All Forum Posts by: Joseph Feldman

Thanks @Ben Guttman, yes I should be well positioned to help @Vincent Paventa. We specialize in Commercial and Multi Family properties and as @John Mocker pointed out you are best served with an agency representing many companies which we do (50+)

As a RE investor here’s something you should know regarding insurance!

Every location & property type has its unique insurance needs, so having successfully executed a deal elsewhere may not have prepared you for the next one!

Some helpful tips are to ask the seller for his actual policies (not certificates) and find out what your lender insurance requirements are.

The sellers policies may be totally inadequate to satisfy your lender requirements meaning that his costs won’t accurately reflect yours.

So don’t just rely on that number on the OM, dig deeper!

While you’ll always need GL and Property,

Here are some of the differences you may find based on location and/or lender requirements,

You may need these policies you didn’t need before.

- Flood policy

- Umbrella policy

- Environmental Liability policy

You might also see coverage differences needed on your policies like the below.

- Earthquake coverage

- Ordinance & Law coverage @ 100% of value

- Equipment breakdown coverage

The bottom line is it’s more than just numbers!

Hope this is helpful to you!

Have some questions as you’re expanding? Feel free to reach out!

#MrInsurance

#RealEstate #MultiFamily

Snow plowing services are in high demand all across the country right now, ok minus FL and CA maybe.

If you're a contractor with some pickup trucks it may be very tempting to offer that, as you may not be able to do your regular work on snow days anyway.

However many GL policies may have a "Snow plowing operations exclusion" or a "Classification limitation Endorsement" meaning only the classes of work specified in the declarations are covered.

So if you're a Contractor wanting to or actually offering Snow plowing services give your agent a call and see if your policy includes snow plowing operations or if it can be added.

And if you're a property owner hiring your favorite Contractor to plow your property don't just rely on a certificate of insurance ask for it to specify snow plowing operations or review their actual policy to verify snow plowing isn't excluded.

#MrInsurance

#snowplowing #insurance

@Andrew Wicklow, yes and we have to resist the temptation to quickly satisfy clients by offering a cheap policy

@Scott P. Smart way to operate, it’s always better to not experience a claim but still be ready for what can happen since we don’t have fortune tellers (at least not reliable ones 😊)

@Jeremy Goodrich, yes it is quite scary actually

@Joe Splitrock thanks for adding these are all great points, it’s important to point all these things out so others can know what to look out for

A small Multi Family deal on the NJ coast I was working on fell through mainly because of the insurance cost!

What happened?

The sellers cost on insurance worked just fine to make this a great investment,

It was with a company we have direct access to so initially this looked like a slam dunk, I asked my client to get the sellers policy and found out that it excluded wind coverage,

My clients lender also required flood coverage which the seller didn’t have either.

Turns out the seller didn’t have a loan on the property allowing him to get away with a policy no lender would agree to,

Getting him the coverages he would need quadrupled the price! (He tried getting a quote elsewhere but that just increased his expense by another few thousands)

As they were trying to still make this deal work a potential environmental issue popped up, putting the final nail in this coffin ⚰️

Make sure your due diligence is taking this into account.

Some helpful tips are to ask the seller for all of his actual policies (not just certificates) and comparing them to your lender requirements.

This may unearth some pertinent information,

So don’t just rely on that number on the OM, dig deeper!

Talk about playing the long game!

I got a call today from someone I met at a Holiday party hosted by @Yonah Weiss' Company,
Now this was a long time ago, definitely before the Covid era!

He was looking to switch insurance agent unhappy with the service he's getting and he remembered me!

the verse that comes to mind is "Send your bread upon the water for in many days you will find it"

Interesting that the verse continues with "give portions to seven and also to eight as you don't know what disaster may come upon the land"
Meaning do good and then some as someday you may need all the grace you can get.
Of course I'm thinking what 7 and 8 may have to do with insurance from a looming disaster, any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks @Yonah Weiss, after your and Ben Guttman's referrals to me from this platform I had no choice but to start posting here!