All Forum Posts by: Leigh Ann Smith

A recent podcast guest recommended http://www.residentresearch.com/ and reviewed it favorably, so I'm planning to look into it.

I am ordering business cards, and am unsure what to put for my job title.  I would prefer that it not be obvious that I am the owner of the business.  Manager, perhaps?  "Agent" came to mind, but since I'm not a licensed realtor, I think it might not be a good idea to call myself that.  What do you use for a job title?

We are looking at a SFR in a coastal county in Texas. It was built in 1936, so I'm pretty sure that it doesn't have a windstorm certificate. The house needs a new roof (because it was damaged in Hurricane Ike), so hurricane ties could be added when the roof is replaced, but what about everything else?

Would we be able to get windstorm insurance for this house without making all the upgrades for windstorm certification?

Thanks, @Chris Clothier .  It was helpful to me to learn that the HF's mostly go for newer homes.  So even if they don't leave town, that means they shouldn't be much competition for us!

A few years ago, Johnson Space Center had some pretty massive layoffs, and most people thought that the NASA area of Houston would really suffer.  We weren't following real estate closely at that time, but it didn't seem to me that it even got bad at all.

@Jay Hinrichs , regarding the chemical plants, there are billboards around town advertising a 2 year degree program to prepare you for a $100K/yr job working in chemical plants.

@Rachel Leonard , we are investors in the Houston area.  Falling oil prices are starting to cause layoffs.  Do you think the hedge funds will back away because of something like that, even if the real estate market is still strong for the time being?  (I hope so.)

@Sebastian Gast , I recently asked about this on another thread. One respondent said he was only paying $211/yr for flood insurance, but I've heard that it's really high. I wondered if you have checked into premiums. For now, we are eliminating homes in the 100 yr floodplain from consideration.

@Emily Powell , is your lender requiring you to carry windstorm insurance?  Homes in coastal counties are required to carry windstorm insurance, but since La Porte is in Harris County, I wouldn't think you would have to carry it.  Remember that to be eligible, the home will need to pass a windstorm inspection.  You might ask if the previous owners still have the windstorm certificate or if they can give you any info on their coverage.  Maybe their insurance company would have it on file, or maybe TWIA (Texas Windstorm Insurance Association) would have it.

Windstorm insurance premiums are so high, and the deductibles are so high, that you might consider not carrying it and self-insuring.  My husband and I are looking for our first rental property, and we've decided not to look in coastal counties because windstorm insurance would be such a cash flow killer.

Will banks require flood insurance for rental homes in the 100 year floodplain? Also, is the AE zone the same as the 100 yr floodplain? 

We are wondering whether we should even consider purchasing SFR's which would require flood insurance. In the Houston area, that would eliminate a lot of homes.

Hi @Michael Clarkson , 

Be sure to ask around about the availability of contractors. My sister just built a house in Leakey, TX, which is pretty far out in the boonies.  My parents live there also.  Finding contractors is always a problem since they generally have to come in from Kerrville (1 hour away) or San Antonio (2 hours away). When they do find someone to make the drive, they tend to be expensive. You didn't say that the house you are looking at is in a rural location, but since much of West Texas is rural, I thought I'd mention it.

@Derek Lacy the FAIR plan rate does not seem unreasonable ($687/yr for a $100K house). Do you think that's too high?  The reason we checked with them is that we have a friend with several SFRs and that's what he uses. 

We have insurance for our own home through USAA, but I got a quote from them last year for a property we were looking at, and it was ridiculously high. They required replacement cost coverage, so they were basically wanting us to buy $200K worth of insurance for a $70K house. They said they would not issue us general liability/umbrella coverage unless they insured the SFR also.

To complicate matters further, I would love to get an umbrella policy that would also cover us for our Christmas tree farm.  Hayrides, campfire, kids play area, customers with saws.... probably riskier than a rental home.  We do have recreational land use coverage, but it's expensive and I'd like to have a higher limit than what we have. @Jason Bott , would I likely need to keep the recreational land use policy and buy umbrella insurance to go over that?