The Perfect Property Podcast: An Atlanta Real Estate Guide - Clifton Alston - Home Insurance tips and tricks to get the best coverage for your biggest asset

Clifton Alston - Home Insurance tips and tricks to get the best coverage for your biggest asset

06/15/19 • 33 min

The Perfect Property Podcast: An Atlanta Real Estate Guide

Summary:

In this episode of The Perfect Property, Juli talks about homeowner’s insurance with Clifton Alston, an insurance agent with Allstate. While he has been involved in the insurance business all his life, Clifton has 10 years of formal insurance experience, both selling insurance as well as doing seminars. He has worked with thousands of clients and has lots of tips for getting great coverage for your biggest asset: your home.

Juli and Clifton talk about the basics of homeowner’s insurance like why it’s important and why you need to have an agent. Clifton also goes over life insurance, how jewelry is covered, bundling with auto insurance, and where your pets come into play! At the end, Clifton shares important information about insuring townhomes and condos, which can be different from insuring single-family homes.

What You’ll Learn:

· Why is homeowner’s insurance important? (1:03)

· Why is it important to have an insurance agent? (1:45)

· Advice for people who want to buy their first home (2:48)

· The craziest claim Clifton has had (3:30)

· How is jewelry covered with a home insurance policy? (5:47)

· What about water backup coverage? (7:28)

· Bundling auto and homeowner’s insurance (12:29)

· What about life insurance? (13:18)

· Generational wealth (16:26)

· Pets and homeowner’s insurance (17:34)

· Typical deductibles for homeowner’s insurance (19:02)

· What is a replacement cost? (19:49)

· What happens if someone robs you? (22:24)

· What causes homeowner’s insurance to go up? (25:38)

· Catastrophic events (27:44)

· Insuring condos and townhomes (29:54)

Key Points:

“Homeowner’s insurance is important because, number one, you’re protecting the biggest investment, probably the biggest asset you have.”

“The mortgage company is going to require [insurance]. Unless you’re buying a home in cash, you’re going to have to have it.”
“Having prior property insurance is always going to keep your rates low when you go to buy that home and you have to get homeowners insurance.”

“We are septic tank heavy in a lot of areas in Atlanta and not everywhere in the country has them.”

“We can do the policy just with the homeowner’s insurance but there’s about a 20% discount you’re going to miss out on when you don’t bundle your auto with the homeowners insurance.”

“Deductibles can range anywhere from the minimum at $1,000 up to 5% percent of the dwelling coverage.”

“If something happens to your home, we need to know: what is it going to cost Allstate to rebuild your home from the ground up?”

“I tell my clients to stand in one corner of each room and take a picture of the whole room. Save it on their phone. If they don’t want to save it on their phone, email it to me and I can save it to their file on our system. That way if something happens and if someone breaks into the home or if there’s a catastrophic event where you have to replace everything, we know what was in the home.”

Links:

Juli’s Email: [email protected]

Juli’s Phone Number: 404-668-8975 (call or text)

The Perfect Property Website. www.theperfectproperty.com

https://linktr.ee/julistgeorge

Summary:

What You’ll Learn:

· Why is homeowner’s insurance important? (1:03)

· Why is it important to have an insurance agent? (1:45)

· Advice for people who want to buy their first home (2:48)

· The craziest claim Clifton has had (3:30)

· How is jewelry covered with a home insurance policy? (5:47)

· What about water backup coverage? (7:28)

· Bundling auto and homeowner’s insurance (12:29)

· What about life insurance? (13:18)

· Generational wealth (16:26)

· Pets and homeowner’s insurance (17:34)

· Typical deductibles for homeowner’s insurance (19:02)

· What is a replacement cost? (19:49)

· What happens if someone robs you? (22:24)

· What causes homeowner’s insurance to go up? (25:38)

· Catastrophic events (27:44)

· Insuring condos and townhomes (29:54)

Key Points:

“Homeowner’s insurance is important because, number one, you’re protecting the biggest investment, probably the biggest asset you have.”

“We are septic tank heavy in a lot of areas in Atlanta and not everywhere in the country has them.”

“We can do the policy just with the homeowner’s insurance but there’s about a 20% discount you’re going to miss out on when you don’t bundle your auto with the homeowners insurance.”

“Deductibles can range anywhere from the minimum at $1,000 up to 5% percent of the dwelling coverage.”

“If something happens to your home, we need to know: what is it going to cost Allstate to rebuild your home from the ground up?”

Links:

Juli’s Email: [email protected]

Juli’s Phone Number: 404-668-8975 (call or text)

The Perfect Property Website. www.theperfectproperty.com

https://linktr.ee/julistgeorge

Previous Episode

JR Prince - Prospect Home Inspector's own Top Atlanta Home Inspector

Summary:

JR Prince is the guest on this episode of The Perfect Property. JR is a home inspector with Prospect Inspections and has inspected thousands and thousands of homes in the past eight years. He is a certified home inspector and knows what to look for when it comes to home safety! In this episode, he shares his expertise as well as a few of his own home inspection stories.

JR and Juli chat about the importance of getting a home inspection — both financially and for your safety! JR also talks about the most common code violations, what you need to know about radon testing, and what you should look for when choosing a home inspector. He covers more practical information like the average cost of a home inspection and what you as a buyer can expect to receive at the end of a home inspection.

What You’ll Learn:

· Why is it important to get a home inspection? (0:28)

· What problems does JR see most often on home inspections? (1:54)

· What about mold? (3:42)

· JR’s home inspection horror stories (4:47)

· Common code violations (7:43)

· Qualifications to look for when searching for a home inspector (10:19)

· What you need to know about radon and safety (12:16)

· Home inspections, wildlife, and rodents (16:01)

· Gutters and how water should be properly diverted (20:09)

· What’s important for home buyers to know (22:20)

· What if something is found during a home inspection? (23:18)

· What can buyers expect at the end of a home inspection? (24:22)

· What sort of home inspection report does JR provide to clients? (25:01)

· The average cost of a home inspection (27:11)

Key Points:
“It’s important for the buyer to have a home inspection completed so that way they get a better understanding of the overall condition of the property.”

“The average home inspection takes about three hours to complete.”

“What some people would think is a quirk or characteristic of an older home may be signs of a more significant problem that would need further investigation.”

“First and foremost, you want to ask if they’re a certified home inspector.”

“One of the things that we always counsel our home buyers on is radon. Radon is a natural gas but it’s also a dangerous gas to have in your house at certain levels.”

“Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.”

“If you haven’t had a radon test, you can go ahead and schedule one at any time.”

“If you haven’t had one previously done, they recommend every two years to have your home tested [for radon].”

“Rats are a major issue. I haven’t seen a home yet that is rodent-proof, especially being inside the perimeter.”

“Your gutters should terminate at least six feet away from the home and be directed away.”

“It’s very important to do the proper maintenance on your home. It can save you thousands in costly repairs down the road.”

“You’ll save thousands in potential damages or potential litigations just based on the fact that you got your home inspected prior to purchasing it.”

Links:

Juli’s Email: [email protected]

Juli’s Phone Number: 404-668-8975 (call or text)

The Perfect Property Website. www.theperfectproperty.com

https://linktr.ee/julistgeorge

Next Episode

The Top Ten Awesome Reasons Why to Buy Now - With Rick Hale

Summary: In this episode of The Perfect Property, our host Juli chats with Rick Hale, the operating partner for Juli’s office. Rick owns multiple Keller Williams market centers and has had thousands and thousands of real estate closings over the decades he's been in the business. He’s been selling in Atlanta since 1996, works with a team of nine active agents and staff, and is the operating partner for six real estate offices.

Rick walks us through ten reasons to buy a house now! Those reasons include tax deductions, pride in home ownership, forced savings, and bank credibility. At the end, he and Juli discuss Atlanta’s growth and Rick gives his perspective on whether or not a shift is coming in the Atlanta market.

What You’ll Learn:

· The excitement of buyers buying first-time homes (1:25)

· Reason #1: Leverage (3:54)

· Reason #2: Mortgage interest is tax-deductible (5:31)

· Reason #3: Appreciation potential (6:51)

· Reason #4: Pride in home ownership (9:20)

· Reason #5: No tax on capital gains (10:20)

· Reason #6: 1031 exchanges (11:25)

· Reason #7: Forced savings (12:00)

· Reason #8: Bank credibility (15:11)

· Reason #9: Expanding retirement through rental options (16:28)

· Reason #10: Social credibility (18:35)

· Advice for Atlanta’s growth (20:45)

· Are we heading into a shift in Atlanta? (22:50)

Key Points:
“It’s very uncommon for people to regret making a real estate purchase.”

“All of the interest paid along the way is deductible.”

“Just saving money isn’t really leveraging your money like you can with a real estate purchase.”

“The only people that I’ve found that lose money in real estate are people that have to sell at the wrong time. If you have the capacity to carry that property through the downturns, inevitably the trend line that’s well over 100 years old always favors ownership, and you’ll always create a win over time.”

“Even then if you don’t live in it, there’s still capacity with investment properties, commercial properties, and real estate where you don’t live in, you can upgrade and move into other properties and as long as you transfer that in a 1031, legal way, you can push all your gains into another property and basically defer the taxes again.”

“The ability to go to my bank and borrow money is contingent on two things: one is assets and the other is how many liabilities I have. And my credibility is directly correlated to my ability to borrow money and pay it back effectively.”

“My advice is: start to build credibility through asset acquisition and repayment.”

“If you bought ten rental properties and you held onto them for twenty years and accelerated your payment schedule and paid them all off, the likelihood of you having a multimillion-dollar asset in your pocket is extreme.”

“Real estate doesn’t suffer the same volatility that stocks do.”

Links:

Juli’s Email: [email protected]

Juli’s Phone Number: 404-668-8975 (call or text)

The Perfect Property Website. www.theperfectproperty.com

https://linktr.ee/julistgeorge