State Farm may be great on the accident front but let me tell you about the go round I had with them a couple of months ago. DH & I went over to my 83 y.o. mother's house to check out a leak on her car. Since she keeps all of her service receipts in her glove box as I was going through them I saw her insurance card was expiring the next day - and this was late morning on a Friday. I asked her if she had a new insurance card. mmmm - no. Let's look in the checkbook to see if she paid the bill. (She's starting to get forgetful). No. Did she GET the renewal bill? No. So I look on the card for the phone number to call. Only phone number on there is the local agent's number. Call it - it's "out of service" not working. (Not turned off - just not working - that funny ring ring beep beep beep thing). So I look on the bill for an 800 number. No 800 number - nothing! You have to call the agent only!!! So I take her info with me and go home to get on my computer to look up the State Farm website customer service. Now this is Friday - Mom will be w/o insurance tomorrow. State Farm website - no 800 numbers (you can email them - hah! again this is Friday - don't have time for this) they want you to call a local agent. So I find another local agent. THEY can't look up my Mom's info 'cause each agent's client's are in their own database. So they give me the regional office. Their out to lunch. I'm leaving messages all over -by now it's 3pm. I try again at her agent. The phone now works. I'm leaving messages till I get a real person I explain the situation - saying she never got the bill. (Oh that's corporate's problem). We'll take a credit card payment over the phone or she can drive down to the office or mail a check in to the local office - if they get it by Monday she'll be covered. So I tell them she'll mail a check in. I call my Mom - tell her to mail a check to the local office - give her the address info. So she mails it the next day (Saturday) - but I'm sure it's without any of the insurance infor - account number or anything. For the next couple of weeks I asked my mom if she ever got a new insurance card. She never said. So - I certainly hope she did. But IMO - to not have an 800 number on the card is ridiculous and to have to deal strictly with the local office is also frustrating. (Obviuosly I don't have State Farm).

Perhaps your house will truly be worth that amount when you have completed the remodel? If you have replacement-in-kind type insurance it wouldn't be unreasonable to charge a premium based on the cost for the actual replacment value of the building with like materials. To keep your rates down perhaps you could consider having a very high deductible? I think ours is 5K, which has a substantial (downward) effect on our premiums. Have you asked Chubb about this? I have always had the impression that they were pretty good about insuring older buildings at their true value, rather than trying to argue that they are not worth it. Is the appraisal that they came up with a whole lot more than you think you would sell the house for after you ahve made you repairs? Still premiums of 15K a year would startle me, too! We have Traveler's, and our experience when a rare northern tornado did substantial damage to our 160 y.o. house was very good. We had full replacement with like materials coverage and though they would have been pleased if we wanted to exchange slate for shingles, they paid the cost of repairing with slate, without a whimper. Good luck. Molly~

I have rentals from college students to retirees. I agree with lazygardens that hardwood in the kitchen is fine if you have a great finish and the right tenants (never college students). It appears it can take more abuse than the laminate in my rentals. Laminate tiles are cheap and quick too but can look worn in a few years (again, depending on the tenant). Tile flooring for me can take the most abuse and not show it. As someone previously said, determine your target rental group and set the kitchen tone with that. Check out a few other rental houses in the area. Now I only list on craigslist. 10 times more responses and better quality tenants than from the local paper. It's free and easy. You can see the other local rentals there too with pics. Since this is not a high end market laminate countgertops (Wilson Art at HD) is great and cheap. Get something with a few colors in it so you can't see cuts, etc. I have white cabinets in one apartment and I would never do that again. Yes, it's low end HD but it always looks dirty and worn (vs. darker or stained cabinets). Darker cabinets and appliances will make it look darker but go with light laminate flooring, light paint color, light countertops and good lighting and it will make a difference. And remember - don't go too crazy since this is a rental (and you're going to charge below market rent) Also, MA state law says you cannot take a security deposit more than one months's rent. Not sure of the laws in your state.

And just in case someone want to know how this is done for example... here: Damage in the family room .. wet half wall, connecting soffit , ceiling, exterior wall, and the water leaked into a fireplace and on other room side another part of ceiling, tornado damaged door, baseboards: The adjuster pays: R13 in the attic instead of R38, pays for a bogus 2" paint grade baseboards $1.40lf, exterior wall drywall, install carpet - lowest grade, OSB 4'x4'; re-nail interior door (as exterior door fix) What the adjuster did not pay: R38 insulation, 20'x14' ceilings, 3"-1/4 baseboards clear maple stain grade - $3.50/lf, stain the baseboards, new trim around the window and staining, the insulation behind the wet exterior drywall, paint the drywall [what bag pays for unpainted walls], remove/install/replace drapes next to the windows, half wall + soffit drywall and paint, repairs to the flooded fireplace, the carper removal [not just install], 20'x14' subfloors, and remove and replace exterior door + paint the exterior door + trim. Is that 20 cents on the dollar or 10 cents on the dollar? Best insurance - LibertyMutual.