine the rate and basis you will be taxed for the property to you own.
4. Reconstruction/Replacement Value - Used for insurance purposes to calculate the cost of possible demolition, materials, labor and partial or total reconstruction costs if a home is damaged or destroyed.

While there are other values that can be described these are generally the four most commonly confused. To add to this witches brew of valuation is the fact that these four figures rarely match. This often leaves property owners mystified over which figure to trust. The answer is you can trust them all to a certain extent. It just depends on who is calculating the value and for what purpose. Over the next few days I will list 10 things that go into evaluating a home or property as it relates to insurance (#4 listed above - Reconstruction/Replacement Value).

We look forward to hopefully "de-mystifying" this topic for you and as always encourage you to submit any topics you would like to see discussed anytime to info@dardenmiranda.com

Are You Ready?

Hurricane season is officially here! You're ready right? Maybe I should pose that question a different way. Are you ready? For those of us reading this in the surrounding Cumberland County areas who experienced the tornadoes in April we all are probably a little more ready than in previous years. While we thankfully have been spoiled with an extended absence of hurricane activity in our area for quite some time the fact remains that once again the forecasters are calling for an active season so we need to make sure we're ready.

We all think we're set with some basic essentials. Flashlight...check! Generator... check! Stock pile of bottled water...check! and the list goes on an on. The reality is that while we all hope we're prepared there are probably things we can do to make sure we're prepared.

We are attaching a link of things to consider as you are "fixin to get ready" as we say here in the south. Whether you are an individual or a business owner or both take a few moments to read and consider the information provided. It may just make the difference one day.

"Do Unto Your Customers as They Want to be Done Unto"

I am "borrowing" this quote from a colleague who taught an insurance internet course I recently attended. The impact of it was particularly powerful to me because of the two rules that accompany this philosophy...

1. If it can be done, it will be done
2. If you don't do it, someone else will

While we understand we can't be everything to everyone we can offer our clients as many choices as possible when it comes to how they reach us and do business with us...because IF WE DON'T, SOMEONE ELSE WILL. Whether it be conducting business here in the office, getting quotes via our website, reading our blog, keeping up with us on our agency Facebook page, indulging our Twitter posts or sharing business insights via LinkedIn, we believe in empowering our clients (current and future). We want to offer them the choices and tools to do business with us on their terms and we can adapt accordingly.

A great way to do take advantage of any of our convenience tools is with our new mobile application for Droid users. It is a one-stop collection point for all of our latest advances. It will soon be available for I-Phone users but until then anyone can click the links above and start doing business with us now.

Remember, just because your current agent can't offer you choices doesn't mean you don't have any. We would love a chance to earn you business today.

Droid Users Scan Here

Did You Know...I Bet You Didn't!!!

If you are an existing client or you just enjoy following us on one of our many social media sites I'd be willing to bet you didn't know about all the ways we can protect you. If you were referred to us by your realtor or mortgage company or saw an ad that helped us provide your auto insurance you may not be  getting "the rest of the story". Our fantastic staff is built so that we have specialists trained and focused exclusively on personal insurance products and coverage. Their only responsibilities revolve around servicing, advising and assisting you with the products listed below. Choose us today and experience the difference a dedicated staff can make in helping you create an insurance strategy and find savings instead of just paying that same old insurance bill every month. Look at all the products we can offer you.

• Home Insurance - Your Primary Home, Beach & Secondary Homes, Seasonal Home
• Renters Insurance - Whether you rent a house, apartment, or condo
• Landlord Insurance - For properties you own but rent to others
• Car Insurance
• Motorcycle Insurance - From sport bikes to cruisers to custom built bikes
• Boat Insurance - From weekend fishing boats to super sleuths
• RV Insurance - Whether you're just going to the campground for the weekend or traveling the country

We are your one stop shop for all your personal insurance needs. Call us today (910-483-3611) or visit our website www.dardenmiranda.com for a free quote.

Preparing for Hurricane Season

FEMA Region 6 Urges You To Resolve To Be Ready During Hurricane Season 

New website offers preparedness facts, tips and tools

Release Date: May 26, 2011
Release Number: R6-11-070
» 2011 Region VI News Releases
DENTON, Texas -- Individuals and their families are urged to “resolve to be ready” this hurricane season. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region 6 office has launched a new hurricane preparedness website to help you accomplish that goal. The website features facts about the 2011 hurricane season, as well as tools to help you execute crucial preparedness tasks such as assembling an emergency kit, formulating an individual and family plan and staying informed.
“We urge everyone to get ready now,” said FEMA Region 6 Administrator Tony Russell. “You should not wait until a disaster is imminent; it’s crucial that you take the necessary steps to prepare before a storm hits.”
You can visit the FEMA Region 6 Hurricane Preparedness website by logging onto www.fema.gov/about/regions/regionvi/updates.shtm.
 FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.  

Busines Insurance Advice - Be A Boy Scout!

If you were ever a Boy Scout as a kid, you know how important it is to be prepared. Prepared for what? For anything that life throws at you. It’s true when you’re camping in the woods and even truer when you’re running a business.

We really hope that your business is never affected by an earthquake, tornado, freak meteor from the sky or other natural disaster. But these things do happen, and an ounce of preparation before the unexpected can make picking up the pieces much easier.

·         Back up your data early and often at an offsite location. An external hard drive won’t help you if it is damaged or destroyed in a storm. Consider offsite data storage or storage in the cloud.

·         Make a comprehensive list of all of your equipment, furniture, and fixtures. It’s much easier to file your claim with a full list of your property. Pictures are even better!

·         Send electronic pictures to your agent to have attached to your e-file in their office.

·         Have a disaster preparedness plan. Do your employees know what to do and where to go in case of an emergency? What if you have customers in house when disaster strikes?

It’s estimated that 40 percent of businesses never reopen after a natural disaster. With a little planning and some help from an Erie property insurance policy, you’ll be back on your feet before you know it. Call us to talk about how you can protect your business.

-Darden, Miranda & Associates

Kissing Frogs?!?!?!?!

Finding the right insurance agent is an incredibly important decision—and it can be incredibly hard. There are dozens of factors to consider when choosing your insurance agent, and you might have to meet with several (including a few frogs) before you find one that fits your life, your style, and your situation. Many people may be tempted to choose an agent based solely on price. Price is a big consideration, but here are a few other items to consider when choosing an insurance agent:

• Listening: Does the agent pay attention to what you say, and take notes on your situation?
• Knowledgeable: Is the agent knowledgeable about the products he or she is offering? Can they answer your questions, or do they offer to find answers to questions they don’t know, rather than glossing over your concerns?
• References: Don’t be afraid to ask for references! It’s always important to see what the agent’s other policyholders have to say about them. If they can’t or won’t offer references, be wary.
• Courtesy: Did the agent come on time, or let you know that they’d be late? Did they treat you the way you’d want to be treated? If they can’t do these simple things on a sales call, how will they treat you when you have a claim?

Your relationship with your agent is important. We hope that you’ll give us a chance to sit down and talk to you about your insurance needs. We hope that we can prove to you that we’re the prince of insurance agents, and not the frog.

Welcome

Welcome to the Darden, Miranda & Associates Insurance Blog. Our intent is to provide useful information, advice, and industry tips to empower you as you learn to be a participant in your insurance strategy and not just a consumer of insurance products.

We hope you will find our posts helpful and we http://www.dardenmiranda.com/welcome any feedback, questions or comments you may have.

Many Thanks,

Darden, Miranda & Asoociates Insurance