Issue with Insuring new commercial property

[Brent Neuenschwander]

I will preface this by saying I know this might not be the right forum to post this in. I've first posted this in the Insurance forum but haven't received any responses, so I'm trying it here. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I just purchased a 5 unit building on 3/3/17 and am having a hard time finding insurance for it. I believe my troubles stem from these facts:

1. 4 of the 5 units are vacant.

2. The building has a metal roof but it needs to be replaced. There is evidence of water damage, although none recently. I have 2 quotes in to replace the roof (asphalt) and hope to have the work complete in ~ 1.5 month.

3. 4 of the 5 units have 60 amp electric service. Seems like everyone wants 100 amps. I had an electrician come out today to work up a quote to upgrade the 4 other units to 100 amps. FYI, the one occupied unit is the one that does have 100 amps already.

4. Getting quotes from GCs to complete interior renovations - mostly paint/carpet/minor kitchen and bathroom stuff. Also going to replace some water heaters, baseboard heaters, and other minor repairs.

5. I am considering the option of renting to section 8 tenants. The town that the building is located has a few apartment complexes and they accept S8.

It seems like the combination of these facts has caused issues. I was working with a Farm Bureau agent who advised me that FB couldn't insure the property due to the roof & electric but also because they don't allow S8 tenants.. He tried two other "partner groups", one which declined to quote and one that would allow 1 S8 tenant and give me a 3 month policy.

I've tried about a 7-8 other insurance companies... All State, State Farm, MetLife, the big name insurers as well as a few local brokers. All but one declined to quote, either due to the fact that it is commercial, or because of roof/electric. The one that did quote came back at ~ $450/month as vacant building insurance.

Has anyone had these issues? I just found out about the 3 month policy today and I'm leaning towards going with that and re-evaluating after roof and electric have been fixed. I'm hoping that opens up more options, although I am concerned that S8 tenants will continue to be a roadblock. Any advice is much appreciated - thanks!