While the most significant increases are in areas where hurricanes are a risk, even homeowners in non-coastal areas are seeing increases in their home insurance rates. Here's a few tips on how you can save on your monthly premium:

• get a copy of your CLUE report - just like a credit report, this will give you a detailed list of every claim ever placed on your home. And, just like a credit report, this can contain errors. Insurers can justify increases based on your CLUE history, so it's worth checking it out.


• get a quote from several companies - most new homeowners just use "someone my family recommended". Sure, loyalty is honorable ... but, a 10-20% savings annually with another company would be worth a switch. If nothing else, a lower rate from a competitor will give you ammunition to ask your current company for a lower rate.


• make sure you're getting all discounts available - believe me, your insurer is not likely to remind you about these, but they can all save you big money on your annual premium ... install burglar and fire alarms ... combine home & auto policy ... install deadbolt locks ... update your plumbing & electrical ... these are just examples that you may already be doing, but your insurer needs to know!

If you'd like a recommendation on companies to compare your current rate with, please call or email me anytime - I have some great contacts in the industry.

Many of my local readers may not care, but housing sales are up in southern California by over 69% from this time last year. While it may seem insignificant to someone in north Georgia, I think otherwise.

You see, this is simple economics in action ... the median sales price for this area was down 39% from last year ... even though the # of sales were up. What this tells me is that there ARE still buyers out there, and they WILL buy once they feel the prices are reasonable.

What we experienced over the past few years was a bubble, no doubt. But, just like the case above, the # of sales will slowly come back around as buyers home prices adjust downward to correct the inflated values of a few years ago. The # of people interested in buying and selling real estate hasn't diminished ... we've just lost all the potential purchasers that were using real estate as a tool for big appreciation gains. Once investors and owner-occupied buyers alike get more realistic with their expectations of what a house will return (or lose), the market will rebound.