Kathleen Howley

2 weeks ago | bankrate.com | Kathleen Howley |Amelia Buckley

Eloy Carmenate, a real estate agent in Florida for over three decades, remembers a time when getting a home insurance policy before buying a property was more of an afterthought than the challenge it can be now. “It’s always been a requirement to have insurance if you are getting a mortgage, but it wasn’t the big deal it’s become in the last few years,” says Carmenate, an agent with The Corcoran Group in Miami Beach.

3 weeks ago | bankrate.com | Kathleen Howley |Jessa Claeys

Buying a previously flooded home likely will cost owners an average $56,452 in flood damage over the life of a 30-year mortgage. Homes that have flooded in the past are likely to flood again, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Almost half of U.S. states have inadequate or non-existent flooding disclosure laws. Jackie Jones bought her house in a small town in Georgia seven years ago. Since then, every time there is heavy rain that lasts more than a day, she feels anxious.

1 month ago | bankrate.com | Kathleen Howley |Amelia Buckley

After more than a foot of rain fell within a few hours in Oxford, Connecticut, last August, Randi Marcucio entered her house one last time and grabbed her three-year-old son’s teddy bear. “I didn’t know that the whole house was going to go, but I knew it wasn’t safe to stay the night, and I knew my son would want his teddy bear,” says Marcucio, an emergency room nurse and a single mother.

1 month ago | bankrate.com | Kathleen Howley |Jessa Claeys

Homeowners will soon be able to make monthly flood insurance payments without being charged an extra fee. The change is aimed at increasing the number of homes covered by flood policies. Policy participation has been declining in recent years even as more people move to flood-prone areas and natural disasters increase.

1 month ago | bankrate.com | Kathleen Howley |Jessa Claeys

Homeowners can now make monthly flood insurance payments without being charged an extra fee. The change is aimed at increasing the number of homes covered by flood policies. Policy participation has been declining in recent years even as more people move to flood-prone areas and natural disasters increase.