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Show much higher by the time it is finished . . . Another builder putting up two cost-plus homes in an effort to determine costs for future use, fears the figures will he outdated before the houses are completed." These figures have especial significance to present home owners. They emphasize the current drive of the fire insurance industry to inform policyholders of the hazard of under-insurance. Ma ny homes today are inadequately insured, in-sured, and yet their owners are unaware of the fact, having placed full coverage on the property a number of years ago. They forget that property values have soared. The insurance insur-ance industry is doing everything within its power to awaken its customers to the danger, before disaster strikes When an under-insured home is destroyed by fire, possibly wiping out the effort of a lifetime, it is nothing less than stark tragedy trag-edy for the owner. FORESTALLING TRAGEDY The news columns of a leading financial publication recently carried an account of rising building costs that would have staggered a reader ten years ago. It led off wi th the warning, Don t expect a contractor to tell you how much your proposed new home will cost or when he will have it finisted. Costs are changing too fast on both materials ma-terials and labor supplies are scarce and delays too frequent. fre-quent. Specific examples were then cited: "A druggust in Logansport, Indiana, contracted for a house. It was started start-ed last October on a cost-plus basis with a builder's estimate esti-mate of $9,000 ... It is only 75 percent finished and the revised total cost is already $15,000. It is expected to go |