Eric Kossian, Leavenworth Insurance

When an affluent person buys homeowner’s insurance their lifestyle demands that they have insurance that matches their lifestyle.

For starters, an affluent client has a larger more expensive home ($400K market value+) that should be insured with no cap on replacement cost instead of limited “extended replacement” on 95% of policies offered.  They also need Comprehensive Perils coverage (everything that goes wrong that is not excluded is covered) instead of a list of Special or Broad Perils (only listed perils are covered).

An affluent client typically has fine art, jewelry, musical instruments or collectibles that they will have scheduled coverage for any direct physical loss to the item. Affluent clients typically have higher quantities of items that under typical policies limit coverage for theft of these items:

•  Firearms $2500 limit,
•  Jewelry, Precious Stones,Watches and Furs $1500,
•  Memorabilia $5000,
•  Securities $1500,
•  Silverware $2500,
• Personal Tools $5000

These theft limits are just way too low for most affluent clients since they often own 2 -10 times the theft limits of these items.

Home policies designed for affluent policyholders also typically cover ID Fraud Reimbursement of $25000 or more, Ordinance and law coverage ( to bring home up to current code after a loss) and include Personal Injury Liability.

Speaking of liability, affluent clients are also more likely to be sued because they are more in the public eye, more likely to own rental properties and more likely to have hired household help such as nannies, gardeners, cooks and housekeepers. They need much higher auto, boat and home liability via excess liability coverage of $1 – 10 million or more. Excess liability also covers the family for at fault skiing, snowboarding, boat, recreational vehicle and hunting accidents (think Dick Cheney!) as well as libel, slander, false arrest and defamation of character. An excess liability policy will also cover defense costs, lost wages, interest on unpaid judgments, and even premiums on appeal bonds. A good excess policy will include excess underinsured motorist coverage of a million as well.

Due to international travel a good policy will extend not just liability coverage but also auto physical damage coverage worldwide, so when renting a Mercedes on the Autobahn, the insured would be able to waive the expensive rental car coverage. The policy would also cover any loss of use or diminished value of the damaged rental car.

There are only a handful of carriers that cater to affluent clients with the broader coverage they provide. Believe it or not it might be only a few hundred more dollars a year, and is often a few hundred dollars less, due to large discounts provided by their high credit scores – the single biggest statistical determinate of loss.

Eric Kossian, is an Underwriting Specialist and Agency Principal for Leavenworth Insurance and InsurePro with affluent clients throughout Washington.  He can be reached at Eric@InsurePro.info or by calling 1-877-548-5488.

Real Estate yard signs are starting to pop up around the neighborhood too.  There certainly are more listings coming on the market every day.

But wait… haven’t I seen some of these listings before?

Yep, you sure have. (Some keep turning up like a bad penny.)

Bad Penny photo by Aaron Escobar

83 homes have come on the market in March or April this year. 49 of them have been on the market recently, some are listed with a new agent, some with a new price tag.

It boils down to this…. only 41% of the NEW listings… are really new.

Buyers looking for a cabin under $300,000 in Leavenworth often feel frustrated at the lack of options, but shoppers looking for a trophy home above $1,000,000 sometimes have it tough too.

Luxury Home - Photo by Steve Parker

While I do have some great luxury home listings -

like this Modern Redwood Home on the Wenatchee River:

Click here to view the embedded video.

and this Private Ranch at the end of Merry Canyon:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I also keep a list of private sellers with million and multi-million dollar homes in the Leavenworth area.  These are sellers who are not interested in advertising their home, holding open houses, or showing off their private spaces on the internet. But they are interested in selling if the right buyer comes along.

If you are interested in a luxury home in Leavenworth and don’t see something on the internet that fits your needs. Drop me a line and we can discuss your needs and see if they match any of the houses on my list. Conversely, if you would like me to add your home to my list I would be happy to meet with you and discuss your home.

Of course you can always click here to Search for Homes in Leavenworth that are currrently listed by an agent.

Or click here to Get Leavenworth Real Estate Listings delivered to your email

Rivers in the Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee area include the Wenatchee River (which flows from Lake Wenatchee to the Columbia River), the Chiwawa River,Icicle Creek, Nason Creek and Peshastin Creek. Smaller creeks include Chumstick Creek and the Little Chumstick.

Here is what the Wenatchee River looks like at Spring melt along Icicle road (May of 2008). This video was taken from my listing at 8920 Icicle Road. (It’s confusing that homes along Icicle Road are not Icicle Creek, but on the Wenatchee River.)

The Chiwawa River looks like this at about the same time of year (May 2008). This video was taken from my listing at Shugart Flats outside of Plain near Lake Wenatchee.

If you are looking for a babbling brook, you might consider something along Chumstick Creek. This video was taken from the backyard of my listing on the Chumstick Highway in May 2008 as well.

The kids who live here now love playing in the creek and chasing fish and other critters and cooling off when it gets hot.

I currently represent 2 homes on the Wenatchee River, 1 home on the Chiwawa River and 1 home on Chumstick Creek. However, there are other homes on the market to choose from as well. As of May 22, there are 15 homes on the river and 3 homes on smaller creeks.

Click Here to:  Search all Waterfront Homes in Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee

KIRO TV has the best photos of the avalanche damage and the home. They reported that a mandatory evacuation was in place for 15 nearby homes, due to avalanche danger and a buried propane tank that appeared to be leaking.

It doesn’t appear that anyone was in the home, but that it was a vacation rental that was scheduled to be occupied this weekend. A two person cleaning crew had been in the home earlier in the day. It sounds like a second home was also damaged by the avalanche.

The condos at Kahler Glen are outside of an area that might be effected by avalanches. However, Pelton Place, where this home was located, is on a steep slope backed by land owned by a large timber company. Local news media seem surprised by this avalanche, but last spring, a home on this road was hit by a giant mudslide doing tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

According to the Northwest Avalanche Center this is the seventh significant avalanche incident this winter. The NWAC had predicted high avalanche danger for Thursday and warned travellers to avoid backcountry areas.