Who hasn't dreamed of a home on a lake, in the mountains, or ocean-front? In 2020, loan applications for vacation homes were up 30 percent from 2019 (according to data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act). By January of 2022, half of all homes for sale in vacation and weekend destinations had more page views than typical markets.
By April of 2022, home prices were at all time highs with properties on the market for an average of only 17 days before they sold.
As more and more secondary homes are purchased, so has the volume of homes rented out for weekends and vacation getaways.
30% of vacation property owners have shown interest in renting their homes as short-term rentals; 600k Americans use online platforms such as Airbnb to rent out their homes, condos, apartments and rooms.
(ipropertymanagement, Reuters, 2022)
Insuring a secondary home or rental is different from insuring your primary home.
Insurance matters most when you pay the bill and when a claim occurs. It is critical that you know what you are paying for, and equally critical that the insurance company know what is being insured before a claim occurs.
"Owner occupied," "Seasonal," "Secondary," "Primary," "Tenant occupied" and "Short term rental" all mean very different things to insurance companies. In the event of a claim, these terms can be your friend, ensuring coverage, or frustrating opponents if a claim is denied.
Openly discussing how a property will be used helps ensure that the correct policy is implemented. Then, if a claim occurs, coverage will apply when it matters.
Ready to learn more?
Acacia Insurance has been helping to make the unexpected uneventful since 1988, and we look forward to working with you. Please contact us with questions and for additional information.