Texas · First-time buyers
The lender needs a policy at closing. The rebuild limit is still your problem.
A first-time buyer in Texas can treat homeowners insurance as a checkbox for the lender. The lender wants a policy in force so it does not have to force-place one. Force-placed insurance protects the lender’s interest in the building. It is not the policy you would have shopped, and it often leaves out your contents, your liability, and additional living expense. This page is not an application for a down-payment program and it does not invent a savings percent.
Flood is not a homeowners peril. A lender requires it in a high-risk zone. More than half of the homes flooded in Harvey were outside those zones, so “the lender didn’t ask” is not the same as “the water is covered.” Ask for the flood quote before closing, not after the first storm.
The policy: Texas homeowners and buying home insurance in Texas. Flood by address: flood maps and Texas flood. Replacement cost versus actual cash value: RCV versus ACV. What moves the premium: cost factors. A home-and-auto package is a discount on price, not a merged coverage: bundling in Texas.
