Homeowner insurance quotes can vary in the amount they cost you based on a variety of factors ? many that you can control. There are of course some variables that are common among all house insurance policies. They include the size of your house in total square feet, the building costs in the area that your property resides in, the materials used to construct your home, the amount of crime in and around your neighborhood and the condition of your home?s plumbing, heating and electrical wiring. Do you live in an area that has numerous natural disasters such as fire, floods or tornados? If so they can add to the insurance costs.

There are numerous ways to mitigate the cost of your insurance before you even decide to get homeowner insurance quotes. They include raising your deductible, buying from the same insurance company that currently provides you auto insurance, discounts for security devices and by making your house more disaster resistant. However the biggest way to lower your total cost is to get multiple homeowner insurance quotes.

The question that usually pops into a consumers mind is how many quotes are needed in order to make a decision. The truth is it could be as low as one quote if you feel comfortable with that first initial quote. As a homeowner myself I can tell you that I prefer to have at least three different homeowner insurance quotes from different providers with five or more quotes being about right.

Before the Internet came along this may have been very time consuming and frustrating. Now it can be as simple as visiting one of the many websites that deal with home insurance, plug in some information and wait to see how many quotes are provided back to you. You could do this with five different insurance companies and receive upwards of fifteen or more homeowner insurance quotes very quickly and easily.

After receiving all of your free insurance quotes you should use the following four criteria to pick the policy that?s right for you.

Price ? Your Internet research really pays off in this area, as you will be able to quickly see how much the coverage you require will cost from several different providers. Remember although the lowest cost is your goal it?s not always representative of the best policy.

Stability ? A low costing insurance policy does you no good if the company offering the policy goes out of business when you need them the most. Look for a company that is financially stable so you know they will be around to pay any claims.

Service ? Make no mistake customer service can be extremely important especially if you?re calling your insurance provider right after your house has been demolished by a hurricane. Your future insurance company and its representatives should answer your questions and handle your claims fairly, efficiently and quickly.

Comfort ? Probably one of the biggest factors when it comes to finding the best home insurance policy. No matter how many homeowner insurance quotes you receive if you don?t feel comfortable with any of the provider?s policies, procedures or insurance agents then it the cost savings won?t matter. You want an agent or company will be easy to reach if you have a question or need to file a claim.

As you can see a general rule of thumb is at least three homeowner insurance quotes should do the trick in helping you find the best possible policy for your situation. My feeling is that five quotes can be more beneficial. Anything more then that may be overdoing it but you never know you may find that one home insurance quote that was hidden from everyone else.