Your first order of business will be deciding how you'd like to get home insurance quotes. There are generally three main options for finding and purchasing a policy: Online marketplaces, Independent agents or brokers, or Captive agents.

If you prefer purchasing insurance on the phone or in person, then a local independent agent or broker is probably your best bet.

But if speed, value, and overall ease-of-use are your priorities, then we recommend getting home insurance quotes through our online marketplace at Policygenius. Simply click the Get free quotes button anywhere on this page to get started.

Most insurance providers, including Policygenius, can provide you with an estimate of your home's replacement cost and other coverage limits you'll likely need.

Your job is to decide between three different policy types:

• HO-2 policy: Provides the least amount of protection for your home and belongings, but is potentially more affordable.
• HO-5 policy: Provides the most complete protection for both your home and belongings, but is generally more expensive.
• HO-3 policy: The most common home insurance policy, this provides protection that's somewhere in between the two listed above.

A basic homeowners insurance policy comes with six main coverages that cover the cost to rebuild your home, replace your personal belongings, protect your assets from expensive lawsuits, and more.

• Dwelling
• Other structures
• Personal property
• Loss of use
• Personal liability
• Medical payments to others

In addition to deciding how much of each coverage you need, you should also look at how claim settlements are determined when comparing policies from different companies.