Cities Where Home Prices Are Collapsing

The top 10 areas where home prices are expected to drop by 7.5% or more:

And this can be yours for the looowww, looowww, price of.......

10. Ocean City, NJ

9.   Las Vegas, NV

8.  Panama City – Lynn Haven – Panama City Beach, FL

7.  Flagstaff, AZ

6.  Merced, CA

5.  Cape Coral – Fort Myers, FL

4.  Riverside – San Bernardino – Ontario, CA

3.  Naples – Marco Island, FL

2. Phoenix – Mesa – Glendale, AZ

1.  Detroit- Livonia – Dearborn, MI

A number of these cities have private communities listed on Across the Fence.  Check them out to see if you can find a bargain!

http://247wallst.com/2012/05/09/cities-where-home-prices-are-collapsing/2/

Homeowner’s Insurance in a Coastal Area: Read This to Prevent Buyer’s Remorse

"What do you mean I'm in a high risk area???"

This blog entry was contributed by guest blogger, College Football Fan:

So you want to purchase a home anywhere from the coast of Texas over to Florida and then up through the coast of Maine?  If so, you need to expend some effort to determine if the new property will be eligible for a homeowner’s insurance policy. If a company writes a policy, the cost will be more expensive that what you are used to buying. You also may be surprised to discover that many companies will not write a policy for your new or current coastal home.

For instance, in eighteen North Carolina counties (and these do not have to be counties boarding the Atlantic Ocean), a home is required to have two polices.  One home policy will cover the hazard aspect and the second policy will cover wind and hail.  The insurance company provides the hazard coverage, but it will not normally write a policy for wind and hail.  The coverage of last resort for wind and hail is the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA).  The latter organization is subject to review by the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance.  Again, this coverage is the  coverage of last resort.  The two policy premiums added together will be the total homeowner’s insurance premium and this sum could shock the homeowner.

Another factor influencing your high home insurance cost is the location of the closest fire station to the home.  Some communities are being built, or already have been built, in non-urban locations.  For example, if your home is located six miles from the fire department then your residence will be placed in the worst, and most expensive, fire protection categories ranging from “category 9” to “category 10.”  Any distance more than five miles from a fire station can increase the insurance premium many hundreds or thousands of dollars greater than what it would be under “normal” circumstances.  Furthermore, many insurance companies will not write an insurance policy for a residence greater than five miles from a fire station.  And, if you are fortunate to find a company that will write a policy, the company may require a homeowner purchase their car insurance from it.

In conclusion, how can one lessen high home insurance costs in a planned community?  First, examine the policy costs and if excessive to your taste and budget then locate to a planned community that is not in a coastal area.  Other discontented current and potential owners may want to search for a different insurance company which will write a policy for a lower premium.  In addition, dwelling coverage and insurance premiums have greatly increased during the recent inflationary housing price increases.  A new insurance company (and perhaps your current company) will be willing to write a policy for the amount of coverage that matches today’s replacement costs.  This new lower dwelling coverage will mean a lower insurance premium. Finally, the current property owner can try to sell their home.  There are advantages to living in a coastal area, but the cost of home insurance is not one of them.

Note:  A website to get you started in evaluating reviews and ratings of insurance companies: http://insurance.freeadvice.com/ and click “All Companies” after “Safeco” company.

Equestrian Communities – The New Golf?

An Across the Fence visitor wrote in shortly after the site launched asking if we had a list of equestrian communities located throughout the United States.  I knew that we had a few listed on the site, but that this was something we needed to research further.  In doing so, we came across an article written in the Denver Post talking about the popularity of equestrian communities and how it was considered to be the “new golf”.  With nearly 2 million horse owners in the United States, people are looking for places to live where they can have their horses nearby – in some cases, next to their houses.  The photo below is of a house (and the horse who lives there) in Burbank Rancho, a suburb of Los Angeles.

House in Burbank Rancho, CA

We are still compiling the list and making sure we’ve captured key points about them before posting the full list on our site.   We’ll have around 300 communities in all, which we’re excited to share with you.  Stay tuned…

Developers build equestrian communities – The Denver Post.