All Forum Posts by: N Miller

I wonder how many $M's of dollars the OP has invested in his own real estate empire, or is he (like most of the advice-offering "experts") offering advice with no real personal experience in the game.   

Good luck finding insurance in CA.  I own numerous properties and our insurer left the CA market last year, now we are left with Mercury and they have ridiculous inspection requirements that they know they can demand, because there are so few that are willing to write policies in CA in 2023.  Good luck!

 This may be a dumb question, but what is the difference between a residential and commercial policy for a non-owner occupied, rental property producing income?

This post is intriguing as I have never heard of Obie.  I own 23 single-family homes in the Southern California market and I am experiencing some challenges with finding coverage this year.  After I did find the coverage I am getting notifications from the insurer that a long litany of minor issues must be addressed (at almost every house).  These issues were identified by an inspector that drove by each house after the policy was issued.

For those that have Obie - did their process include an inspector "inspecting" each house?  If so, how was this process?

Thanks.

We own 23 single-family homes in the area.  All of the homes are located in working-class neighborhoods and we are fortunate to always have them filled at 100% occupancy.  We have owned most of the homes since 2009 / 2010 timeframe, with a few being acquired since that time.  I use an insurance broker to handle the insurance policies on these homes.  Each home is covered by a general liability policy, and then I also have a large umbrella policy over all of the homes.

Last November we received notice that the insurance company was no longer going to work in the California market and that we would need to find another company to cover our homes.  Our broker found another company and we signed the policy and bound coverage.  I recently received notice from the new company that they were inspecting our homes.  Following these inspections, the insurance company has notified me of numerous requests including:  tenant needs to remove excess items from driveway and yard, too much trash and debris in the yard, have an electrical contractor verify the electrical system is up to code, have an HVAC contractor inspect the HVAC unit, and at one house they said the tenant was running a carpet business and this violates the policy so they immediately cut-off coverage (requiring me to go and buy a high-risk policy!).

My question is - are other owners on this forum seeing this big change?  I have NEVER filed a single claim - and that's after having 250+ house years of ownership.  I am guessing it's a combination of fire losses in California, and also tenant-favorable legislature in the state - but I have never seen anything like it.   It makes me wonder if it's time to leave the business of owning these fantastic properties.

PS:  I know a friend who also owns 15 similar houses and he has had the same issue with his homes.

Thanks!