P2-New-Homeowners
You Installed the Water Shutoff. Now Get the Credit Applied to Your Policy
A protective device discount is a filing, not a reward. Here's what your carrier needs, the exact request language, and how to confirm it landed.
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The Home Page
The Home Page — September 2026 | The file on your house nobody reads
Labor Day weekend is the last honest weekend of the year, the one where you can still pretend the gutters are a September problem. This month is mostly about paperwork, which is unglamorous and also where the money is. [Editorial] The heat pump tax credit is gone, and some contractors
homeownership
The Previous Owner's Insurance Claims Are Still on Your House's Record. You're Paying for Them.
Your home has a seven-year claims file called a CLUE report, and carriers price your policy off it. 86 percent of Americans do not know a previous owner's claims affect their premium. Here is how to pull yours.
homeownership
Your Mortgage Payment Jumped $180 and Nobody Explained Why. It's an Escrow Shortage.
The average 2026 escrow shortfall is $2,157, or about $180 a month. Here is how escrow analysis works, where servicers get it wrong, and the four moves that lower the number.
homeownership
The Heat Pump Tax Credit Expired. Your Contractor's Quote May Still Assume It Didn't.
Section 25C and 25D expired December 31, 2025. Federal heat pump tax credits are gone in 2026, but state HEAR and HOMES rebates are not. Here is what changed and what to ask before you sign an HVAC quote.
newsletter
The Home Page — August 2026 | The fine print that costs five figures
It is peak hurricane season and the hottest stretch of the year, which is exactly when the parts of your policy nobody reads tend to make themselves known. So this month is about three of them, all quiet, all expensive, all fixable in about ten minutes each. Editorial Your insurer
P2-New-Homeowners
Do Water Leak Sensors Actually Lower Your Insurance Bill? (Yes — Here's the Math)
Leak sensors earn 3-5% off homeowners premiums; auto-shutoff valves 7-10%. The device tiers, approved lists, and payback math, explained.
P3-Insurance-Frustrated
Lightning Claims Now Average $26,616 — and Your Electronics Are the Reason
Lightning is covered — but the average claim just hit $26,616. Two cheap steps decide whether yours pays out in full or gets shortchanged.
homeownership
Your Hurricane Deductible Isn't a Dollar Amount. It's a Percentage of Your Home's Value.
Most homeowners can tell you their deductible off the top of their head. A thousand dollars, maybe five hundred. What they usually do not know is that for wind, hail, and named storms, that number may not apply at all. A separate hurricane deductible, written as a percentage of your
homeownership
Most Homeowners Never Cancel Their PMI. That's Up to $1,500 a Year You Can Stop Paying.
If you bought your house with less than twenty percent down, you are almost certainly paying private mortgage insurance, and there is a good chance you are still paying it after you no longer have to. Learning how to cancel PMI is one of the few pieces of homeowner paperwork
homeownership
Your Insurer Quietly Moved Your Roof to Actual Cash Value. A Storm Claim Now Pays a Fraction.
There is a line in your homeowners policy that most people never read, and over the last two years insurers have been quietly rewriting it. It concerns how they pay for a damaged roof. If your policy now settles roof claims at actual cash value instead of replacement cost, a
P3-Insurance-Frustrated
Your Premium Went Up Again. Here's the Part You Can Actually Control
Premiums are up again in 2026 — averaging $3,057, the fifth straight increase. Here's the discount stack and documentation moves you actually control.