In Florida, the insurance can decide the house. A home that looks affordable on the listing can carry a premium that changes the math entirely, or a roof that no carrier will write until it is replaced. If you are buying, price the insurance during your inspection period, while you still have a way to renegotiate or walk.
Four things move a Florida homeowners premium more than anything else: the age and shape of the roof, the year the home was built, how close it sits to open water, and the claim history at the address. A 1980s home a mile inland with a ten year old hip roof and impact windows is a very different quote from a 1970s home near the coast with an aging gable roof and no shutters.
A home roughly thirty years or older will usually need a four point inspection before a carrier will write it, covering the roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC. Almost any home benefits from a wind mitigation inspection, which documents wind resistant features and earns credits that lower the premium. Ask the seller if recent reports exist. If not, order them early.
A Florida housing budget has more moving parts than most. Plan for the homeowners premium, a separate flood policy in much of the state, a hurricane deductible that is a percentage of the home's value rather than a flat amount, and for condos, an HO-6 policy plus your share of any master policy assessment. Run these into your monthly number before you commit, not after.
The time to find out a house costs six thousand a year to insure is on day four of the inspection period, not at the closing table.
Some homes are hard to place in the private market. New carriers have entered Florida and more are taking policies out of Citizens, so options are better than a year ago, but a weak roof or a bad claim history still narrows the field. Knowing that before you write the offer lets you ask for a roof credit or a price adjustment instead of absorbing it yourself.
The address, the year built, the roof age, and any inspection reports the seller has. I am licensed across all of Florida and can pull a real quote on a specific address in a day or two, in time to use it during your inspection period.
Send the address and I will price the insurance before you make the offer.