How to Protect Yourself as an Investor with Insurance

A while back I was at church and I saw this good looking girl wearing a red dress. The first thought that popped in my mind was “look at the legs on her.” The second thought was that I’m going to talk to her and get to know her better.

So, I stroll up to her, introduce myself and about 30 seconds into the conversation she mentions that she’s a lawyer. The first words out of my mouth (seriously) were “I hate lawyers.” It was like an automatic reflex. It was like when you see someone else throw up, you automatically throw up. Well, when she said lawyer, I thought of evilness.

Now, remember, I was trying to potentially pick this girl up.

After I made my brilliant remark we did continue talking, but it was mostly her telling me how wonderful lawyers are and me telling her they’re all criminals.

Needless to say we didn’t end up going on any hot dates. Or any dates for that matter. We did eventually become friends, but she never lets me live it down that some of the first words out of my mouth we’re my disdain for her profession.

So why am I telling you all this?

Because since this girl is now my friend she occasionally helps me out with stuff. And the other day we were going over my asset protection plan. This includes several LLC’s to diversify, but most importantly it includes my first line of defense which is insurance.

I’m sure you’ve heard horror stories about investors getting sued by tenants who did not have enough insurance and they lost everything.

That’s why, in addition to a landlord/tenant policy I also have an umbrella policy for a whole lot of money.

Of course, I’m not a lawyer or giving you any legal advice, but I’m just telling you what I personally do, because it scares me that so many investors who I meet at REIA’s have no protection at all. I know guys who own over 100 houses in their own name and don’t have any LLC’s or liability protection.

This is crazy.

One of the first things I tell new investors at meetings is that they need to build a strong foundation before they build their real estate empire. They need to have business cards, a website, an LLC, etc. But they also need to have the proper insurance.

Listen. I know insurance isn’t sexy or fun to talk about it. And I know that every time my policy renews and they send me that 50 page packet in size 8 font I just put it in the trash.

But if you haven’t done so lately it wouldn’t hurt to pick up your phone, call your insurance agent and make sure you have the proper protection.

Photo: 111 emergency

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.