investment SFR / Townhome / Condo : insurance options

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investment SFR / Townhome / Condo : insurance options

Miki M.
Rental Property Investor · West Linn, OR · Member since 2015 · 32 posts · 8 votes

Dear BP,

I am in the process of purchasing my 3rd investment SFR, and I am starting to experience some problems finding good landlord insurance deals. The quotes I am receiving feel kind of rigid, the appear expensive compared to the price and age of the actual home (I purchase relatively young properties, max 20 years old). In addition, when I use "independent insurance agents", they amend a yearly service fee which I find kind of steep for just 15 minutes of clicking on a computer KB; to be specific, around $150 extra is added to my bottom line... This makes it difficult for me to actually make any money from my modest investments, after mortgage and the tax expenses which have grown substantially in recent years. So my deal is a bit sour. A lot of management work, and no income!...

So I like to ask the following questions to the much more experienced Gurus of Real Estate Investing who participate daily on BP:

1. INSURANCE OPTIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS: Would you be willing to support the newbie, and suggest some decent insurance options suitable for investors, which would make more financial sense, and have reasonable deductibles + coverages, and no fees or low fees to setup? By the way, I am located in Cypress, Houston metro area, Texas.

2. COMMERCIAL OR BUSINESS POLICIES: I have setup my LLC already; since I now have a few investment properties in it, there must be a "commercial" or "business" insurance option I can consider for my rental real estate? I imagine if I can setup a single policy covering all of my existing rentals, and just add other future investments to that same policy. That would be really GREAT- hope such options exist. I searched BP forums and couldn't find references.

I'd like to say one thing in advance: I much prefer recommendations from the investors themselves, and please do not drown me in solicitations from actual insurance agents disguised as investors. It is a conflict of interest... right?

Thanks in advance for your help. Please provide info and contacts, so I can get in touch.

Regards,
Miki M.

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  • Miki M.
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · West Linn, OR · Member since 2015 · 32 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    I guess the site is pretty dead at this point? Or is my question not valuable enough for you guys. I am a bit disappointed here.

    M.

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  • Miki M.
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · West Linn, OR · Member since 2015 · 32 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    @Brandon Turner, would you recommend I ask my questions in a different forum? Or in a different way? Thanks for your help my friend.

    0Reply
  • Ray A.
    Professional · Cypress, TX · Member since 2015 · 309 posts · 17 votes
    10y

    Hi @Miki M., I'm an Insurance Agent and Realtor. This is something that I could be able to help you with. Yes, you can have one policy that holds your entity's properties. PM me if you'd like to discuss. (I'm in the Cypress/Copperfield area.)

    0Reply
  • Miki M.
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · West Linn, OR · Member since 2015 · 32 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    Anyone else would like to help out a guy who is starting up? I would appreciate...

    0Reply
  • Pasha Kragin
    Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 0 votes
    10y

    @Miki M., I find BiggerPockets very much alive and helpful in many ways, but I, like you, had trouble getting enough responses for a Houston-specific question I posted (https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/756/topics/287549-please-recommend-an-affordable-area-of-houston-for-buy-and-hold), so maybe it's about the activity in the Houston part of the forum.

    0Reply
  • Sharon Carter
    Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 10 votes
    10y

    Hello Mike,

    I'm an insurance agent in houston for an independent agency & yes the insurance for investment properties can be very costly and that's because of the risk insurance companies are taking when they write it. Most times investors have their main; home,  auto, umbrella insurance with a direct writer & since most direct writers;  allstate, statefarm, usaa, etc won't write the investment properties it forces the investors to contact independents. If we don't write the 'main' we don't or can't usually write the 'scrap' or the pricing is extremely high so that you won't except it. Best solution is to place all or none with an independent who will then be more than happy to shop markets and spend more time helping,  advising & writing your business.  That helps with avoiding gaps as well. Yes, there is a policy available to have all your properties on one & just add as you buy. I hope this helps and good luck!

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  • Andrew Taylor
    Contractor · Magnolia, TX · Member since 2016 · 279 posts · 155 votes
    10y

    @Sharon Carter, what is that policy called? The one where I purchase an "umbrella" policy and then can add properties to it as I add them to my portfolio? I located a local guy via a Google search for "landlord insurance" and he quoted me nearly $200/month for a 30-year-old triplex in a little bitty town that was only worth $120k. Seemed awful high (like, as high as my personal homeowner policy on a $600k property in a high-end neighborhood).

    In general, I think it's better for the community here if forum post questions are actually answered in the forum posts, rather than "PM me for details" or "contact me for more info" type answers. I understand that sometimes you need to keep the answer private for the sake of a deal, but something like what's being asked here would benefit a lot of people (myself included).

    0Reply
  • Sharon Carter
    Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 10 votes
    10y

    Some companies refer to the policy as Landlord Investment policies and some refer to them as dwelling fire policies.  I highly recommend contacting your current agent that writes your home and auto insurance and ask them to write the insurance for all your investment properties as well.  Your current agent should also make sure you are adequately protected for lawsuits, etc.

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