Do you want cheap home insurance? There are cheaper companies, so you should get at least several quotes. But there are things you can do to make your homeowners insurance cheaper wherever you buy it. Here are four of them.

Four Ways To Get Cheap Home Insurance

1. Lower the coverage on contents.

Some companies will have coverage minimums, but many will let you lower your contents coverage. So if you don't have $50,000 worth of things in your home, why pay for that much coverage? In any case, when you make a claim, the insurance company isn't going to pay for value that wasn't there. Of course they'll collect the higher premiums for it - but only if you let them.

2. Raise that deductible.

Remember what home insurance is for. It is primarily for disasters, not small stuff, so why have a $100 deductible? Raise the deductible to $900 and you'll save money on the policy every year. If you think you won't have that $900 if a fire happens someday, you need focus more on your budgeting.

There is another way to deal with this. Suppose the annual premium $90 less with a higher deductible. Why not put that $90 into its own savings account each year. With interest you'll have the whole deductible covered in eight or nine years. Continue this, and if you have no disasters, you'll have thousands of dollars extra for retirement.

3. Get a multiple-policy discount.

You can often get a lower rate if your car is insured with same company as your home, or if you have more than one property insured with them. Look at the limits and cost of the auto policy carefully, though. You need to fairly compare this with the alternatives.

4. Get other special discounts.

If you don't smoke you can usually get a discount (a lot of house fires are started by cigarettes). Having security alarms might get you a discount as well. Ask about any other discounts you might qualify for.

You'll probably find that independent agents are best for finding cheap home owners insurance. Since they're not limited to one insurance company, they can sell policies from the companies that are the cheapest, and suit your needs. You can also get quotes online.

Wherever you search, ask a lot of questions. There are more ways than the four listed above to get a cheap home insurance policy. Make sure the policy is clear about what is covered and what isn't. Take a few notes, including exact policy limits and deductibles. You need this information to accurately compare a quote to others.

Once you have a few quotes, check out the companies. Type "insurance company ratings" into Google or any search engine and you'll find free information on the financial strength of the various companies. After all, you want not only cheap home insurance, but a solid company standing behind that policy.

Copyright Steve Gillman. See the home he and his wife bought for $17,500, and get a Free Real Estate Investing Course, at: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com