insurance cost for older investment houses?

[Feng Ye]

Hello there,

I am thinking of buying my first rental in Florida (either Orlando or Tampa), however I was warned by a friend who bought a few months ago and had to spend 3000$ on landlord insurance. He said that there are only a few insurance company can do landlord policy there, and if your roof is old (like 10 years) then you are out of luck. Generally speaking is it true that insurance company are very strict on roofing age? I hope I can go with cheaper older home, however you probably never know how much insurance would cost until after you bought the house and insurance underwriter approves or denies?