Quality insurance for less: There are little things that will go a long way in helping you get superior coverage at lower rates. Do you know those things? Here are some...

1. You will get lower rates if you do routine maintenance of your home always. Check for things like dead tree limbs on your property. Do every thing possible to quickly take care of anything that could injure someone on your property. Such a good maintenance routine would lower your home insurance premium.

2. We sometimes want to renovate our house. No, you're not thinking "insurance" at that time. You want to ensure your house is just the way you like it with everything working as it should.

If you do this you will qualify for a reasonable discount. So don't forget to tell your agent.

New houses and renovated houses will bring you lower rates always. However, since not all renovations are carried out to the same extent, the discounts offered are also not the same.

3. The type of building material you use can save you a a lot in premiums. Frame houses are more resistant to earthquakes while brick houses are more resistant to high winds. So if you reside in the East, you will get cheaper rates if you buy a brick house. For those who stay in the West, they'll spend more if they buy a brick home. Expect to save a minimum of 5% if you opt for a home with the preferred material.

4. Installing special security and fire systems that are monitored round the clock is a smart move. You will obtain considerable discounts apart from the fact that you will feel more secure that your house is being monitored by competent people. This can bring down your rate by more than 25% depending on your insurer.

5. There's the likelihood that you could spend less for home insurance if you spend time to go through your policy either whenever there is much change in your house or just regularly once of twice yearly. That special fur artwork might no longer be worth as much as when you bought it.

If it's now worth less, you will then do the sensible thing: Reduce your coverage by the same margin and obtain cheaper rates as a result. However, a review may reveal it's now worth a lot more and that you have to increase coverage. Whichever way it goes, you are covered in either savings or maintaining enough coverage.

6. Take out some time to visit a minimum of five insurance quotes sites that return quotes on home insurance policies. It should require around 25 minutes. As you visit each quotes site, make sure you input the same details. Doing otherwise will give you misleading quotes. When you've received your home insurance quotes, compare them to determine which serves your interest best in price/value.