The dwelling coverage on your Texas Homeowners Insurance policy covers the structure itself. You will need enough coverage to rebuild your home at current construction costs at the time of a loss. The cost of rebuilding could be more or less than what you paid for your home or what you could sell it for today. This amount can also vary depending on cost and availability of materials. After a major catastrophe, such as a hurricane, often material and/or labor costs increase drastically because of demand and lack of availability.
You want to be certain you have enough coverage on your homeowners insurance to rebuild your home in the event of a total loss. Some of the factors that will contribute to the cost of rebuilding your home are:
- Local construction costs
- The square footage of the home
- Type of exterior walls of the home (brick, stucco, etc)
- The style of the home (ranch, contemporary, etc)
- The number of bathrooms and other rooms in the home
- Fireplaces, exterior trim and special features of the home
- Whether parts of or all of the home was custom built
- Improvements to the home
Most homeowners insurance policies in Texas offer replacement cost coverage for the dwelling and will pay to replace/rebuild the home in the event of of a loss with no deduction for depreciation. However, it is important to be certain that a replacement cost estimator has been done to determine the amount of coverage you need to carry on your home.