Insurance
Builders Risk Insurance
Saturday, December 17th, 2011 | Builders Risk, California, Detroit, Flint, Georgia, Illinios, Indiana, Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Manufactured Home, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Real Estate, Vacant Home Insurance | No Comments
Example of a Builders Risk policy offered by our agency.
| Product | Builders Risk |
|---|---|
| FEATURES |
|
| COVERAGES |
|
| DEDUCTIBLES | Standard Residential- $500 Standard Commercial- $1000 Higher Options available |
| AVAILABLE BY ENDORSEMENT | Contractors Equipment Equipment Breakdown Environmental Umbrella Workers’ Compensation |
| Wind Buy Back | We now offer Wind Deductible Buy Back coverage on both commercial property and property in the Course of Construction. |
| Premium Financing | 10% Down, 10 Payments |
Unconventional Ways to Find Real Estate in Flint, Michigan
Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Flint, Insurance, Michigan, Mortgage, Real Estate | 1 Comment
If you’re a real estate agent in Michigan, you might think that times are tough. Slower markets than a few years ago and less clients can put any good landlord or agent in a difficult financial position. There are, however, some creative and unconventional ways to find real estate, which will see you weather the recessional storm with ease. Flint MI is the seventh largest city in Michigan – which means that if you’re new to real estate, it is small enough for you to find your footing, but large enough for you to have a wide and varied market.
Firstly you need an excellent marketing strategy. If you’re a good real estate agent, you will already have realised the potential of a diverse client base and target audience. A great way to get new clients is to run a seminar or talk of some kind in your local area. First time buyers often have lots of questions to ask, so they’ll be grateful of your advice and may even be potential new clients!
Keep business cards on you at all times – wherever you are, there could be a prospective client who will need your services. A magnetic car sign is also a great idea for those wishing to advertise their real estate website all over town. Once you’ve purchased the sign, you won’t need to spend any more on this marketing idea, so even if it only draws in a couple of clients, you won’t have lost out. It’s good to experiment with different strategies – as one approach won’t draw in 100% of your clients.
The population of Flint, Michigan is approaching 112,000, and average age of people living in Flint is just over 30 years of age. Your target market is out there. First-time buyers are itching to find a reliable, friendly real estate agent – all you have to do is market your services successfully and the clients will come to you. Why not check out some statistics for the Flint MI area online or in the local papers? It’s only through dedicated research of your target market, that you can begin to advertise your business accordingly. Whether you’re a landlord or an agent looking to sell a vacant home, apartment or condo, your marketing strategy will, more often than not, determine how successful your Michigan investment property or business can be.
Reap the Rewards of Being a Good Landlord
Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Detroit, Landlord Insurance, Michigan, Real Estate | 1 Comment
Michigan is a great place to be a landlord, particularly when considering that for the third consecutive month this year, houses sold topped 10,000, with the average house price rising by 8.5% from last winter. If prices keep increasing in this way, your investment property will be worth even more as time goes by. For example, Hillsdale County has seen a 34.09% increase in the average house sale price, and Battle Creek and the Traverse area both saw over a 20% rise from time last year. It’s important to look at these statistics when deciding to buy and sell, but it’s also vital to look at your current situation. Many landlords buy and sell, filling their houses with tenants, half-heartedly – paying no attention to whether those tenants are happy or not.
Why is it important to keep your tenants happy? If you’re letting out an apartment in Michigan – whether it’s in Traverse City, Detroit or Lansing – your tenants are your cash flow. The main reason people let out property is to make money and invest in their financial future – but many people make the crucial mistake of finding tenants and then thinking they can sit back and let the money roll in. If you’ve ever had to unexpectedly replace tenants, you’ll know that it takes up both time and money. Your tenant is your customer, and although they will be living in your house or apartment, you need to keep them happy to reap the rewards.
Being a good landlord means maintaining your property. If anything needs to be fixed in the house, fix it right away. Trust your tenant with your property. If you’ve vetted them to begin with, they won’t want you strolling past their house every ten minutes to check what they’re up to. If you refuse requests to upgrade, repaint or re-carpet a property (within reason) you are doing yourself no favours, seeing as you will have to do it to find new tenants anyway. If you’re getting confident and think that increasing the rent on your property in necessary, make sure that it is justified. If the tenant doesn’t want to pay the new amount, you will end up losing money looking for a new tenant anyway.
Although keeping your tenants happy is very important – you should never accept the first tenant that comes along. It would seem that filling a vacant property as soon as possible, regardless of the quality of your tenant(s) makes financial sense. On the other hand, you could lose out in the long run if you have to keep replacing lousy tenants.
Make Money – Investment Property in Detroit
Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Detroit, Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Michigan, Mortgage, Real Estate | 8 Comments
Are you looking to make money, invest in your financial future and have fun with real estate in Michigan? Most people want to know all the tips and tricks of the trade, but don’t want to put in the hard work and research.
Detroit is a great place to be a landlord – with the average price of houses per square foot up by 6% in comparison to this time last year. Statistically, when looking at the median sales price for homes in Detroit, Michigan this has increased by 20.2% on last year’s figures – which means that if you want to buy a house to rent or sell, now is the time to do it. If house and apartment prices keep rising with this trend you could make thousands of dollars – either by being a landlord, or simply by buying and selling property at the right time. Up and coming areas in Detroit MI currently are Indian Village and North Rosedale Park, where average listing prices are $263,523 and $73,656 respectively. If you’re looking for somewhere other than Detroit, Michigan, why not look into properties in Battle Creek, Flint or Kalamazoo – all of which are great potential areas for investment property.
If you want to make money from real estate in Detroit, but you don’t want the hassle of being a landlord, there are a few different ways. You can either choose to be a real estate retailer, or a real estate dealer.
Whereas retailers buy and sell investment property for a quick profit (for larger probable rewards), dealers buy and sell contracts. Real estate retailers obviously need more money to start out with in order to buy the property – they will need a large down payment (deposit) as well as a good credit rating.
However, if you choose to be a real estate dealer, you can find cheap properties and sign purchase contracts with the sellers. This assignment of contract means that you can sell the contracts on for a profit. The only cash normally required for such a transaction is the small amount of money for the deal – and you never actually own the deed. This is a creative and less risky investment for those who want to get a foot on the real estate ladder, but don’t have a good credit rating or enough spare cash to buy and sell properties.
Challenging Times and Valuable Opportunities:How to Take Advantage of the Current Economic Situation!
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 | Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Michigan, Mortgage, Real Estate, Vacant Home Insurance | 14 Comments
We are all aware of the terrible shape that our economy was in. While it spelt doom for some, for some it was a great opportunity to invest and expand their horizons, most particularly in the Real Estate Industry.
In Real Estate, still as of now the prices of new properties are low compared to what it was worth some years back. Many markets having shown an improvement of late, so now would be a good time to get in Real Estate before the markets start picking up. In fact, this is a good time to secure your future with real estate.
Two words: Foreclosed properties
Even now there are a lot of foreclosed properties for sale and buying the right property for rental purposes at this time will be beneficial because in addition to bargain prices, you will have plenty of houses to choose from. The higher number of unsold houses and low mortgage values will mean good bargain prices. Furthermore, the strict appraisal process for acquiring a loan that is now in place has helped keep prices low, thus investing into Real Estate is a very good choice at the current economic situation.
Try out in new markets
If you want to truly take advantage of the current situation, explore the non conventional market like in smaller cities where the markets have not started to or are in the process of picking up.
This is because the entry cost i.e. the initial capital required, is low compared to properties in larger cities. This is a good time for you to hone your investing skills.
Look at alternatives
If you don’t think you can have the stamina to become a landlord and don’t want to be bothered tenant troubles, than you can invest in real estate investment trusts, REITs, or buying shares in home building and associated businesses. With REITs, income is acquired through rents and thus the value of REIT stocks increase with increase in rent over time. Furthermore, REITs give you access to large scale real estate projects which are normally not in the reach.
Real Estate Statistics: What Do You Really Need To Know For A Powerful Industry Analysis?
Sunday, December 5th, 2010 | Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Mortgage, Real Estate | 6 Comments
Whether you want to invest into real estate or just want to buy a house, it is a complex process. In today’s world you need to prepare beforehand when you want to invest. These tips will help you choose the right place to invest and deter you from making a decision, which you later regret.
Follow the Statistics:
The best way to solve a problem is to consult an expert. You should apply the same formula when thinking of investing into real estate. If consultancy is out of your reach, you can find numerous websites on the Internet that contain vital information like Foresight Analytics that post very useful statistics on the current state of the Industry. You can also go to local town board meetings and find out whether the local law is going to affect or not. Visit the local banks and see what is really happening in terms of loan volume and required down payments.
Understand the jargon:
REITs, Flipping properties, day traders are all the technicalities that you will come across when you are researching on the Real Estate Industry. If this is your first deal, it makes perfect sense to have a paid advisor, who will make sense out of the many difficult words, to make sure you avoid any stumbling blocks or legal entrapments.
Be on the lookout in the news for headlines that relate to Real Estate:
If looking up statistics is not your thing then you should keep an ear out for the financial news
on Television. It can also convey the general picture of the Industry, so to speak. Furthermore,
it can also help you keep track of any new reforms/ laws that are being passed pertaining to the
real estate industry
When to invest? Is an interesting question:
At the current state of the industry, we know that real estate prices are still down; due to the government stimulus and bailout packages that trend has leveled off. Yet the investors are still not strong enough to pour in cash and thus are doing so carefully, so one could say, now would be a perfect time to buy as the prices of shares are low and wont further fall as the economy is slowly making a U-turn. Thus you should have a complete understanding of the buy and sell cycle.
Top Tips to Become a Landlord in Michigan
Saturday, November 27th, 2010 | Detroit, Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Michigan | 8 Comments
If you are interested in the investment property sector, becoming a landlord in
Michigan could be a great way for you to exercise some entrepreneurial spirit.
The two most important things once you are leasing a property to a tenant is
to ensure that your activity is profitable, and that the organization of the lease
is efficient. This way, you will have a satisfied renter and the scope to develop
the portfolio you have.
Of course, you can’t be a landlord without having the renters to live in the properties
you have. As a property owner, you have the chance to be selective over who
you choose as a renter – however, the qualifications you consider are restricted to
whether they are in employment with a consistent income to pay their rent at the
end of each month. Because of the laws in the US that govern Fair Housing, you
are unable to discriminate against prospective tenants because they have children,
a disability, or because they are from an ethnic minority – and so you may be
penalized for doing so.
Following on from the subprime mortgage crisis, pricing is a real sensitive issue
amongst those looking for vacant homes to rent in Detroit. Because of this, you need
to ensure that your rent prices are competitive yet profitable. It’s a difficult balance to
achieve – and browsing through rental properties online and in newspapers will give
you a strong idea of the asking price in the area of Michigan you live in.
The next piece of advice is to ensure that you know what to do if your apartment or
house has an emergency – such as a malfunctioning toilet. In these situations, you
need to be reactive through repairing it yourself or having the contacts of someone
who can.
If this is your first time as a landlord in MI, it will be a learning curve – and you have
to treat it like one. It can be a rewarding and profitable role to have full time, or a
great form of supplementary income if you are in another job. Do remember that
talking to other landlords for their first-hand experience and advice is a great idea,
as it will enable you to start leasing out your properties on the right foot. Through
making sure your properties are presentable and well-advertised, you’ll be a landlord
in no time!
Vacant Homes in Michigan: Things to Consider
Friday, November 26th, 2010 | Detroit, Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Michigan, Vacant Home Insurance | 11 Comments
Vacant homes in Michigan’s leading cities are on the rise, and this is due to an 11% decline in the population in the past 20 years. However, even though the increased supply of vacant homes in Michigan is great news for landlords and tenants alike, it does create some additional considerations for property owners with vacant properties.
If you are a landlord currently looking for a tenant, a big question is this: do I need insurance for my property? In short, the answer is yes – particularly because of the risk of vandalism, break-ins, and of the house deteriorating quicker if it isn’t maintained appropriately. Some would argue that the requirement for homeowner’s insurance if you are a landlord waiting for a renter is subjective – especially if it is likely you will find a tenant in the immediate future.
Indeed, there are some alternatives to consider that will resolve two problems simultaneously. By making your house look occupied, you will reduce the chance of break-ins on the basis that the property appears to be vacant. In addition, should you have any viewings from clients who need an apartment in MI, your property would look more presentable – and the chances of a successful deal being struck would rise.
So – how do you make your property look occupied? Hiring someone to clean the house or maintain the garden is a great start. If you are going to own vacant homes in Detroit over the long-term, the insurance premiums you would have to pay to protect the property would be reduced because of the effort you are making to reduce risk. You might wish to invest in security systems throughout the property such as surveillance cameras and a home sprinkler device – all steps that will be advantageous to security-wary clients you may receive later on.
Should insurance seem like an option you need to consider seriously, do remember that you have the opportunity to compare and contrast the different policies that insurers can offer you. At least if you need to get your vacant home covered, make sure it is with an insurance provider that offers good value for money.
Hopefully, you won’t have a vacant house for too long. However, while you do, make sure that you are insured, as covering the expense of unfortunate circumstances yourself could cost you far more than you might expect.
Why is it so hard to get insurance in Detroit, MI?
Friday, November 19th, 2010 | Landlord Insurance, Vacant Home Insurance | 7 Comments
First and foremost, it is difficult to be profitable in Detroit. We do not have hurricanes, or wildfires, or major flooding, but we a high rate of blight and degradation. The average insurance premium in Detroit is probably $1800 a year and that is for a very basic stripped down policy sometimes without liability coverage.
The major reason insurance rates in Detroit are so high is because of extreme vacancy which leads to various potential risks. There are oppurtunities for theft, vandalism, accidental fires from squatters or even trespassers, and fires from unscrupulous owners who cannot afford to maintain the home. Citizens are put in a difficult position because police are unavailable to help and the police struggle to keep up with crime because of low funding and low staffing. Limited police force creates an environement for distastor as oppurtunists look to capitalize on oppurtunity.
If Detroit is to become a viable housing market, several things need to happen. The city needs to grow its population which will increase tax revenues. The city can grow by investing in new business which creates jobs, rezone areas to allow development to attract the suburban population, create safe and efficient transportation that would help with population growth, reduce or eliminate the income tax burden on citizens who live and work in the city, substantially increase public services such as police, fire, and ambulance to provide security for its citizens, and lastly create a world class elementary education system which increases property values and tax revenues. Ask any real estate agent, schools drive the demand for homes.
When Detroit becomes a place to work, live, and play then the culture will change. Detroit has one of the greatest opportunities in the entire U.S. We have a major international border with Canada, the Detroit river connects the Great Lakes which delivers a great natural resource that is available for industry and leasure, and we have a long history and a lot of capital available to compete for jobs involving manufacturing and and all of the supporting industries.
Wealth changes cultures and creates oppurtunities. Detroit needs to attract and grow wealth. Detroit was great once and can be again.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SITE BUILT HOME, MANUFACTURED HOME, AND A MODULAR HOME?
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 | Landlord Insurance, Manufactured Home, Mobile Home, Modular Home | 170 Comments
Different types of homes require different types of insurance. How the home is built will determine what type of insurance you can buy, how much it will cost, and what it will cover in the event of a loss.
A site built home is a house that has been built where it stands. The house is built on site from the foundation to the roof. This is the most common type of home people think of when they think of a house. The foundation, walls, electrical, plumbing, insulation, and roofing are built piece by piece at the location the home is to eventually be occupied. Some homes can be moved but they are still site built homes. Traditionally built homes also must confirm with local, state, and federal guidelines. These homes are sometimes known as stick built homes but they are built from many materials like brick, stone, or lumber. A traditionally built home will usually appreciate in value over time.
The manufactured home is built differently from a traditionally built home. A manufactured home or mobile home is built in a factory. The house is built with a permanent steel chassis which is why they are commonly known as mobile homes because they are more easily moved from place to place. A mobile home also usually has a title like a vehicle rather than a deed like a home. The home has to conform with federal HUD guidelines but usually doesn’t have to conform to local building codes. Mobile homes can’t be put anywhere because they have to approved to be placed on a lot by the local authorities. Many mobile homes are in parks known as mobile home parks. The mobile home has a serial number and a plate that has information on the builder of the mobile home, heating, cooling, and components of the home. Manufactured homes tend to decrease in value over time.
A modular home also known as a prefabricated home or prefab is a hybrid of a site built home and a manufactured home. It is built in a factory like a mobile home but it does not have a permant chassis. The home is brought to the building site on a flatbed truck. The home also has to meet all federal HUD, local, and state guidelines for a traditional built home. Modular homes are typically less expensive and faster to build than a traditional home because they are built in a controlled factory environment. A modular home has a deed and is not made to be moved once it is assembled at its final destination. Because a modular home is built on a traditional foundation, it can be hard to tell whether it is a traditional built home or a modular home and many homeowners and insurance companies are even aware the home is factory built. Modular homes when built well increase in value similar to a traditional built home.
When it comes to insurance, many companies do not write manufactured or mobile homes. They are built on a chassis which means they are mobile, they do not have to conform to local building codes, and they decrease in value over time. There are a few companies that specialize in manufactored homes and can be very comparable in rate to a traditionally built home. You should look for a company that provides coverage for fire, wind, hail, vandalism, water, and liability. Also find out how much the insurance company will pay if you lose your home completely.
Many companies that will write a traditional site built home will also write a modular home. Since they conform to all local codes and appreciate in value, they are have a similar risk profile to a stick home. Some companies may not write a home if it was built in a factory so check with your agent to be sure you will be covered in the event of a loss.
The most difficult to insure is a manufactured home that is rented to another person. It can be very hard to find a company that will write a landlord policy on a mobile home. We can write all of these homes and we would be happy to try and write your business if you give us a chance.
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