Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Shopping For Homeowners Insurance
Step 1) Decide on what kind of coverage you will need
. If you are in a homeowners association, you will need to know what kind of insurance is already offered. In a condo it isn't uncommon for you to cover the interior only, or the association may just cover everything for you. When you get quotes, check to see how much it will be if you combine your auto policy. Typically you will get a discount for your auto for having your home on the policy, and you will get a discount for home if you have your auto on the policy. So when you shop for rates (in step 3), get quotes for combining all three. In my experience, it ended up costing less to add the condo then what we were paying for the vehicles without a condo on the policy. Add a condo, save money, who knew!Step 2) Get this information together
- VIN (Vehicle Identification Numbers) for every vehicle on the policy
- DL# (Drivers Licence Numbers) for every person who will be on the policy
- This will help them determine previous claims or tickets that may affect your premium
- I don’t know why this is necessary, maybe I’m a little to trusting, but they asked for it
The rest of what you read below will take you through what we learned in Logan about Homeowners insurance when shopping for a policy that would cover $25,000 personal property, and $10,000 internally. When we started this, we were paying about $800 annually for insurance on two vehicles.
Step 3) Shop For Rates
This is my experience with the following agencies: Farm Bureau, Cache Valley Insurance, Logan Insurance, Geico, and American Family Insurance.Because the process of finding just one more thing for our condo appeared that it was going to be a pain, I just asked the mortgage broker who we should go for our home owners insurance, and she suggested Dave Morrill with the Logan Insurance Agency. Because she deals with this all the time, I figured her advice would be excellent, and it was. Dave found us a great rate which would actually cost us less than what we were paying before with our car insurance, and at the same time we were adding a condo to the policy! Dave was very professional and excellent to work with. His quote came in at about
Our auto policy was with Geico, and believe it or not, they have actually been incredible for us to work with! When I got in an auto accident a few years back, I earned $1,200 from it (even though my vehicle isn’t totally fixed). When I added Jessica to the policy the total cost actually went down on our insurance.
But when it came time for us to add a condo to the policy, they were going to add an extra $300 a month. No dice.
I like these guys, I’ve worked with them before. They were going to work up a policy, and may have called my phone (which died), but I asked for an e-mail. In the end, I never heard from them, and that’s their loss. I hope if you try to call them, you will hear from them.
I also called Josh and had them work up a quote. Josh was really fun to talk to, but in the end he was less than Geico, but still higher than Dave Morrill at the Logan Insurance Company. I was actually enticed by him at first, but then we realized that the quote was for semi-annual auto insurance.
One thing that is a little bit annoying about Farm Bureau is that they have this $65 annual membership fee. This will get you better deals on hotels and such, but I don’t want discounts on things that I won’t use, I just want insurance. They were also the slowest to get back to me, I was about to just go with Logan Insurance, but gave them a reminder e-mail saying “Hey, I want this now!” They then immediately got on the ball, and gave by far the best quote.
But in the end, their quote came in at $700 and we bumped up some of the auto coverage with them. So even with the added annual membership they were by far the best deal when combining an auto policy with a homeowners insurance policy! In fact, I’m still saving about a $100 a year compared to what a paid for before through Geico with car insurance only.
So, congratulations Farm Bureau, you are saving me money and adding more coverage! I am a very satisfied customer! I hope you enjoyed this review of Farm Bureau Insurance, American Family Insurance, Logan Insurance, Cache Valley Insurance, and Geico for homeowner insurance rates in Logan!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Website Security in WordPress
In recent months there have been more website security attacks than I’ve ever seen before. These attacks have mainly come in two different classes.
Malicious Virus Attacks
The first is just plain old malicious and mean – the type of attack that makes you wonder “do these people have a life?” These attacks infect other websites which install software onto your computer and destroy it, unless you sale your soul to them. Typically they will say “this virus can only be removed for X-amount of dollars.” But these people are more clever so they disguise it. These cause physical damage which you can immediately see. They may mask your website by giant words and an evil face that says “YOU’VE BEEN HACKED!”
Phishing Scams Attacks
These are very clever people who will inject code into your website which will copy any forms that you fill out, and acquire credit card information, address, telephone number, name, whatever they can gather. What they do with that information is then up to them. The most reason time I saw this was code was injected to the akismet plugin on a website, and created a fake “PayPal” page on the website. eBay then e-mailed use and let us know “a phishing scam is reported at such and such location.” Thank you eBay! We don’t want to be hosting anything bad.
How To Remove a Virus
Unfortunately, because we’ve had our share of experience in doing this, we have some tips to share. The first thing to do is install some antivirus software, that way your computer will not become a host for any viruses. You don’t have to install an expensive one. There is only one free one that I suggest, and it is provided by Microsoft – it’s called Microsoft Security Essentials. Download it here.
One of the main ways that hackers will inject a virus is to a theme where they’ve exposed vulnarabilities. The themes which are attacked most often are the themes which most popular have installed, such as the default WordPress themes. So update your current theme, and remove any other theme.
Much like themes, plugins are also attacked, and the most frequently used plugins are attacked the most. For example, as mentioned above the akismet plugin had fake eBay installed onto it, collecting PayPal information. Keep your plugins updated, and removed excess plugins. By removing the excess, you eliminate possibly entry points of a virus.
Next, there are several different plugins which you can install. I have tried some that others have recommended, and the most basic and effective one seems to the be the antivirus plugin. This will scan your theme and let you know where a line of code that may be a potential threat. Most of the threats that it points our are nothing that will actually cause a problem, but it does find things from time to time.
If you are suspecting anything now, then you can always reinstall WordPress. This does not mean start over, this simply means that update the WordPress files. This means go to your core-updates and reinstall WordPress right there.
To summarize:
- Install Security Software
- Remove Unused Themes in WordPress
- Remove Unused/ Unnecessary Themes
- Update Every plugin, every theme, EVERYTHING as soon as an update is released.
- Install the AntiVirus plugin
- Reinstall WordPress
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Reasons To Purchase Real Estate and Where To Purchase Real Estate
Reasons To Purchase Real Estate and Where To Purchase Real Estate
Wherever you purchase real estate is a completely personal choice, and there may be dozens of different reasons to purchase. This article emphasizes a few of the top choices to purchase real estate in an area according to your priority. So we’ll cover it all, from the best weather to the smartest investment areas.
Buying Real Estate as an Investment
The best places in the United States to purchase real estate as an investment are those who have drastically dropped in home prices, but have some good things going for them in the near future. For example, Atlanta Georgia home prices are far lower than what they were at just ten years ago, but the city is showing great signs of new growth which will reflect on new homes and more real estate purchases. So if you buy there now, that investment will increase in value in the very near short months.
Investing in real estate right now is probably the best investment that an investor could make. Interest rates are low, home prices are low, demand for rentals is up. There’s no question that buying a rental property will benefit you a ton! So check out investment properties in Atlanta here!
Buying Real Estate for great Weather
This one is almost entirely up to you. If you want a home in a hot, dry climate, then Phoenix is your best choice. Real estate in Phoenix is cheap right now, and this city is a great area for people to love. Residents report that they love the atmosphere, and there are a variety of things to do here at all times.
If you are looking for a beautiful area that has four seasons, including an entertaining winter then Utah or Colorado are great choices. These areas provide entertaining activities year round – but getting into these activities can be expensive. This site will be your perfect place to look for Homes in Colorado and around Denver.
Looking for real estate for top jobs
This category is more personal than perhaps any other, because it almost all depends on what type of profession you want. Of course, certain metro centers have their niche, but just about every profession is in every area. So if your job is in low demand, go where you are offered. If your job is in high demand, then go where the weather best suits you.
Consider this though, many of the people who make it big have some of their work roots in places like New York City, the economic capitol of the world, or Washington DC, the political capitol of the world. Check out homes in Washington DC here.
Real Estate That Resembles You
Each one of these areas are diverse… so if you’re looking for something that will match your lifestyle, you’ll find it in any of these areas. So if you’re an artsy person, laid back, high strung, whatever, you’ll be able to find it in any of the above mentioned areas.