How much should I insure my house for?
Answers:
You insure your house and furnishings base on your capability to salary the required premium, and the insurance acceptance of the worth of your house & furnishings (separately).
It's current appraised value.
Forget "appraised value". Any policy based on "appraised value" will clear you very forlorn come claim time.
You need to insure the house for 100% of the cost to go back to the beginning. That usually runs between $150 and $200 per square foot, varying geographically, however, any agent worth their salt should be ready to come to your house, and calculate it for you, using a square footage estimator.
Don't forget to supply building ordinance & law coverage, if the house is more than a couple years aged; guaranteed replacement cost on the building, and replacement cost on the contents. Also, go over the "special limitiations of coverage" next to your agent, so you know if you need to programme anything seperately.
Don't skimp on the time it takes to do it right at the commencing, and you won't be left uninsured or underinsured at claim time.
For as much as it would cost to do from scratch it, PLUS refurnish it.
If it burned to the ground with adjectives your possessions inside, how much would you need to start over, plus live elsewhere while it be being rebuild?
In most cases you want to insure it for the replacement cost not the appraised value or marketplace value. In masses cases the replacement cost is more than the appraised or market appeal. This means you hold to pay for more insurance but it beat the hell out of being underinsured to the point that you can't recreate your house if it burned down. As an insurance adjuster, I have see people surrounded by that mess.
Your agent will figure the replacement cost base on a formula to rebuild the house per sq foot. It vary depending on the type of house and your locale, but it will probably be some between $65 per sg foot and $140 per sg foot.
What would it cost you within your location with todays costs of Material and labor to re-build your home.
Insure it for this amount...anything smaller quantity and you could end up
getting marketplace value and reimburse out of your own pocket.
Since this is replacement Value... cover it as such.