My custodian told me that if that's the case,  get insurance in my name and list the IRA custodian as a loss payee. 

If a PM has to call a licensed contractor for every drippy faucet and paint repair the landlord will be hurting in no time.Have had terrible experiences and significant financial losses due to  PM misdeeds.

The town was depressed then hit by hurricane Sandy but its recovering and developers are  moving in. 

The approach that Jeff M. mentioned with Actual Cash Value can be a path to take if you are only concerned about total losses and you wouldn't rebuild on the lot, but purchase something else instead.

Could the 2013 loss be carried over to 2014 and offset some of the gains?

Once gone they might go wild or stay in check.There is a difference between an illness you recover fully from, and ongoing illness where you maintain it and it never goes away, and an illness that progresses and is eventually terminal. 

I am not sure of the current stats on owner-occupied homes in the neighborhood, but I would say a fair number of people had to rent theirs out due to the market being flooded with foreclosures and still not recovered.

=Ointriguing, at loss for better civil words. until now, i've never ever heard of the government's replacement property following eminent property proceedings referred to as a 'GIFT'.

In the last year, I've recovered 1/3 of my investment off that deal. 

There is a large deck in the back.In the house $162,500 and it rents for $1325; a dollar a sf.At first glance the back yard deck looks like it has a few rotten boards but the framing undercarriage seems ok.It has been suggested (non contractor) to recover with new boards which is a significant expense.The contractor bid includes totally demolishing the deck and starting over.Thinking that the undercarriage is old and has had lots of water, we are in Portland, OR after all, it seems starting over from scratch is the way to go.Have had bad luck with handymen lately.