New York Real Estate

Buy-to-let property insurance, some times also known as residential property owners insurance, is needed if you own houses and/or flats to tenants – either on a short-term or long-term basis. Ordinarily you can buy cheap buy-to-let property insurance in the event that you rent five or less properties in the UK than is the case if you rent more than five properties, as in the case of the former you are seen as a small time landlord with a small business, whereas in the latter you are seen as a full blown property-owning company.

Whether you plan to rent five or less properties, or five or more properties, is, however, a side issue, as in both cases you’ll need to ensure that you have at least the minimum level of required insurance in order to protect yourself. Consequently, the number of properties you own will have a bearing only insofar as the insurance premiums are concerned. That said, if you are looking to become a property owner with a letting business, then you need to ensure that you have the following minimum provisions in your insurance policy:

Fire

Insuring against any fire on the property

Natural Disaster (also known as tempest insurance)

Insuring against natural disasters that may occur, such as a storm where the winds tear off your roof or guttering

Theft

Which is especially important if you are renting out fully furnished properties. In the event that you are renting out unfurnished premises, you may wish to have a discussion with your tenants about whether or not they should have home contents insurance

Public Liability Insurance

This should be a must as it will protect you against any claims your tenants or any third parties (such as their guests) may have for injuries they suffer while on your property

Lost Earnings

There may well be times when your property remains empty; say, for example, while you look for new tenants. If you are relying on the rental income from your tenants to repay the money you borrowed to purchase the property, you need to ensure you have lost earnings insurance to compensate you during this period

Employee Liability Insurance

If you have employees who will visit the property for you to repair any damage, etc. or to collect the rental payments, then you need to make sure that you have employee liability insurance in case they get injured while carrying out their assigned task

Legal Expenses Insurance

As a property owner you may find the need from time to time to retain the services of a lawyer; for example, if your tenants refuse to pay their rent or move out of the property at a specified agreed time – when you may need to get an eviction notice. As legal expenses in the UK can be expensive, you should consider insuring against this risk by having in place a provision of legal expenses in your insurance policy.

Although the above are basically the bare minimums you need in your buy-to-let property insurance policy, you can also tailor these types of insurance policies to meet your particular needs, so make sure that you talk through your circumstances with your insurance provider, especially if you anticipate expanding the business in the near future.

By: Joseph Kenny

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Many homeowners have never realized the need for unoccupied property insurance, until it was too late. Imagine the frustration and bewilderment after being gone from home for an extended time and finding some damage or loss to your property upon returning home. Then you learn that homeowner’s insurance won’t cover it had been changed. What? That’s right. Insurance companies can change your coverage if your home is unoccupied for as little as 30 days.

Insurance companies do not like vacant property. For them it represents a much higher risk than occupied property (damage, vandalism, theft, etc.). So, there are set limits as to the number of days your home can go unoccupied before they will automatically change coverage to unoccupied property insurance (as little as 30 days in some instances).

Unoccupied (or vacant) property insurance basically greatly reduces the amount of insurance on the actual structure and greatly increases the amount of liability insurance.

If you know ahead of time that your absence from home will exceed your company’s set limit of days before automatically changing to unoccupied property insurance, you will likely be able to pay a set fee to maintain your full coverage until the time of your return.

There are other circumstances in which this insurance may be necessary other than just an extended absence. For instance, if you home becomes unlivable because of repairs or renovations or property in which the original owner is deceased and it has gone into estate to be sold at a later time.

If unoccupied property insurance becomes a necessity for you, there are means of reducing the premium costs. If you have been with your insurance company for some time, you may qualify for a loyal customer discount. It’s worth checking into.

It’s always a good idea, when dealing with insurance, to do a little shopping around. For some reason people don’t think of doing this, but the chances are pretty good you can find some savings by getting some comparison quotes.

Another way to save some money is to install a security system on the property. Believe it or not, there are some relatively inexpensive systems available and they could easily pay for themselves in a pretty short time with the savings they provide. Be aware also that unoccupied property insurance is not even a possibility with some companies with a security system already present.

Finally, you can also increase your policy’s deductible. Just understand how this works. An increased deductible means the amount you will pay each month is lower. But it also means that if a claim is ever filed you will have the amount of your deductible before the insurance company kicks in any funds.

By: David Deffenbaugh

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Any property can become empty at any time under many different circumstances. When a property is unoccupied a standard house insurance policy will only usually provide cover for up to 30 days. This is when one must obtain an empty property insurance policy to keep their asset properly insured against risks such as fire, storm damage, theft etc.

There could be any number of reasons why a property may become vacant. The property could be a recent purchase by a landlord and is undergoing renovation prior to either letting it or selling it on. The property owner may have moved on and their current property has become empty until a new purchaser is found. The property owner could be erecting a new extension and has decided to move out of their property whilst the works are being carried out. What ever the reason it is still crucial to ensure that the empty property is sufficiently insured. If there is a mortgage outstanding on the building then the lender will insist on some form of insurance cover on the premises.

There are specialist insurance companies and brokers in the UK that specifically cater for the needs of a property owner with an empty building. Insurers and brokers that offer unoccupied property insurance quotes will normally have extensive knowledge on this subject and can help with risk management advice. Under an empty property insurance contract, the terms and conditions will differ from those of a standard home insurance policy. Get your advisor to go through with these in detail. There could be conditions on locks, how the water is left and how often the premises need to be visited etc. These conditions will vary from insurer to insurer.

Normally a property may be empty for 3 to 6 month but in certain scenarios it could be vacant for a year or even longer. If the property owner is certain that the property is not going to be empty for longer than 3 or 6 months then some insurers will offer a short term policy. A short term unoccupied property insurance policy can also be purchased online from some insurance companies. The property may be empty but as a property owner you still have duty and care to treat the premises as if there is no insurance cover in place.

A few basic rules in taking care to minimise the risks to your empty property include making sure all accessible windows and external doors are fitted with good locks, turning off the water supply and draining the system, installing an alarm system if budget allows it. Also visiting the property periodically to clear any post and to keep the lawn mowed. Give the property a look that says it not unoccupied. Install timer switches for the lights to turn on and off at random times.

Some insurers will also convert the empty property insurance policy to a landlords let property policy if you decide to rent the premises during the term of your policy. Or it could be converted to a standard home insurance policy if you move in yourself. Insuring a property that is vacant is essential and expert advice is crucial to ensure that the level of cover you obtain meets your exact needs.

By: Mark D'Monte

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Home sellers need to be aware of certain important details when they decide to carry back a note in a real estate transaction. When the complexities of traditional financing are removed from the sale of real estate transaction and seller financing becomes the solution, the process is so simple that it is easy to over look some of the details.

The only difference between traditional lending methods and seller financing is who the lender is. The financing process should be the same in both instances but with seller financing it is easy for seller to get overwhelmed and lose track. Sellers should follow the same process just as if a third part lender were involved.

Fires do happen and if you are the note holder of a property that just went up in flames, you want to have piece of mind that the payor has adequate property insurance to cover for the loss. If property insurance with adequate coverage has not been put in place then you just watched the collateral secured to your note go up in flames. What are you going to foreclose on if the payor decides to quit paying you and walk away?

The policy should designate the note holder as the Loss Payee. This designation will ensure that the he or she is informed on the status of the policy and receive a certificate of insurance with each renewal. Every year the note holder should insist that the policy be renewed with adequate coverage for property loss.

Often when seller financing is the solution to a real estate transaction, the insurance policy is the item that is overlooked because it is the responsibility of the payor. Note Owners should require home buyers as a part of the contract to purchase adequate property insurance. Selling a note that does note have adequate property insurance or no insurance at all would be very difficult to sell on the secondary market. Expect to take a deep discount if a seller is willing to purchase without insurance. This is why it is so important to have a note professional on board to verify each element and protect the structure of the note and the creator.

Story: The Texas Note Company recently assisted a customer with the sale of an owner financed note in Pflugerville Texas. A mobile home note with land. The note had a face value of $50K with a balance just over $42K. We were able to give her a full purchase offer for the note which she accepted. She provided us with all the necessary documents we needed for the sale of her note.

Deed of Trust
Note Document
Warranty Deed
Settlement Statement
Property Insurance
Social Security Numbers of the payor
Payment History with Bank Deposit slips
Pictures of the property

(Just a little note: If you are considering selling your note or want a note quote we will need these documents t)

Upon reviewing all the documents it was determined the the property insurance policy was only for $5,000.. This was an issue because if the home burned down or was destroyed the home owners policy would have not been able to replace/rebuild their home with just $5,000. The risk to an investor would have been to great and to find a buyer without the proper coverage would have been very difficult. If the home was destroyed and the payor walked away what would be left to foreclose on? This story ends well, Texas Note was able to work with the payor and their insurance agent to increase the amount of the policy to the required level of $45K at a cost increase of just a dollar a day to note payor. Additionally, we amended the Deed of Trust to include the clause that the proper amount of property insurance must be maintained each year. Then the deal was closed and the note seller received a lump sum of cash.

By: Robert E Young

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Property Insurance

If you live in a higher value home, or are a high net worth individual, with perhaps larger than normal value of property contents it can be hard to find appropriate insurance cover. Many standard off the shelf property insurance policies will not offer suitable cover for your particular circumstances. If this is the case you will require a specialist high net worth property insurance uk policy.

High net worth property insurance policies include many features that can vary from the usual home policies such as

- Full cover for all high value properties

- Special listed buildings cover

- Cover for unconventional homes/constructions

- 24 Hour personal contact

- Tradesman cover insuring you against maintenance of buildings

Because higher value homes are, by their nature, a non standard insurance risk, most high net worth property insurance policies in the UK are put together on an individual basis and tailored exactly to the customers needs.

The same approach applies to contents cover. Particularly valuable collections or items can be valued independently to ensure the cover you purchase matches your requirements.

Most high net worth policy quotes, because of their value to insurance companies receive a high level of personal attention form insurers. As a result it is more than possible for you to negotiate a better price upon receiving your quote. In addition the insurer may be able to offer a better deal if you include say your driving insurance into the same policy (this may be particularly relevant if you own a collection of cars for example).

By: James McKerr

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When it comes to taking out second property insurance the first thing you have to remember is that it varies a great deal from the type of insurance that you will have taken out to cover your home. It will also depend on what you intend to do with the property you are buying. For example if you are going to turn the property into a holiday home let then you will need more extensive cover than had you bought the property for the intentions of it just being your own holiday home.

Second property insurance includes many different components, some of which you will already know about while others are more complex. The standards of any insurance policy should be included and the most obvious of these are of course the contents and buildings, however if you have such as a swimming pool then this will have to be taken into consideration and should be covered. If you need second property insurance for a holiday let then this is even more extensive, along with the usual components of the insurance you will also need to think about taking insurance that covers you for such as liability to tenants and any staff that you hire to run the holiday home.

One big problem for those who know very little about insurance is the fact that within policies there can be many exclusions, which means if you haven’t noticed them due to not reading the small print then when you come to make a claim it could mean you are turned down. Very often insurers will state in the small print that you have to meet certain requirements when the property is left empty, most holiday homes will be empty for periods during the winter months and this is when factors have to be taken into consideration, which include such things as the risk of flood due to burst pipes.

In order to get the best second property insurance deal then it is essential that you go with a specialist broker, you will be putting a lot of money into the venture and of course want the best possible chance of success. A broker can provide you with the essential information that is needed when it comes to your needs and can also save you a lot of time and money by shopping around for you to make sure you get the best possible deal for your second property insurance. Along with this you will be able to ask any questions regarding anything you are not sure about concerning your second property insurance.

By: Sean Horton

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Property Insurance

Buy to let property insurance is a unique insurance product designed specifically fr landlord renting out properties on short hold tenancy agreements. Choosing this kind of specific buy to let insurance is an absolute must for anyone considering becoming a buy to let landlord.

By having a regular domestic property insurance policy (not specific buy to let property insurance) can leave you not covered adequately should something go wrong. One example of the difference between a regular and buy to let policy is the amount of time you are allowed to have the property unoccupied. With many domestic policies you’ll be covered if you leave your property unoccupied for a short period such as 3 weeks, for example if you go away on holiday. However when renting your property, the time between one tenant moving out and another moving in can in certain circumstances turn into several weeks or months. This covers you for longer periods such as this.

Imagine you are letting a property out, the tenant moves out. While you letting agent is searching for a new tenant for you something happens such a subsidence over the period of a few days, causing the place to fall down. Imagine the horror when you discover that because you property insurance is not buy to let specific, you are not covered! Yes this might be a far fetched example, however it illustrates what may happen if you do not upgrade your policy to buy to let property insurance.

For the sake of a phone call and a slightly higher premium, this can save you thousands in the long run.

By: James McKerr

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Intellectual property insurance offers first-party protection against theft regarding business secrets, copyright infringement and patent infringement. The insurance policy gives you a payment for lost profits to $10 million, with an endorsement option also available that provides $2 million in additional litigation expenses.

Types of Intellectual Property Insurance:
At present, there are two main types of Intellectual Property insurance policies which are prevalent in the market. Firstly, there are infringement policies, which are specifically designed for firms that are familiar with the changing trend in their business both in technological and legal front. More often than not these types of firms are desperate for protection against liabilities which are pretty big and which can by their sheer weight can create earnings volatility. The firms are buying infringement policies in order to smooth earnings because of exposure to an inadvertent infringement of anybody else’s Intellectual Property.

On the other hand, enforcement policies are purchased by those firms who view Intellectual Property as a first-party asset that ought to be protected. The fact remains that Intellectual Property can be stolen infringed upon and invalidated. The litigation expenses in the recovery of theft and infringement claims are covered by most of the enforcement policies. Coverage will come to a standstill if the Intellectual Property is invalidated.
What Is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property can be classified into four categories:

1) Firstly, there are Copyrights, which are applicable to original works of authorship that are constant in tangible mediums of expression. For example, literary works-including computer programs, pictorial and graphic works.

2) Secondly, there are patents, which play a pivotal part in protecting the making, using and selling of a patented item or process.

3) Trademarks and service marks.

4) Finally, trade secrets, which can be defined as the information that is generally kept as a secret and it gives its owner an advantage over competitors. For example, formulas, patterns, techniques and processes.

Intellectual property is very pivotal to all the organizations not just for big firms. It is just that role of intellectual property changes based on capacity of firm. For example, smaller firms will need intellectual property for the knowledge and skills required making their products or providing their services. It is worth noting that smaller firms can be particularly vulnerable to attacks on their intellectual property as big, better-financed competitors seek to erase them from the market. That is why, the success and failure of these types of companies depends solely on protecting their intellectual property.

By: Alexander Gordon

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Kansieo.com

If you have recently obtained a property that you plan to let or you have one that you already let, you have a responsibility to ensure your asset is as secure as possible. Since you are entrusting your property to complete strangers, you need to do your part to make sure it is fully protected, and one of the most important steps you can take towards protection is obtaining the correct insurance coverage.

Landlords need to be aware that standard home insurance is not sufficient coverage for let properties. Aside from the fact that insurers will not cover a house with standard insurance if the owner does not reside there, and will deny any claims if they were not informed up front of the fact that the property is being let, standard insurance does not provide the same benefits as insurance designed specifically for landlords. Landlords insurance, also referred to as let property insurance, includes the building and contents coverage that you would expect from standard household policies, but crucially it also includes options for rent protection, liability coverage and legal expenses. You can choose whichever options best suit your needs, bearing in mind that leaving yourself underinsured is not ultimately in your best interests.

Homeowners are unlikely to deliberately damage the home they live in, but tenants may not be as thoughtful since they do not own the residence and may be less caring about its upkeep. Moreover, problems such as blocked drains, leaky taps and roofs in disrepair may well go unreported and unfixed if the tenants believe it is the landlord’s concern and not theirs, and escalate into bigger problems that end up costing thousands to repair. Building coverage when obtained as part of a let property insurance policy will protect the structure against damage resulting from the usual insurable events that standard insurance covers, but it also includes protection against malicious and avoidable damage.

Contents insurance can be added to the building coverage, and this will protect a landlord’s contents against intentional as well as accidental damage. Even if your tenants are not willfully destructive, they are still less likely to treat your belongings with the same consideration they would their own and, depending on the type of tenants, may be unconcerned about engaging in potentially damaging activities such as hosting out of control parties. Contents insurance will pay to replace damaged items, such as kitchen and bathroom fixtures, carpets, curtains and any other items that belong to the landlord including appliances and furniture. You may not be particularly attached to the contents you have inside your let property, but the cost to replace them would soon add up to a substantial amount, and having contents insurance will save you from having to bear the cost.

It should be reiterated that insurers will not honour claims made on building or contents coverage unless the policy is specifically for a let property, since landlords insurance takes into account the fact that the owner is not in residence, whereas standard home insurance does not.

Of the other coverage options available under let property insurance, rent guarantee could be the difference between landlords continuing to meet their mortgage payments rather than losing their property. An unfortunate aspect of the rental market is that tenants cannot always be counted on to pay their rent on time, either out of sheer unreliability or because of circumstances beyond their control such as loss of income due to an illness or job layoff. According to National Landlords Association research published earlier this year, over a six month period forty-four percent of landlords reported experiencing rental arrears, which is a significantly high number considering most landlords rely heavily upon the regular monthly income to meet mortgage payments. Having rent guarantee ensures that you will still have money coming in every month, for a pre-determined period, should your tenants default on their rent, and may also include continued rental payment amounts during periods when the property is vacant and awaiting new tenants. An additional useful aspect of rent guarantee that landlords can opt for is legal expenses coverage, which will help landlords if legal action is required to evict tenants or force them to pay rent.

Let property policies can also include an option for liability coverage. If a tenant suffers an injury as the result of a fault with the property that is the landlord’s responsibility to maintain, liability insurance will help cover any resulting legal expenses and damages amounts awarded.

In short, standard home insurance does not provide adequate coverage for let properties. If you, as a landlord, want your buildings and contents to be covered with valid insurance, and if you want to take advantage of the additional coverage options that are necessary to protect yourself against potential liability and rent payment issues, you absolutely must obtain landlords insurance.

By: Neil L Roberts

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