I have one house under contract that I am purchasing to rehab and resell. I have another house under contract that I will use as rental property.
DILEMMA: NO ONE WILL INSURE VANCANT AND RENTAL PROPERTIES. No insurance, no closing on the houses. No closing…no business!!!
Can anyone help me? My first closing is scheduled for March 28.
Thank you!
Are you using a lender? Ask them if they can refer you to someone. A lender that frequently deals with investment properties should be able to point you in the right direction.
You want to get Builders Risk. On many of them the underwriter is Zurich. Typically it is an earned premium at about $0.45 per hundred. It should be good for a year or until sold or occupied.
If you have trouble because you are new then title the property in the name of someone experienced as the trustee of a land trust. With you as beneficiary it won’t be a problem.
You can get vacant house insurance but it is twice the rate as a rental policy.
Thank you so much. I will give it a try.
Karen
I’m doing a rehab and sell. I’ve been quoted rates of $0.60/$100 for a six month builders risk policy and 0.80/100 for 12 months. My agent claims the premiums are high because I’m popping the top (possible structural failures and Zurich won’t write the policy). And, of course, I’ll need vacant home insurance if it doesn’t sell before construction is complete.
Oh, and since builders risk doesn’t provide any liability protection, I may need to get a general liability policy if my personal liability umbrella won’t cover me (and I suspect it won’t because umbrella coverages assume the underlying policies include liability coverage…gotme). Margin’s shrinking and I haven’t even closed!
TDH
Karen,
I am in NY and here Zurich would do a Builder’s Risk (.45 per $100 is the correct rate!) and also Foremost would do this, with liability but would be pricey (4x the rate foran occupied landlord policy.
Tom Larsen