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When it comes to buying a new home, there can be many unknowns. However, uncovering the issues and hidden risks earlier in the process can help you make a more informed buying decision. As part of your lifestyle and property management best practices, there are four important questions—including matters of insurance and geographical risks—that should be asked to help reveal the full story of a home before purchasing it.

Water damage has consistently ranked as the costliest cause of loss year over year. The largest of these losses have all occurred while no one was home. Whether you’re planning to be away for a short vacation or leaving for the season, there are nine steps you can take to help reduce the chances that you will suffer a water loss.

Disagreements and discord can arise when it comes to your family vacation home, a unique asset that symbolizes important memories and family connections. For this reason, you should specifically address the vacation home in your estate plan to avoid hard feelings and even disputes. With thoughtful and proactive planning, a family can avoid many of the pitfalls that happen as a treasured asset moves from one generation to the next.

There are many improvements that can be made to a home to help prevent costly and dangerous losses in the future. Many of the recommendations included in this guide cost a sliver of what they will protect, and for those implemented during construction, it often requires a much smaller investment than it would to retrofit a home later.

A beautiful summer home on the beach or keeping a home of your grandparents for all family branches to gather, relax, and enjoy sounds ideal. What happens when your cousin comes with her five kids and three large dogs for a month? Or the taxes and maintenance are being split equally and you barely use the property? Or what if some family members leave the property in disarray? Unfortunately, sometimes a good idea intended to bring the family closer together can, if not managed properly, create more tension and conflict.

A chimney fire can be a significant event, in both monetary damages and trauma. The risk is heightened by the fact that chimney fires often begin out of sight, meaning they may not be noticed in time to prevent the flames from spreading to the home or causing serious structural damage. Luckily, a few simple measures can help reduce the damage from chimney fires—or prevent one altogether.

Extreme winter weather has been a major issue throughout much of the U.S. in recent years and can result in high insurance claims accounting for millions in losses—the majority of which were due to ice dams and frozen pipes. An analysis of the winter-weather loss claims yielded four common factors and valuable insights that can help you be more proactive about preventing these risks.