South FL Home Insurance Recommendations
Hey All,
I recently posted about recommendations for local banks that offer HELOCs. After consulting with a few of them, they all require some type of home insurance, usually flood. I just bought a property in Fort Lauderdale that will be my primary residence for at least a year, and I own it free and clear.
So now I'm hoping I can get some recommendations for a good insurance agent/company. I'm also wondering what local investors do for insurance for their properties down here, as I bought this property as a "buy and hold" and will focus on long term rental when I find my next primary property. Can I get by with some type of base/cheapest insurance plan now then upgrade when new tenants move in?
Thanks in advance. This family is awesome so far and I've already learned a ton.
Thank you!!
DJ
I live in Pompano Beach, and we've had insurance companies dropping their Florida coverage left/right for the past year claiming COVID issues or weather-related, so it's hard to find a good provider. Avoid state-run Citizens if you can.
Here's my personal agent's #. He's fantastic, and has gotten me great rates, and kept me in the loop if anything out of the ordinary is happening with my policies: Tyler Arrington of We Insure Group: 954-400-0820
In the Fort Lauderdale area, more than others in the United States in general, there are HUGE variations of insurance from very little space in terms of geography. This is because the intensity of hurricanes and storms has a lot to do with where exactly you are located. Are you close to the ocean?
Also, talking about the HELOC specifically, you may already know this but the insurance requirements are based specifically on your lender. Also, I trust you are familiar with the difference between a first and second position HELOC on the benefits and draw backs, something to consider!
- Real Estate Broker | Investor | Property Manager
- Plantation, FL
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@David Johnson I have the perfect insurance guy to help you, especially if it’s held free and clear. He’s helped several clients save thousands
@Sean Ruggiero thanks for your reply. I’m about 2 miles from the beach in a non flood zone.
@Kevin Kohler Appreciate this. Just sent you a message.
- Real Estate Broker | Investor | Property Manager
- Plantation, FL
- 68
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of course. I hope he helped!
I have a great insurance guy that I've personally used and recommended multiple times on investment properties. That is specifically his focus so he is really locked in to what makes sense on these type of properties. Message me and I'll share his name and contact info.
Thank you for the reply @Hugo Jimenez. Just sent you a message.
Originally posted by @David Johnson:Thank you for the reply @Hugo Jimenez. Just sent you a message.
Still shopping around - If you have any other rec's, please post them up!
On a side note, Citizens has been the only agency that the brokers I've talked to say is willing to insure my property. The brokers state that it's because it's due to the gap in coverage (haven't had any insurance on the property since I've purchased it about a month ago) and the fact that there are two separate units on the property (one will be my primary residence and the other one will go on Airbnb).
@David Johnson - I'm having a similar problem (nowhere near water but just a house older than 2001). It's very frustrating. I'm told that the problem is due to roofers helping customers make rather bogus claims against insurance. I don't know if it's true, but it makes getting insurance quite frustrating.
We had to convert our insurance from renter to owner occupied last year when we moved back and had a terrible time getting insurance. I have a great guy near FLL who was our agent for over 10 years if you are still looking for someone. He told us that property insurance companies were leaving the area and it has become both difficult and expensive down here. He also mentioned the issue of fake roof claims. Our neighbors across the street got dropped out of the blue by their company this year. If you are eligible for USAA we got an excellent quote from them, and then got the storm insurance through Citizens with USAA as the agent.