Inflation has made all of us well aware that prices are high. The price of gas, the price of services, the price of nearly everything, including homes.
It’s our responsibility to insure homes to value given the current market so that we can make your policyholders whole again in the event of a loss - regardless of costs being high.
Rockford Mutual utilizes the E2Value valuation system to reveal the appropriate value of a home. As you know, there are many factors taken into consideration when entering a home and its properties into a
valuation system:
CONSTRUCTION QUALITY
Construction Quality is one of the most important aspects of any valuation system. Start by trusting your first instinct about the home. Once you have seen the home or it has been described to you, how would you compare it to the rest of the US
housing stock?
E2Value offers guidance in the process of quality selection with definitions
and pictures in the Glossary that is available.
Selecting the appropriate quality
• Basic/Economic: This type of construction is typical of manufactured housing, cabins, and cottages
• Modest/Fair: These houses are plain and unpretentious. They also have little ornamentation or decoration. A room or two of the home may exhibit features of an average home, but the predominant quality is modest.
• Average/Standard: There are standard features and finishes throughout. A room or two may exhibit feature of an above average home, but the predominant quality is average.
• Above Average/Upgraded: A house of this quality is sometimes called a “Spec House”, usually a fully upgraded version of a builder’s plan with high quality materials. A few of the rooms or part of the house is customized for the owner.
• Expensive/custom: Materials for this house would be purchased at boutiques or specialty stores. Designers are usually involved. The entire home was “customized” for the owner.
• Very Expensive/Luxury: Materials for this house may be acquired from major cities in the US. Architects and Designers may be flown in to work on the house.
• Opulent/Museum Quality: This is a house typical of your super wealthy or major celebrities. Architects or Artisans may be flown in from around the US or from other countries.
The majority of the homes that are in our underwriting territory will fall into the Modest/Fair or Average/Standard qualities.
FOUNDATION
The cost estimator includes calculation for a slab. If the foundation is other than a slab, you have to include this in the E2Value replacement cost estimator. Here are some of the options:
• Basement Finished|below grade
• Basement Unfinished|below grade
• Basement Partially Finished|below grade
• Basement Finished|walk-out
• Basement Unfinished|walk-out
• Basement Partially Finished|walk-out
Regarding the partial finishes, this is not to be used when part of the basement is finished and part of the basement is not finished. This is for an area that has some
finishing but not completely finished living space. If part of the basement is finished
and part is unfinished, you would list both basement types and the square feet that applies to each area. For example, you have a basement that is 1,000 square feet.
The basement is 50% finished. You would enter Basement Finished – 500 sq ft and basement Unfinished – 500 sq ft.
GARAGES
There are many different types of garages on a home. It is important to select the correct construction style:
• Attached
• Finished Attached
• Basement
• Finished Basement
• Built-in
• Finished Built-in
PORCHES
The style of the porch makes a difference in the replacement cost due to the additional materials required for the construction, here are some of the most common porches available:
• Open
• Enclosed
• Covered
• Screened
DECKS
The type of material used to construct the deck is important in calculating the replacement cost. Here are the types of decks available:
• Specialty Wood: The specialty wood should be used if high-grade wood is issued for the construction.
• Synthetic Lumber: Synthetic should be used if it is construction of composite woods, resins, or plastics.
• Wood
If the homeowners believe that any of the data in the estimate that you created are not correct, those data points should be changed. That could make a difference in the estimate. However, if the data is correct, our research supports the replacement cost in the report.
Our goal is to provide an accurate replacement cost so that the home can be insured to value. That means properly valuing the replacement cost for the home so that the homeowner can rebuilt their home in the event of a loss.
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