There are a variety of ways to determine how much it would cost to rebuild your house and obtaining a more accurate estimate will take a little more effort on your part. The replace cost value set on your house by the insurance companies is an "estimate" and not an actual dollar for dollar value.
Considering the need to appropriately value a house for insurance purposes, every homeowner should use at least one of these resources to determine an accurate home insurance replacement value. HINT: When you insure your home for the more accurate value, your rate will reflect the increase.
Four Methods to Calculate Replacement Cost:
1. An insurer appraisal - many insurers rely on third-party technology to estimate the RVC of homes it insures. The analytical tools calculate the replacement costs based on inputs by you or by construction cost sourced by the developer of the tool. This is an easy, but method, but not as dependable as an in-person appraisal.
2. Online Replacement Cost Calculator - like the insurer appraisal, their replacement costs data is not guaranteed to be an accurate reflection of construction costs in your location. This tool does provide you a "second opinion" for comparison purposes.
3. Professional appraiser - the most expensive, but most likely to yield the most accurate results. The professional appraiser will examine all the data through an in-person inspection.
4. DIY math - the most time consuming since you are collecting all the data and research replacement cost data on your own. It is a free educational experience but requires sourcing pricing from a variety of vendors such as roofing, flooring, fixtures, siding materials and more.
Regardless of the method you use to calculate the replacement cost of your house all estimates will be based on the following factors: age of the home, square footage, house style & shape, features and finishes, and home fixtures.
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