Hi BP Community!

My husband and I are buying our second duplex (first was house-hack style) and we are having a hard time finding a good home insurance agent.

Our current agent tells us that we cannot receive a HO policy until we have a signed lease with a tenant.  The problem is that we need to replace the carpet, paint the house, etc. before we can market the property.  Also, we are financing the property, so we will need HO Ins before we close.

Seems silly to me, as vacancies are expected in investor properties - I posed the question, "what happens when that tenant leaves, do you stop insuring the property?" 

Is this a common problem you investors are running into out there?  Or is my HO insurance provider not "investor-friendly"?

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Andrea