Buying a rental property

A house you do not live in is not covered by a homeowners policy. Landlord coverage is a different contract with different questions.

Whatchanges

What changes

You need a dwelling or landlord policy, not homeowners.
Your liability as an owner is separate from your tenants’ liability.
Lost rent after a covered loss is insurable — and usually worth insuring.

What to do, in order

Insure the building at replacement cost with loss-of-rents coverage.
Require renters insurance in the lease and collect proof.
Put the property in your umbrella; most umbrellas cover a few rental units.
If you own more than a handful of units, ask about a commercial package instead.
Tell your advisor if the property will be vacant more than 30 days; vacancy changes coverage.

Coverage

Coverage to check

Start with landlords. Then the rest.

Get landlords options

Home

Replacement cost vs. market value

Market value is what a buyer would pay for your house and the land under it. Replacement cost is what it would take to rebuild the house alone, today, with today's…

5 min readGuide →

Other business situations

Also worth a look.

Nextstep

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