All Forum Posts by: Brett Shoemaker

Andrew Wong I rode that $5000 a year homeowners policy for the greater part of 8 years as it was the only policy offering wind coverage. The MS Wind Pool was created shortly after as a supplemental plan one could add if their homeowners policy didn't have it. Which was a requirement to have. That Wind Pool policy was a joke with astronomical prices. I knew many families that left everything behind because they didn't want to pay for insurance so high it wasn't even worth the value of their home. For the last 4 years (I just sold that property last month) insurance prices had come down as the smaller insurance companies have come back to town to compete with the big insurance writers and I was able to secure $1700 a year. But as many have pointed out, the availability of jobs in Houston vs South Mississippi will likely be the difference to how long things will take to get corrected. Houston would likely bounce back much quicker.

Having lived and purchased a home on the Miss Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit us 12 years ago today, I can tell you it will be a low supply (non-damaged/non-flooded) homes vs high demand situation. Good for sellers, however, as we saw in South Mississippi, buyers (like myself) saw increased difficulty securing reasonable homeowners insurance. Insurance rates skyrocketed causing many to be unable to purchase a home. At one point I was paying $5000.00 a year for homeowners insurance through State Farm. I spent the greater part of the last 12 years upside down & recently sold as the market finally has made a minor come back. Maybe a Buy & Hold situation or rentals for sure. But I'd heed caution I can completely sympathize with what the residents of Houston & Rockport are going through and will go through. It seems they will likely experience something similar as many South Mississippians did.

@Justin Windham @Michael Greenberg @Ethan Cooke @Jeff Piscioniere - Thanks to all of you for your responses, time to call Fidelity myself.  

Thanks Michael Greenberg I have read it depends on the lender. Thanks for the feedback on the 401k option, I've used mine to help purchase our primary, but I'm intrigued to look further into how your suggestion of using a 401k to manage future property purchases.

Hi All, 

Currently pursuing the VR market and I've been researching best options for financing a VR property and need some clarification. To point out, this will be our 1st VR. As I understand it there are 3 main options (4 if you include paying cash...I wish:) 1. Conventional Loan at 10% minimum down. 2. Investment Property Loan at 20% minimum down. 3. HELOC against primary residence.

My issue is understanding what if/any implications exist for going the Conventional Loan route and the lender attaching a "Second Home Rider" in the loan agreement. What issues does this cause? Does this setup some potential legality issues since we'd plan to AirBnB/VRBO the property greater than 75% of the time? Our underlining issue is the 20% down. I've looked into HELOC, but I will reserve that option for leveraging the 1st VR against a loan for a second for scaling the portfolio, leaving our VR(s) unassociated from our primary residence.

Any guidance and thoughts are greatly appreciated.  

Just found this event posted, hate that I will be out of town on a work trip.  If another one is scheduled, I'll be there.  

@Annette A. I know this post is very old, but what direction did you end up going?  Has it been a success?  

David Faulkner I'd love weather like California near me because I absolutely agree with you having the ability to rent it year round and not just seasonal. Maybe if things go well I could venture out west and make that happen! Thanks for the feedback.

Hi Paul Sandhu thank you for your reply & appreciate the feedback. Obviously being someone new to vacation rentals there are many things to consider. As I understand it, the Bigger Pockets community allows for new investors like myself to gather feedback from others who may have been in my position at one point in time. There are certainly several other places to invest, but I seem to have narrowed my interest and was looking for experiences from other individuals. Did you have any similar experiences to share? Do you have any suggestions regarding VR's for mountain cabins and beach condos other than not doing it at all? Thanks again.

Thanks Andrew. I'm on mobile and for some reason it won't let me tag you. I'm originally from the Miss Gulf Coast and unfortunately know all the ugliness about flood insurance, wind insurance, & all the stress when a named hurricane hits the Gulf. I recently sold my 1st house there that I turned into a long-term rental for the last 5 years and at one point after Hurricane Katrina, my homeowner's policy toppled over $5K a year, not including Flood. That area has taken years to recover and in many ways hasn't fully yet. Thanks again for your reply!