All Forum Posts by: T.J. Ferguson

Hi @David S. Mercury is generally most competitive for small apartments in Northern California followed by Guard, CIG, Travelers and AmTrust. Feel free to message me with any other questions. 

No problem! Anything I can do to help. 

And 10% to 12% is average on Home renewals if you have direct carrier appointments

Hey @Thomas Price. Great thinking to add supplemental income. 12% Commission for Home Insurance is the average. It can get up to 15%+ combining the home and auto and other policies. Depending how much time and money you want to invest, you can look at starting your own agency, buying an established agency, partnering with a small agency or forming a referral partnership with a current agency. 

Besides getting licensed, costs are fairly minimal to get started if you already have an office. Between insurance (liability, bond and Errors & Commissions), licensing, a management system, etc. you may be able to start in the $5k range per year. The toughest tasks are obtaining the carrier appointments and the staff to service the accounts which can be avoided if you purchase/partner in an agency versus starting a new one. 

If my Real Estate or Mortgage referral partners obtain their insurance license I offer a 50% New Business Split (Home policy = $120 commission. They make $60). They simply make the introduction to the client. We handle the quoting, selling, binding and servicing. If they build a large enough referral book over time, then we can discuss a renewal split as well. In your example of 50 home policies, my referral partners would make $3,000 per year, not take any of their time away from their main business and their only cost is obtain the license. 

The real money in insurance commissions is when you have 3+ policies per client. Packaging the home with auto, umbrella, life, etc. Your clients will have a separate auto policy and if you only write the home there's a real good chance you will lose the account within the next 5 years as they will want to bundle the two together to receive discounts.   

Feel free to message me any time. Best of luck on your research! 

Hi @Jessica Grimm. Check out Wright Flood, www.wrightflood.com  and CatCoverage (www.catcoverage.com). Two of the leading Commercial Flood programs. 

Hi @Anthony Vargas! I am also in the Sacramento area. For my flips, Foremost is the go-to carrier and offer a true Flip Insurance policy to protect you fully. NREIG would be a back up option. Normally they are a little bit more expensive than Foremost. Also, AU Gold through Lloyd's is the preferred carrier if you have ground up construction or demolition. Be careful as many Brokers may try to place you with a preferred carrier (Nationwide, Travelers, etc.) under a rental property policy (Dwelling Fire) that won't protect you. Best of luck on the flip! 

Be sure to check out Nationwide, Guard and Travelers. They were the top 3 most competitive for a 15 unit I just wrote in Fayetteville. Nationwide ended up offering the best pricing and coverage but it can vary depending on size, year built, renovations, etc. 

Hi @Mahmoud Hass, I find Foremost is the most competitive carrier for my fixer uppers. NREIG is another option. And AU Gold through Lloyd's of London for more ground-construction and demolition. 

Hi @Joseph Gonzales, check out Foremost. That's who I cover most of my flips through. NREIG is another option but normally they are pricier. If it's ground up construction or a demolition try AU Gold through Lloyd's. 

Hi @Christian Cruz. Congrats on your first rental property! You will want to obtain a Dwelling Policy often referred to as a Landlord Policy. This policy is specific to renting out your property to long-term tenants. It will provide the proper liability protection and coverage's needed such as "Loss Of Rents" to possibly cover you if the property is damaged and you are unable to rent out the home. Make sure the Form is a DP-3 which covers damage caused by fire, lightning, theft (appliances), vandalism, wind hail, etc. You also want to make sure you have adequate dwelling coverage in the event you need to rebuild the home and liability coverage to protect you legally. I'll send you some of the top companies for dwelling/landlord insurance my Texas Investor clients are using.