Home ownership comes with lots of ups and downs: If you’re still making mortgage payments, you’re investing into an asset that will eventually be 100% yours. If you own that title free and clear, it feels good to know your family has a valuable asset. But you’re also fully responsible for any necessary maintenance and repairs, and of making monthly insurance payments.
While some people do have plenty of money to spare, it always feels good to trim the fat on unnecessary expenses. And depending on where your home is located, you might be flushing flood insurance payments down the drain. So what can you do to verify whether you can save some money? You get started by looking for your elevation certificate.
Where can I find my elevation certificate?
Although the name sounds self-explanatory, you might still need some clarification on where you can get yours. Technically, your home’s certificate should be located with the closing documents when you first purchased it. But if you don’t know where those are either, there’s no need to stress. Any professional engineer or surveyor can issue another one.
How can it help me save money?
Once you have it, you can provide it to your insurance provider, to compare it to estimated floodwater elevation. The higher the flood risk, the higher the premium. But don’t be discouraged thinking that if you already are required to carry flood insurance, it means that you’re stuck with that determination. FEMA’s flood rate maps change periodically. If your risk has decreased, your payments may go down as well. There’s even a chance that they can be completely eliminated and you can even be reimbursed for payments made during the past year.
If you think it sounds too good to be true, let us make a believer out of you. Contact us for a free evaluation of your property. Wouldn’t saving money be a perfect gift for the holidays?