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All Forum Posts by: Roger Flot

Roger Flot has started 1 posts and replied 45 times.

Post: Updated Insurance for renovated property

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41
Quote from @Tony Wilcox:

Insurers cannot say a home was built at a newer date even if the house was taken down to the studs. The entire foundation also has to be redone to be considered newly built. Of course you can get discounts for having certain items FULLY updated, like plumbing. 


 your use of CAPS on the word FULLY is helpful.  I guess one should always consider that the rate is always based on FULL loss and FULL replacement, so I guess there's no harm in asking, though your results may not be as advantageous as a layman might consider.

Thanks all for your input.  I think its all helpful.  As noted, it wasnt something that I had considered before.

Post: Updated Insurance for renovated property

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41
Quote from @Owen Rosen:
Quote from @Roger Flot:
Quote from @Owen Rosen:
Quote from @Becca F.:

Great question. I'm going to ask my insurance company. I'd be interested to hear how about this maximum appraisal potential is determined. 

I would guess an older home might be more cost to insure? I also did a local renovation in 2022 bringing it up code. I was told by a local experienced investor that insurance companies will always go cheap with paying out to contractors in the event a property needs to be rebuilt. 

If you're insuring a home to replacement cost, insurance companies don't care about appraisals or what the home is worth.  They care about what they estimate it would cost to rebuild the home.
All else being equal, yes, older homes are more expensive to insure than newer homes for a variety of reasons.

 I guess from an "all things being equal" framework, what are the variety of reasons that an older home are more expensive to insure than newer homes?


 1. The older the home the more difficult (and therefore expensive) it's likely to be to restore a home to pre-loss condition

2. Older homes will typically have systems that are out of date - even if only partially.  For instance, plumbing might be updated but not every pipe.  In MANY cases, an insurance company is insuring a home under the guise of it having updated features without knowing that some things are not fully updated.  In many of those cases the lack of updates would not even be insurable if the insurance company was aware of it.

3. So, older homes have a higher frequency of claims as well as higher severity.


 Thanks for explaining this further.

Post: Updated Insurance for renovated property

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41
Quote from @Owen Rosen:
Quote from @Becca F.:

Great question. I'm going to ask my insurance company. I'd be interested to hear how about this maximum appraisal potential is determined. 

I would guess an older home might be more cost to insure? I also did a local renovation in 2022 bringing it up code. I was told by a local experienced investor that insurance companies will always go cheap with paying out to contractors in the event a property needs to be rebuilt. 

If you're insuring a home to replacement cost, insurance companies don't care about appraisals or what the home is worth.  They care about what they estimate it would cost to rebuild the home.
All else being equal, yes, older homes are more expensive to insure than newer homes for a variety of reasons.

 I guess from an "all things being equal" framework, what are the variety of reasons that an older home are more expensive to insure than newer homes?

Post: Updated Insurance for renovated property

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41

I was reviewing some renovated listings in my area and one indicated that even though the house was originally built in 1920, because of all the renovations bringing the house to current code, that you could get 2024 rates on insurance.  I imagined that to mean that a 1920 home with no renovations would cost more to insure than one updated to 2024 specifications.

Is this something that is just "known" to flippers/renovators and I am just coming across it?

Does anyone know how insurance companies evaluate these properties and whether or not real value can be realized for insurance for renovation?  Are there any guidelines or best practices (ie: rewiring such a property would be more valuable than updating insulation).

Is it something you need to ask the insurance company about to get, or is all this determined in the initial interview with the potential insurer?

Post: Builders risk insurance companies

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41

Steadily wrote a policy for me with these features on a Builders Risk policy.  I was required to pay the entire year in advance but When I cancel, they prorate and refund.

Post: Ethics Question !

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41
Quote from @Joe S.:
Quote from @Roger Flot:

What area of the gulf coast are you investing?

Biloxi mostly, trying to stay south of I-10, but the northside is getting interesting.
Long Beach, BayStLou, Pass Christian, but mostly Biloxi - nothing in Gulfport.
Pascagoula and Gautier are calling me, but not yet.. staying west of 110 and south of 1-10 so far.

Post: Ethics Question !

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41

McDonalds sells a delicious burger at a reasonable price and I am happy.

When a pimply faced teen offers to toss a slice of processed cheese on it, the price goes up.

My decision becomes obvious.

Post: Confessions of a First-Time Flipper: What I Wish I Knew Before I Started!

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41

to be honest, on my first flip... I didn't know there was a different type of insurance that I needed.

I had bought the home with a standard mortgage and standard insurance and then I decided later that I would flip it.  I was 3 months into the rehab when I found out that I needed a whole other category of insurance (builders risk) instead of the homeowners insurance I got on the purchase and that for all intents and purposes, I wasn't covered if something happened.

Its a little thing amongst the many things that occurred on that first flip, but I always look back and say "who knew" and know that I know now.

Post: Labor Cost? Did I pay too much?

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41

This seems like you did not overpay.

Also, from the tone of your post, I sense some pride in the final project, which tells me you are satisfied with the results.  Sounds like you paid for quality and got it at a good price.

Post: Fix and Flip funding

Roger Flot
Posted
  • Investor
  • Mississippi Gulf Coast
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 41

I am currently doing a fix and flip loan with Backflip.  The experience is working out pretty well.

I think their goal is to be your one-stop-shop for the whole process and that will suit me going forward. They have an app that you can run comps on, play with rehab budgets, do ARV calculations as you drive for dollars and apply for the loan on the spot. The app gives immediate scores on what is a good deal and what may need more consideration to make it a good deal. They are in partnership with Obie for Fix & Flip type insurance (builders risk, etc).

They are big on education and partnership. They sponsor biweekly webinars, where they encourage Q&A on many topics in the Fix & Flip landscape.

The draw process seems standard (what you would expect) and makes sense. There are strategies that you can utilize here that can make it easier as well. They help monitor your progress and answer calls and texts swiftly.  My customer service rep is a flipper and I love that because he knows why I want to do what I want to do and can discuss the approaches with knowledge.

So far, the experience has been positive. I am coming near the end of this project and have already started plugging in some new addresses to run comps and get a jump on the ARV calculations to improve my experience going forward. There are no commitals until it works for you and there are no regulations or fees associated with using the app.

Feel free to DM me to find out more. I can recommend you to my guy, he's great!