OB or GC? Insurance might decide for you

[StillHope]

Sorry for the abbreviation -not enough space.
Just found out from Pyramid rep. that in lava zone 2 the home owners insurance on new houses is not given to the owner-builders,only for the house owners,who hired a general contractor to build the house.
Mine for 792 sq ft is about $1270/year,to be paid in full.Is it about right?

[DickWilson]

Stillhope; I haven't heard anyone else who has experienced this. If anyone can shed any light on this, I would greatly appreciate hearing from them. I fail to see the reasoning on this policy.

dick wilson

[robguz]

I'd have to look up who I got it from, but in Jan I did get course of construction insurance, along with hurricane. $4000 for the first year and once the house is finaled I have to get regular insurance and get only 5% of the course of construction insurance back. Theft of materials was not covered but I've been lucky.

[DickWilson]

Thanks Robguz, I'm not sure if Stillhope is talking about course of construction or regular homeowners insurance. I just want to be sure we can get regular homwowners coverage once we are built. Post scared the H### out of me.

dick wilson

[Kapohocat]

Home owner's insurance is available to any one who has a permitted structure with a final inspection. Insurance companies are not prejudiced against O/B's. What insurance companies do care about is Lava zones more than anything - that is where they have issues, and a second item is single wall construction versus double wall. Single wall construction is much harder to insure but again anything can be insured for a price.

So my suggestion would be to talk to one of the reputable insurance agents in Hilo and they can go over the issues (lava Zones, single wall, etc). I called Pyramid in Hilo a few minutes ago at 969-7174 and the gentleman I spoke with confirmed that yes they do insure after the final even with an O/B permit, and yes they do submit COC applications for O/B's. Cost is sometimes an issue on COC insurance.

Think about it - if what still hope is saying is true then a good portion of Puna would be not be insurable (with the large number of O/B permits). The if/then theorem on this one doesn't make any sense at all.



Catherine Dumond
Blue Water Project Management
808 965-9261
"We help make building your dream home a reality"

[John S. Rabi]

Cat is correct, insurance companies do not distinguish between a GC-built and owner-built house. However, I wish you good luck getting insurance while you are building your house as an owner-builder.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[StillHope]

Thank you,guys.
May be the young guy who I talked to is very new in Pyramid.I don't want to mention his name just for you to believe me.But he specifically asked me that question after he heard about lava zone 2 :
"Are you owner-builder or having a general contractor?"
But,as Seeb used to say,"the devil is in detail":
in my situation I am dealing with a construction loan.
.
When I called Pyramyd I intended to talk to Kevin Yee as he was highly recommended here on the forum.But according to a lady on the phone he was out of town,so she offered for someone else to call me back.
The rest you know.


So back to one of my questions:
Is $1270 a year is about right for 792 sq ft?

Robguz,what is your house sq ft?
May be I can go from that,since we are in the same subdivision.

P.S.I was also told that for lava 2 zone there is only one option available.True or false?
Of course,I'll call the professionals.But I'd appreciate your input.

[Kelena]

Hope Baby (we really need to get together before you leave and talk about English as a Second Language over a magna cumma latte), insurance is astonishingly high in Hawaii. I cannot address your specific situation, but I can tell you what I have learned. Insurance will be more expensive and the available carriers will be more limited if the location of your house has special issues. In my case, I am a zillion miles away from a fire hydrant, and very close to the ocean (not a plus for insurance purposes). These are special issues. In your case, you are in lava zone 2. In these special situations, the number of available insurance companies declines. That makes the insurance pricier (less competition). The insurance on my California house is much less than the insurance on Hale Lavalava (my place in Puna), although my California place could be demolished in an earthquake really quickly. That is in part because I share the risk with so many others. In Hawaii, when you are in a special situation, you are sharing the risk with a much smaller pool of individuals. That increases the cost of insurance. Please do count yourself lucky though: You are not in a Tsunami Zone. Tsunami zone bad!

I'm sure others in your neighborhood will be able to give you a better idea of what you might expect (tell them I want to sleep on their lanai). And Kevin Yee rocks. I love that guy.

Get your buns up to Oceanside some weekend and I will BBQ for you (only veggie stuff so my breath will be fresh and kuh-lean for da stuff I ain't nevah gonna get!).

[Kapohocat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by StillHope

construction loan.
.

---

Okay that makes sense now. Many construction loans require a licensed bondable GC who must be insured to retain their license. There are some construction loans that dont require a GC but few any more.

So you were looking at course of construction insurance rather than home owner's insurance to satisfy a loan requirement. I would take Glen's suggestion and call Pyramid back and talk to Kevin, or another suggestion is Tom Lodge as sometimes the more experienced people know how to manuever around the requirements a little better.

Good luck with this issue!

[StillHope]

Thank you,Kapohocat and Glen!
I expected the insurance to be high.But recently the mortgage rates are crawling up and I need to make sure that the total monthly payments are in check.
Glen,I am really touched by your invitation,but my brains are being barbecued with all this constructing - moving -sob training!