Over the past few months you may have seen my blogs about unfortunate housing experiences my son and his family have faced recently. If you missed them, here are the links:
Last weekend, when tornado warnings were announced for the area, we all knew the likelihood was great that my son's next house - scheduled for move-in on June 1 - would surely be hit, based on their recent experiences. Fortunately, no tornado materialized. So now they're on to House #3, assuming you don't count the six weeks their family of five lived in a hotel room - if you do, that was House #3 and now they're on to House #4 - all within 8 weeks!
Let me pick up where that second blog post ended. Renter's insurance probably saved my son and his family from bankruptcy and homelessness. Seriously! His insurance agent had recommended a rider to his renters insurance for sewage back-up, saying that three times as many homes have this problem as any other risk factor such as fire, vandalism, storm damage, etc. That's probably why it's not included.
(By the way, we checked with our homeowner's insurance, after this happened, and it's a $25 rider we have since added. I suggest you do the same!)
When the family evacuated their home as sewage flooded the first level and literally bled through the living and family room walls from a burst sewer pipe, they didn't have time to gather any personal effects. The insurance adjustor wrote them a check the next day to purchase clothes and necessities, and arranged for them to stay at a nearby hotel. That stay ended up lasting from April 15 until June 1, for a family of five including three children ages 14, 6, and 4 - One bathroom, a kitchenette (a 5' wall of the entry area) and two rooms that would fit in the living room of the house they had to leave.
That renter's insurance also covered the cost of a restoration company packing up and moving everything they owned to their facility where they cleaned, sanitized, and repaired the family's personal belongings and stored them until the next home was available. Yesterday, they delivered everything to the new house in Bowie.
Can you imagine what all this would have cost, without that sewage back-up rider on their renter's insurance? 6 weeks of hotel, moving everything they owned, getting it sanitized and restored, moving it to the new house... I'm sure it cost many thousands of dollars!
Tim's new home is nicer than the other two, although it has 3 bedrooms and will require some juggling of the family's lifestyle - but this will seem like a castle after six weeks in a hotel.
I really must thank my friend Ed Haraway, the broker of Exit Realty in Bowie - he, his associate, and his clients all contributed to making this a very pleasant real estate transaction.
The title of this started out to be "A Happy Ending - I Hope" but "A Happy Beginning - At Last" is more appropriate, don't you agree?
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That is always a good thing to have and since it is also so cheap! I think it is very wise to have. Great post!