While the state of Maryland does not require homeowners to have homeowner's insurance, the fact is that most homes are financed and your lender will require that you carry homeowner's insurance. Keep in mind however, that you are not required to use the insurance company recommended by your lender ? and, in fact, you may be able to save quite a bit of money each year by doing a little comparison shopping to find the most affordable homeowner's insurance in Maryland.

Before we actually start shopping let's discuss some of the things you can do to structure a homeowner's policy that can save you quite a bit of money over the lifetime of your coverage.

Let's start by stressing what you should not try to save money on. Do not try to save money by taking out a policy that is too small. You need your homeowner's insurance to cover the entire replacement cost of your home and its contents if your home should, say, burn to the ground. You will need to talk with a local contractor or a very knowledgeable real estate agent in order to get a good idea of what the replacement cost would be to actually rebuild your home at today's prices if your home were to be destroyed.

While you definitely want your policy to cover the full replacement cost of your home and its contents, you do not need to insure for the value of the land that is underneath your home ? your home needs to be replaced, the land doesn't.

Since most homeowner claims involve either fire damage or burglary, insurance companies are willing to lower your monthly homeowner's premiums if you actively take steps to reduce these two potential hazards.

Start by removing all brush, weeds and trash. Clear everything back away from all structures on your property by at least ten feet.

Make sure that you have all of the required smoke and fire detectors positioned properly in your home and make sure that all of them are working. Replace batteries at least twice each year; many people remember by replacing them on the days that clocks are set forward or backward.

All exterior doors need a working deadbolt as well as a normal key-entry lock. All windows, regardless of what floor they are on, need to have a working lock.

Burglars love to hide in shrubs around windows and doors so keep all shrubbery trimmed back.

Now that you have taken positive steps toward lowering the cost of your homeowner's insurance it's time to get online and see just how easy it now is to get affordable homeowner's insurance in Maryland. Fill out the forms on at least two and preferably three different websites that allow you to make side-by-side comparisons of homeowner's policies and prices among a variety of insurance companies. Filling out the form on multiple websites insures that you will be comparing as many different insurance companies as possible.

Once you have completed your comparisons you will be able to say with confidence that you have gotten the most affordable homeowner's insurance in the state of Maryland.