Homeowner's insurance is designed to protect the value of your home as well as its contents in case of a disaster. Therefore, the one thing you do not want to skimp on when searching for the best possible prices on your homeowner's insurance is the total value of your policy. Your policy needs to cover the entire replacement value in today's dollars for rebuilding your home from the foundation up in case of a disaster.

The only way for you to know for certain how large of a policy you need is to consult with a knowledgeable real estate agent or with a building contractor in your area and get a current price for rebuilding your home exactly as it currently is. In addition you must carefully value the replacement cost of the contents of your home in order to arrive at a proper figure.

The total value of your policy should include the actual replacement cost for rebuilding your home plus the value of your home's contents ? but do not include the value of the land which you home sits on.

The greatest number of homeowner claims involve either burglary (the theft of your home's contents) or fire damage. For this reason the greatest savings you can achieve on your homeowner's policy comes from protecting your home against fire and burglary.

Start by clearing all brush, weeds and trash away from all structures on your property. Create a bush and weed clearance of at least ten feet from all structures.

Motion-detection lights around your property help to discourage burglars. Cutting back bushes around windows and doors also discourages burglars. Make certain that all exterior doors have both a working deadbolt lock as well as a normal key-lock. All windows, both ground-level as well as upper-story windows need a working lock.

Inside your home be certain that you have the proper number and type of fire and smoke detectors installed and that each of them is working properly. Smoke and fire detectors need new batteries at least twice each year. Have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen.

Once you have made your home as fire and burglar proof as possible it is time to get online and reap the benefits of all of your hard work. Find several websites that allow you to compare homeowner policies and their prices from a variety of different insurance companies.

Take the time to fill out the form on 2 or even 3 different comparison websites so that you will be certain to compare all of the insurance companies which issue homeowner's policies in Maryland. In this way you will be certain to get the best rates on homeowner's insurance in Maryland.