Pre-2003 Designer Home issues?
 

Hi all,

In another thread, it was mentioned that homes built prior to 2003 were built to a less stringent standard and this affects the cost - or even availability - of insurance, even with a new roof.

Have you found this to be true?

Thanks in advance!

Not my experience at all. Judging by the posts on this forum, I'm paying a LOT less for insurance than many with brand new homes with no pool.

Just went through this with a home built before 2003. Yes it was a factor when trying to get insurance. However, there were many options still available and in the end I got a really fair deal. You just have to shop around. A bigger issue is the age of the roof and HVAC. I wasn't here when the roof thing went down but I sure saw the result of it when soliciting insurance quotes. Thankfully the home in question had a newer roof. The home inspector provided a Wind Mitigation report and a 4 Point Inspection report. Saved me hundreds of dollars on insurance.

Some insurance companies will not insure homes built before 2003. They will quickly send you on your way. You may need to shop around.

If you are thinking about purchasing an older home, call several insurance companies to get rates before you agree to purchase the home.The roof is one factor. There can be more. Each insurance company has their own criteria. Buyer Beware!

Building codes in Central Florida were changed in the early 2000's and are still less stringent than the coastal areas. Big problems in Central Florida have been amount of roof claims for minor damaged roofs(none of which was leaking) and people get brand new roofs at no cost and the roofer gets more than the market price of a price since the owner of the house had given the roofer the right to negotiate the claim via an AOB(Assignment of Benefit) contract.

Has to do with hurricanes standard if I remember correctly on attaching roof framing joists? luckily my house built November 2003 was built to hurricane code.

Depends on when house was built in 2003. Worth checking if house was built late in 2003?

House was built in 2000. I received 5 different quotes in no time from 4 different companies. In one instance, the agent referred me to another company who offered a quote. Even the larger companies that are not currently writing policies still presented a quote using a 3rd party insurer. Rates were about what I was expecting but coverage differed. In two instances, I called the agents back and had them adjust certain coverages to allow me to compare the different policies on the same footing. Again, I found the roof age and HVAC age to be a bigger issue than the age of the house (not an issue for me since they were new or newer on the home but the insurance companies definitely wanted to know the age of those two items). And those two items could be an obstacle for any house approaching 15 years old or older.

Codes changed dramatically in the early 2000 due to hurricane Andrew that hit southeast Fl. where many homes were destroyed

Never had a problem getting insurance for our 90's home, usually cheaper than the prices others on TOTV seem to be paying. No idea why the difference as I'm covered for everything I need. Maybe the construction is better than the newer homes so it would suffer less damage if a hurricane hit it?

Or the homes are generally valued less than newer homes so cheaper to replace?

Two different people have mentioned that age of the HVAC was a factor in getting quotes. Why? They are not insured items unless the home is totally destroyed.

My guess is that an HVAC failure could become a mold issue?

Older AC units did not have a float switch that shuts it down if the condensate drain clogs, creating a flood situation (ruined floors).
They are now required by code.

In my opinion, with all of the newer pre-owned and brand new houses available to buy, it makes no sense to buy a house that is more than 20 years old, especially for a retirement home. Lots of things can go wrong, some of which you may not even anticipate. Almost nothing in a new house is designed to last more than 20 years.