Hi all,
I'm curious what active Florida investors are doing right now, particularly in markets like Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and surrounding areas.
My background is in asset management and property operations, and one thing I've noticed over the last few years is the increased scrutiny from insurance carriers, especially around:
It seems like insurance costs and underwriting requirements continue to tighten, which can significantly impact project profitability.
For those actively flipping in Florida:
I recently started sourcing more opportunities in Florida and I'm trying to understand how experienced flippers are adjusting their numbers in today's environment.
Would love to hear from investors actively buying in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, or Southwest Florida.
What's changed in your underwriting compared to 2–3 years ago?
Looking forward to hearing everyone's perspective!
-Ana Ruiz
Ana, the biggest shift I'd flag is on the sourcing side, not just the underwriting side. If insurance and holding costs are eating margin, the cushion has to come from acquisition price, and retail-adjacent MLS deals don't leave much room once you bake in a higher reserve. Tax delinquent and vacant or absentee-owner properties tend to trade at a real discount because the seller's motivation isn't tied to market pricing, so that discount can offset a chunk of the insurance hit before you even touch the MAO formula. Worth weighting acquisition channel as heavily as the margin percentage itself right now.
Ana, the biggest shift I'd flag is on the sourcing side, not just the underwriting side. If insurance and holding costs are eating margin, the cushion has to come from acquisition price, and retail-adjacent MLS deals don't leave much room once you bake in a higher reserve. Tax delinquent and vacant or absentee-owner properties tend to trade at a real discount because the seller's motivation isn't tied to market pricing, so that discount can offset a chunk of the insurance hit before you even touch the MAO formula. Worth weighting acquisition channel as heavily as the margin percentage itself right now.
Insurance broker here, I work with investors and flippers in California and Florida, so this one is still evolving in real time.
Overall, yes, insurance needs to be baked into your MAO before you go under contract, not after. Carriers in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and the Southwest Florida coast are underwriting a lot tighter than they were even two or three years ago, and every item you listed, roof age, prior water claims, wind mitigation, older systems, gets pulled during underwriting now, not just at renewal. Especially roof age - if it's older than 15 years without a wind mitigation inspection on file, you are either declined or quoted super high. Getting that inspection done early is one of the cheapest moves in the whole deal.
Another big part is vacancy. Once a property sits empty for a gut rehab, a standard policy usually is not actually covering it anymore, even if payments keep going through. You want a vacant or builders risk policy for that stretch, or you risk a denied claim later because the carrier says the property was not occupied as represented.
Always best to get a real insurance quote before you are locked into a contract, not after. A quick call to a broker who knows the area will tell you fast whether a deals insurance cost kills the margin. Happy to dig into specifics on any of these if its useful.
Ana, great questions. I'm flipping in Broward County specifically, and the insurance numbers have completely changed the game here. To answer your questions directly:
1. Yes, required margins are up. I'm targeting minimum 30% spread now vs 20-25% two years ago, mainly because insurance during rehab and the first year of hold can eat $4-8K that wasn't in the model before.
2. The MAO adjustment has been significant, but the real move is changing WHERE you acquire. Keondre's point about tax delinquent properties is exactly right — I've been working with the Broward County tax deed auction list (Auction #113 coming up in October), and the acquisition discounts there are 30-50% below market because the seller is the county and the buyer needs certified funds. That discount is what makes the insurance costs work.
3. Vikram's point about roof age is critical in Broward. After Hurricane Irma, a lot of 15-20 year old roofs got flagged. The tax deed properties tend to have deferred maintenance issues exactly like he described, but the acquisition price gives you room to do a roof replacement and still hit your numbers.
4. On vacant property coverage — builders risk is the way to go during rehab. I've been quoting it as a line item in the rehab budget, not as a holding cost, because it changes how you think about the timeline.
The biggest shift in my underwriting: I now run the insurance quote BEFORE I run comps. If the insurance kills the deal at the acquisition price, there's no point looking at ARV. The acquisition channel matters more than the market in this environment.