Another Insurance Question (Orange Park: to rent, new house, buyer)

[mroth]

I had some questions on things to help keep Home Owners (and I guess Renter's) insuruance rates down.

I believe that I saw that newer homes are cheaper, because of newer codes. Is this true? If so, what is the magical cut-off date of a home to look for?

I have seen it said that being inland also helps, but how far inland? West of 95, out toward Orange Park? I am curious about this as we are thinking about the St. Johns area (for the schools), but I worry that might be a bit too close to the ocean (insurance-wise).

Thank you (again) for your help!!

Michael

[Karla with a K]

Michael I have heard 12 miles from the ocean , but I would check with your insurance professional to be sure .

[kort677]

Originally Posted by myfask

Michael I have heard 12 miles from the ocean , but I would check with your insurance professional to be sure .

with things like this nothing is absolute, 12 miles is a good yard stick but strange things happen when insurance ratings are involved. When you pick a house you can find out how it is rated before you sign anything.
an example of the wackiness involved, my new house is about 2k feet from the ocean, yet it is not considered to be in a flood hazard zone, houses a few doors down are in the hazard zone, go figure!

[Karla with a K]

kort
It is amazing isn't it, when we lived at the beach we were smack in the middle of the ocean and the itnercoastal. no flood insurance needed. But friends 1 block away were required to get flood ins.

[mroth]

Maybe your house was behind a dune? That is a kind of weird.

I am getting a bit nervous over the details, now that we have a buyer for our current home. We have been thinking of doing this move for a couple of years, and then suddenly <WHAM> it is a reality. House sold quicker than we thought, with a fast closing date. So I am trying to decide what side of town to rent from so we can be in place as soon as possible.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by mroth

I had some questions on things to help keep Home Owners (and I guess Renter's) insuruance rates down.

I believe that I saw that newer homes are cheaper, because of newer codes. Is this true? If so, what is the magical cut-off date of a home to look for?

I have seen it said that being inland also helps, but how far inland? West of 95, out toward Orange Park? I am curious about this as we are thinking about the St. Johns area (for the schools), but I worry that might be a bit too close to the ocean (insurance-wise).

Thank you (again) for your help!!

Michael

Hi Michael,

Yes, a newer home is generally cheaper to insure that an older one. The difference in savings between a one-year old house and a five-year old house is likely to be very little.

Where you'll see the difference is between, say a 60 year old home in San Marco and a 5 year old home in Southside...the San Marco home will probably be more costly to insure (great area though!).

But......

There are certainly other variables that can play an even bigger role.

Flood zone is a huge one. You want to be in Flood zone "X" ("100 year") and ideally, you want to have neighbors that are all in Flood zone X - if your neighbor's house across the street is in a flood zone, you are likely to pay more even though your own house is high and dry.

Roof type is big - you want a hip roof if at all possible. Gable roofs cost more to insure and flat roofs really cost more to insure. Don't worry about the shingles - the insurer considers them all '20 year' (meaning, the roof needs to be no more than 15 years old to "pass"....has at least 5 years of "life" left). Metal and tile roofs are an entirely different discussion (and not that common here).

Siding that is brick or hardiboard is impact resistant and fireproof and helps keep your costs down.

As for how far inland you need to be to keep the cost lower - you do not have to be all the way inland to Orange Park ! I am 6 miles in from the ocean and my insurance is very reasonable. I pay a smidge more because I am under 10 miles from the ocean (I was told 10 miles was the cutoff...or at least one of), but it's barely a difference.

[mroth]

Thank you Riveree, that does help quite a bit. You can get a bit panicky when you read some of these messages and feel that things are very Gloom and Doomish.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by mroth

Thank you Riveree, that does help quite a bit. You can get a bit panicky when you read some of these messages and feel that things are very Gloom and Doomish.

Insurance has become a sore-spot for many of us here in FL, especially the ones who have been dropped simply for being in FL (I'm raising my hand here ).

When you do select a house, I think it's important to have a clause in your contract to allow you to get out of the contract if you cannot find insurance you are happy with. I'd also suggest allowing plenty of time before closing to secure the insurance (a seperate insurance inspection is becoming the norm now...that's new).

So, a few more hoops to jump through, but nothing too difficult.