Question: We want to build a house. There is a Bay Area lot for sale in our area. It is an acre. It is close to town. There is natural gas connected. However, it is in a high-fire designated area. Plus, the roads are narrow.
According to our buyer’s agent, we should call insurance agents. We are to report our findings. Fire insurance might be expensive. Or even unattainable.
It is not vacant land. It has an old, abandoned house sans doors and windows. That could help or hurt. The loan process might be complicated.
How do other homebuyers proceed in this situation?
Answer: There are many considerations when buying in a rural setting. For instance, you might be on well water. That requires due diligence, too.
Your buyer’s agent has a supervising sales manager or broker. Your agent should ask for help. Your buyer’s agent must learn who the best local loan and insurance brokers are for your situation.
In the meantime, the California Association of Realtors created a peerless webpage dedicated to educating homebuyers on the insurance issues in our state.
Visit the webpage, which is a stellar library of insurance information for today’s homebuyers, home sellers and their real estate agents.
Here are some of the titled information:
- Shareable Consumer One Sheets
- Home Insurance Help FAQ
- Statefarm and Allstate stop selling home insurance to new customers in CA
- Wildfire Disclosure Reports
- Wildfire Issues: Defensible Space & Fire Insurance Slide Deck
- Defensible Space Quick Guide
- Fire Insurance Quick Guide
- United Policyholders Webinar Summary and Recordings
- Wildfire Fallout: Audio Recordings
Here is the webpage: on.car.org/insurance.
The California Department of Real Estate has a webpage dedicated to the California FAIR Plan: The California FAIR Plan is a critical insurance option for California residents and businesses.
“The FAIR Plan is available to California residents and businesses in urban and rural areas who cannot obtain insurance through a regular insurance company. As of 2020, the FAIR Plan covers less than 3% of residents, meaning more than 97% of Californians have a competitive option for insurance.”
Learn more here.
Pass this information to your buyer’s agent. You are a team. Act like it. Add the best loan and insurance members to your growing roster. More specialists will follow. Only then will you have a winning formula.
For Housing Market Data in your area, visit my webpage for trends here. Do you have questions about home buying or selling? Full-service Realtor Pat Kapowich is a Certified Trust and Probate Specialist, Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager and career-long consumer protection advocate.
He is based in his hometown of Sunnyvale, California. Office: 408-245-7700; Broker# 00979413 Pat@SiliconValleyBroker.com