Home Insurance replacement cost?
Anyone have any perception how insurance companies figure out what it would cost to start again an entire house if it burned down or blew away...I live on long islandI would assume it is the square footage multiplied by a cost per footany ideas what the actual cost per foot is today????
Answers:
In Canada, almost every broker/agent uses the Marshall & Swift/Boeckh Residential Component Technology Evalurater. This program is available in the States but I'm not sure how popular it is nearby. You input the square footage of the house (and whther it is detached, semi or row) and the number of stories, then you input the different key features of the house which may affect the replacement cost of the house which includes: number of bathrooms and how many pieces within each; what type of garage (if any) and how abundant cars does it hold; size of finished and/or unfinished crypt; size of finished or unfinished attic; interior air conditioning; pool; size of deck; at hand are others but that is adjectives that I can think of rotten the top of my head. The program have a very extensive inventory. Each feature have an associated cost that gets added to the size/number of stories numeral. They then provide a factor to multiply the result for age, and the nouns the house is located in (nearest main urban centre). While it is not perfect adjectives insurers here, assuming it has be properly calculated, accept this multiplication as the replacement cost of the house. This is especially important if the insurer is offering Guarateed Replacement Cost for the building.
It varies. Look, I've see a hundred of these. What you do, is you figure out the rough and ready square feet of the house . . . run to a chart, and get the "underpinning rate" for the square feet. Usually you hold to interpolate, to get the actual plinth rate for THOSE square feet.
Then, to the substructure rate, you add extra for a full crypt, partial basement, attached garage, construction factor (brick costs more than frame), extra full/part baths, fireplaces, a/c built surrounded by, there are literally PAGES of extras. You append all that to the groundwork rate.
Then, you go to the age factor - and you multiply the underside total by the home age factor, then you stir to the zip code chart, and multiply THAT number by the closure code factor.
It's not a "quick & easy" number. In your nouns of the woods, I'd guestimate that a rough cost per square foot would be $175, but you'd need an exact run through (your AGENT should do this for you FOR FREE!!!!), accumulation in factor like hardwood floors, custom wallpaper, etc. My number is only just what it is . . . a WAG (wild a** guess) from a complete stranger who hasn't even seen your house.
If I be you, I WOULD NOT bet my house on a WAG from a stranger on the internet. JMHO.
I'm sure in attendance is a mathematical formula somewhere, but when I be still writing home insurance we took all the information (either rooms or square footage information), plugged the details into an "estimator" and get a value. There is a standard estimator that most companies use, and in attendance is probably a copy available somewhere on the web.
You can't only just use straight square footage, because you have to consider bathroom fixtures, finished vs. deficient basement, add-ons (built-in ovens, ceiling fan, central nouns, etc) too.