All Forum Posts by: Aaron Porter

The best option is to get an inspection from a roofing company.  Go to Google and find a company that has glowing reviews.  One of my good childhood friends' own a very highly rated roofing company in AZ and is constantly harping on getting annual inspections.  Do the inspection that is the 1st step.   Once you do find a good roofer maybe get it set up in your calendar to call them yearly so that you can have your roof inspected annually.

As far as waiting until you have an insurance claim to get the roof replaced.  A lot of insurance carriers will only pay replacement cost on a roof if it is under 5 years old.  Roofs are a wear item and replacing the roof is considered regular maintenance (kind of like the brakes or tires on your car)  after 5 years some companies pay nothing and others start to pro-rate the value of the roof.  On top of that if you don't have wind and hail coverage on your property they probably wont pay at all for a roof replacement.

New roofs have can have up to a 25 year warranty if I remember correctly. So where your old roof is already 20 years old there is a good chance it may already be starting to leak.  

@Jake Tiffany

I work with a company very closely (Royal Legal Solutions) that sets up ownership structures for real estate investors.  The way that they do it (this is the layman's description, and if you want a thorough run through you should get with @Jason Marino @Olia Fogel @Richard Bechtol who are all attorneys) but the property is owned by a land trust where a lawyer is the trustee (this creates barrier for lawsuits). the land trust is owned by series LLC's and then you have an operating LLC that handles the incoming and outgoing monies related to the properties.

by layering this type of structure with good insurance you are creating an business model that will not just benefit you and keep you secure and your personal wealth growth growing but it will benefit your children, or heirs.

@Gisa Bauschke

You need to get in contact with a good Insurance agent in your area that knows not just state law but also Cambridge's local laws regarding licensing and insurance. maybe try a google search for something like "insurance agent workers comp Boston" One of these agents will be able to provide you with the proper direction that you are needing to answer your questions. They also may be willing to get in contact with your HOA to discuss what the law is regarding Worker Comp insurance.

Everyone here is right to some extent about your contractor not needing a WC policy as he is a sole proprietor and has no W2 employees. However if your HOA won't budge there is very little you can due besides threatening and following through with a lawsuit against the HOA board. Or hire an attorney to write and send a demand letter.

All of that said get with an Insurance Agent who does GC policies 1st. 

@Adam Gonzalez  I agree with @Jason Bott.  It sounds like you need a new insurance agent.  From what I am understanding in your post is that you are needing a policy that covers replacement cost not actual cash value.  
unless you are planning on living in this new property you do not need a homeowners policy.  you need a Landlord could also be called Dwelling policy.  These policies can cover replacement cost.  

There are many many people that do not "own" their primary residence but have rental properties.  

Just find yourself a good insurance agent that you can trust and is good at educating you about your policies and coverage.  

Remember insurance helps to protect your investment, not just the physical asset but it will also protect the financial gains that you make through equity and property value inflation.

Most of the policies that I have seen from Proper are just repackaged Lloyds policies.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  It can be very good, Lloyds is very specific in their coverages, which is where you get the "only pay to insure what you need" slogans.  

I am in no way saying that Proper isn't a good choice as it can be and I check there rates and policies regularly.   Proper is usually very expensive comparative to other insurance carriers for the same or extremely similar coverage.  

Best practice for insurance is to get quotes from multiple carriers. This can be done by 1 agent, that is independent if they have access to the carriers and also check with the larger captive carriers like State Farm, Farmers, and American National. Most carriers have policies that will either have an add-on for the STR or if they don't the carrier will write 2 policies 1 to cover the main portion of the house, and a 2nd policy for the Short Term Rental.

@Victoria Hunkin That is great to hear that everything is working out.  That is really cool that you are going to be able to purchase in a neighborhood that is more conducive to what you are wanting.  
Selling the vacant land will also help you to recoup more of the money from your property.  

best of luck on your next property and real estate investing journey!

a treehouse rider can be added to some homeowners insurance policies.  so that would mean that there probably needs to be a home of some kind on the property.  

from an insurance standpoint it would probably dramatically raise your insurance costs as treehouses are normally looked at as a huge liability for injury.  

also side note @Carolyn Yates Docks can and are insured quite regularly.  The biggest stipulation for a dock is where it is located.  If it is attached to the privately owned property it could be covered very easily and in some cases the coverage would be included in a standard homeowners policy.  

Use Google and find a good Independent Agent they will be able to "shop" multiple carriers and can usually find the most economical rates for the insurance that you want. Bonus points if you use an agent that works mostly or exclusively with real estate investors as that agent is going to have a better understanding of your needs for your insurance.

Property Insurance pricing is cyclical.  Meaning that this year company "A" is discounting rates in your area to aquire more business.  Next year company "A" is going to increase the pricing for new customers by 20% (estimated guess) and they are going to send renewal increases somewhere in the realm of 2-5% (estimated guess)  But also company "B" has decided they are going to start discounting rates in the area.  next year it will be company "C", and so on for somewhere around 5-7 years.  keep in mind that you are still with company "A" and they have been sending your renewal increases of 2-5% every year which you were happy about because costs go up every year, and 2% is inflation.  But now 7 years later company "A" is discounting rates in your area but they aren't lowering the cost of your insurance.  You would have to be a new customer to get the new discounted rates.

This is why you should shop your insurance rates routinely, and why having a good independent agent who has access to more insurance carriers is always a good thing to have.  State Farm, Farmers, and American National all have great products but they aren't always going to be the "cheapest"  you have to do the work to shop around or work with an agent that will do the "shopping around" for you.  

It is definitely a risk/reward scenario like everyone has said.  However, everyone's risk tolerance is different so you really should go with what you feel comfortable with.  

Personally I use both licensed and unlicensed.  But I always make sure that the handyman is insured.  I don't like to and don't want to be forced to pay for someone else's mistakes, misfortunes, and liabilities.

All of the clients I have seen or heard about doing Airbnb arbitrage were and are not properly insured.  This is very hard asset class for insurance carriers to properly write. As it is hard to verify who holds the liability and from what I have seen it always comes back to the property owner personally as there is not really any insurance that you can put on a property to cover off this type of setup. 

As a property owner I would say never allow it and make sure that you or your property management company are regularly checking your properties to verify that your tenants are trying to do any funny business.  Homes are way too expensive to just hope for the best.