Houston, TX · Member since 2019 · 5 posts · 0 votes
Is it a straight yes, we should always have landlord insurance, or there is another basis depending on the equity/geographics/law that makes a landlord choose whether to have it and reduce their cash flow or leave it and accept a high risk?
@Jason Foy It won't protect you from intentional damage by a tenant, but if the house burns down or a pipe breaks...it will. I have insurance on all my rentals.
Absolutely! Even if you are able to self insure for the replacement cost of the dwelling you should always remember that your liability exposure is limitless so for the liability reason alone you should always insure and have enough liability coverage on the policy and an umbrella policy to be safe.
Insurance Agent · OR · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 11 votes
6y
I'm an insurance agent in Oregon. @Doug Sah is exactly correct--you may be comfortable with the risk of loss to property, but one liability claim could wipe you out permanently.
NY is a bit far for me to have any specific agent recommendations, but I would look for an "independent agent" -- that's someone who can write policies for several different insurance companies. He or she can find the right fit based on your specific property risks and liability needs.
Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Please define "landlord insurance"?
Are you talking about standard "homeowner" type insurance to cover fire damage etc? This would also include liability up to a point....
Or are you talking about some specific form that cover loss of rent, excessive tenant damage etc?
You need to have insurance on all your properties to cover the "standard" type stuff and I highly recommend a large umbrella policy to be heavily covered on liability..
Most do not recommend those "landlord" specific insurance policies that cover lost rent, and excessive damages....
Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2017 · 135 posts · 294 votes
6y
If you have a mortgage against the property, then insurance would be mandatory per the lending agreement. I tend to go with the absolute cheapest insurance policy I can get because insurance carriers are notorious for trying to weasel out of not paying for something they should be liable for. If something breaks in the house I'll pay to fix it, I just want the insurance company to cover catastrophic events such as a fire that completely destroys the entire building.
In theory if you had a sufficient number of SFR rentals with no mortgages, then at some point dropping fire insurance could be beneficial because the ongoing cost of insurance would make it more expensive. If you had 100 paid off rentals worth 50k each, and were paying $50/month for insurance, then that would be 5k/month, or 60k/year that you are paying for insurance. At that point I would drop the insurance as it's unlikely that a house will completely burn down every 10 months.
Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
6y
@Jason Foy
I personally carry landlord policies on every property with liability coverage. I also have a large umbrella policy over my families head in the event that we ever need it. (Cheap, tax write off, peace of mind). I also have all of my vehicles in their own LLC etc. Cheap insurance and makes me look broke on paper.