Ad copy

Finally moved back to the USA from overseas and it was the best decision we ever made... EXCEPT for one thing So we moved back to Dallas last August after 3 years in Germany and the difference was immediate. We were renting a tiny 2 bedroom apartment in Munich for $3,200/month. Now we've got a 4 bedroom house with a yard in Plano for less than that. Groceries cheaper. Gas cheaper. We can actually take the kids out to dinner without checking our bank account first. My wife got an amazing job offer in Richardson and the salary goes way further than anything we could've done overseas. Property taxes reasonable. I can park in my own driveway. Drive on the right side of the road again. Even the people are friendlier. Neighbors brought us dinner the first week. In Munich we lived next to the same people for 3 years and never had a real conversation. Everyone told us we'd regret coming back. Honestly? We've never been happier. EXCEPT for ONE thing And it's so stupid I almost didn't believe it when it happened Home insurance I didn't have homeowners insurance overseas obviously, but I did my research before we bought the house. Everyone said expect to pay around $2,000-2,500 a year for a house like ours. Called my insurance company to get coverage on our new place off Preston Road. Agent puts me on hold for a few minutes. Comes back: "Okay I've got you all set up, your annual premium is $3,640" I said wait what She said "$3,640 per year" I said I was told it would be like $2,000-2,500, how is this $3,640? "Yes sir, that's the current rate for your area and property type" I just sat there confused. I said I just moved back from overseas, bought a normal house, how is this so expensive. She said something about claim rates and regional pricing. I stopped listening. Hung up and told my wife. She said that doesn't make sense, call other places. So I spent the next week calling around. Got quotes from 4 different companies. $3,200, $3,480, $3,850, $3,290. Every single one was over $3,000. One agent actually said "yeah homeowners insurance is expensive here, people don't realize that" I was so frustrated. We just spent everything we had on the move back and the down payment. We couldn't afford an extra $100+ per month just for insurance. Two weeks later I'm at the Home Depot on Coit Road buying shelves. Loading my truck and the guy parked next to me sees my overseas military base sticker still on my car. "You just move back to the States?" Yeah, like a month ago He laughed "Let me guess, your home insurance quote shocked you" I was like yes, how did you know that "Same thing happened to me when I came back from Japan..." Then he said something I didn't understand. "You still using a regular agent or did you switch to the Homeowner Protection Program?" I had no idea what he was talking about He looked surprised "Oh man, okay so there's this separate program for homeowners with clean records, it's not advertised because agents don't make commission off it" He said he's paying $97/month for full coverage. I said there's no way. He pulled up his policy right there in the parking lot and showed me. $97/month. Full replacement coverage. He texted me the link I pulled it up sitting in my truck in the Home Depot parking lot. Took about 90 seconds. Quote came back: $97/month. Same exact coverage I'd been quoted $3,640 for annually. I screenshot it and sent it to my wife. She called me immediately "Is this real?" I said the guy just showed me his actual policy. "Then sign up right now before it disappears" We switched that same day That was 4 months ago. We've saved over $1,200 so far. Now moving back to the USA is actually perfect. Everything is better AND cheaper, including home insurance. But I'm still mad it took a random guy at Home Depot to tell me this exists. I called one of the agents who'd quoted me $3,290. Asked him why he didn't mention this program. He said "That's not a product we typically promote." I said "Because you don't make money off it?" He didn't answer. I've told everyone since then My buddy who moved back from South Korea, switched, went from $3,400 to $1,050 a year. My coworker who came back from the UK was paying $3,600, now pays $1,020. Even my neighbor who's lived in Plano his whole life, been with the same company for 15 years paying $3,200/year. He switched and texted me "I've been getting ripped off for 15 years" That one hit me the hardest. This guy's been here his entire life and nobody ever told him this existed. Look if you're a homeowner with no major claims in the past few years and you're paying over $200/month, you need to check this. It doesn't matter if you just moved back or you've been here forever. Agents don't tell you about it because they make less money. That's it. That's the only reason. It's free to check, takes 2 minutes, you see the actual policy before you switch anything. I thought moving back to the USA would automatically make everything easier. Turns out the insurance companies are playing the same game here they play everywhere. They're just counting on you not to look. Click the link below to check your rate. https://rates.costlowhomes.com/ac/57W9Z4?sub4=dir&sub5=a.back.6.f18 If you're a homeowner with a clean record paying more than $150/month, you're probably overpaying and they're hoping you never find out.