Condo/Home Insurance - how would I even begin to shop around?

[Beau]

I haven't bought a place yet (in the Boston area) but I hope to do so either this year or next year. How would I begin to look for property insurance? Do I have to be mindful of the local risks (such as occasional flooding?) or can I speak with free consultants to help me with property insurance? Is there some template out there on the interwebs that I can see to see the common things covered by property insurance? The main reason I ask is because I am playing with mortgage calculators and I am putting in $1000 per year for property insurance and I really don't have any other way to estimate the price at this stage except by random guessing. Thanks,

 

[glenn]

Random guess might be ok at this stage, but I would go visit an insurance company in person and talk about what coverage would be best in my situation before I buy a policy.

I would first talk to who ever I have car insurance with or who I have had renters insurance with. My brother has homeowners insurance thru AAA (the people that help you if your car doesn't run or gets a flat), I have insurance thru State Farm, there are dozens and dozens of good companies. You can look at Consumer Reports magazine to find out what other people think about different comapnies.