The hottest areas are <30 days.If you are serious about apartments or even small multi-families and want to be in the Texas market, I recommend College Station, Denton & Commerce. 

Now, this is a general trend, we all can point to neighborhoods where this hasn't happened, but overall, this is the case.

I was very interested about this question after a couple of meetings with local Disabled Society and to my mind,  NYC is a leader in this trend.

As soon as I saw this thread trending, I knew a certain someone would be in here with the "forget the LLC" babble.I needed a good chuckle. 

*GASP* Not 1 anecdote does a trend make, but there are more now than there were..

They take things like market trends, local sales, and comparable listings in the area and generate a price to give one an opinion of value for the property.While it is a cool tool and works in some areas, I recommend not paying too much attention to it.

Be sure to Calculate your Returns and make sure they are numbers you're happy with.And you might also check the trends in land value over time in the neighborhood.

And 36 Other Key Financial Measures http://amzn.to/Zv0Zph Frank also has another book called '10 Commandments for Real Estate Investors' that I reread every other month or so as a reminder: http://amzn.to/15ikXL0Ken McElroy has two great books on apartment investments and one on property management: The ABCs of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss http://amzn.to/HdXVf1The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing: How to Identify the Hottest Markets and Secure the Best Deals http://amzn.to/1bcWx50The ABC's of Property Management: What You Need to Know to Maximize Your Money Now http://amzn.to/1d518JK Also see Ken's BP interview on Podcast 052: Buying Apartment Complexes, etc. here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/01/09/bp-podcast-052-raising-millions-ken-mcelroy-rich-dad/There's many more, let me know if you'd like to see more.

I'm curious why this trend is beginning to occur.Why are more lenders requesting insurable value?

This town is not like most of the rest of the Midwest - but of course, you are in California, so more local trends are probably less easy to spot.