Gearhead Jim
Full time employment: Posting here.
We had our house custom built 40 years ago on the far fringes of suburbia, from plans DW modified, when the kids were toddlers. Now the kids are gone and the house is twice as big as we need but we still like the house, the view, and the neighborhood. We plan to live here until we choose or are forced to move to a final condo/CCRC/nursing home.
But...
Having the house built involved a huge amount time and hassle. We don't want to ever go through that again. If the house were destroyed or seriously damaged while we are still living here, probably we'd never get to live in it after all the trouble of rebuilding/repairing. The few cases I know of, it was 2-3 years before the house was ready again.
With a car, the insurance company can declare it a total loss, write you a check, and sell the damaged car to a salvage company. That doesn't normally happen with houses.
We want to eventually sell the house and move normally. But if it gets seriously damaged before we do that, is there a way to take a cash payout, even a somewhat reduced one, and let the insurance company take it from there? Our State Farm agent had no suggestions.
But...
Having the house built involved a huge amount time and hassle. We don't want to ever go through that again. If the house were destroyed or seriously damaged while we are still living here, probably we'd never get to live in it after all the trouble of rebuilding/repairing. The few cases I know of, it was 2-3 years before the house was ready again.
With a car, the insurance company can declare it a total loss, write you a check, and sell the damaged car to a salvage company. That doesn't normally happen with houses.
We want to eventually sell the house and move normally. But if it gets seriously damaged before we do that, is there a way to take a cash payout, even a somewhat reduced one, and let the insurance company take it from there? Our State Farm agent had no suggestions.