Answers
Inspections and insurance
What a Florida inspection report is really telling you, which reports your insurer wants, and the retrofits that change the premium.
5 questions
- Inspection report came back with 40 items - should I walk?Forty items is a normal report, not a bad house — inspectors list everything, including missing outlet covers. Sort them into three buckets: structure and water, systems with a date on them, and safety. Everything else is a Saturday.Read the answer
- What is a 4-point and wind mitigation and do I need them?They are two different Florida reports and both affect your premium. The 4-point covers roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC and is usually required once a house is around 30 years old. The wind mitigation is the one that saves you money.Read the answer
- What retrofits actually lower a Florida insurance bill?In rough order of impact: roof-to-wall connections, roof deck attachment, a secondary water barrier, opening protection on every opening including the garage door, and roof shape, which you cannot change but which is credited.Read the answer
- Insurer says replace the roof - how do I judge quotes?Compare on the parts nobody itemises: deck re-nailing, replacement of bad sheathing at a stated price per sheet, a secondary water barrier, new drip edge, valley metal and pipe boots, and whose name the permit is in. The cheapest bid has usually skipped two of those.Read the answer
- How early should I get an insurance quote in Florida?Before you are in love with the house, and ideally before you write the offer. In Florida the insurability of a house is part of its price, and a house you cannot insure affordably is a house you cannot buy.Read the answer