vacant property insurance Florida

[Yoni R.]

Do you insure a SFH for vacant insurance while flipping it? If so what insurance agency do you use and what is the price?

I have a house around 200k that I am flipping right now and trying to understand what is usually done insurance wise. I have been told by a few people that most flippers don't insure their houses and take the chance.

Thanks!

[Jody Schnurrenberger]

I've had property vacant for nearly a year twice, through my own fault.  (For example, after Mom died, my brother and I had trouble having an estate sale and parting with our childhood home.)  In both cases, it all worked out fine.  However, I do know of someone who found out local kids had broken in and were repeatedly having parties there, so there is certainly a risk.  None of these were flip situations, but still, I, personally would probably just wing it.  But you need to consider a lot of things...How risk averse are you?  What's the neighborhood like?  Is there anyone that could keep an eye on it for you like a retired neighbor?  (My hometown lets folks notify police for frequent drive-bys while they are out of town.  Maybe they will do that for you, too.  Though I did have a friend whose place was broken into anyway, so it's not a guaranteed fix.)  How much is the house worth?  (I'd be more likely to insure a $500k home than a $150k home.)  How much is the insurance and do you have that available?  How long will it be vacant?  

Unfortunately, with insurance, you only know for sure that you made the right decision after the fact.  lol  But if it's something you really want to start doing, there is a space on the BP property tools to input other expenses.  You can just add it to that in the future to ensure that insuring it won't mess up your bottom line.  :-)