Distinguished Blog - Real Estate
Market insights and industry news.
Habitational Real Estate Insurance: An Ultimate Guide For Landlords and Brokers
Homeownership is no longer for everyone. Whether it’s because of changing tastes or economic realities, many people these days rent, live in condos and apartments or find themselves in other housing solutions. For instance, in 2021, around 31.8 million homes in the US were part of a multi-family building, be it an apartment complex, condominium,…
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Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
Homes are an investment and maintaining them is a must. As many homeowners know, however, it isn’t always easy to know what needs to be done. Spring has officially sprung, making it the perfect time to inspect for winter damage and prepare for the warmer months to come. Share this checklist with your insureds to…
COVID Construction Spike Leads to Lumber Shortages
In March of 2020, American lumber mills curtailed operations, citing both employee health and safety concerns and an expected plunge in demand. As months-long quarantines kept Americans locked in their homes, however, home improvement projects and renovations skyrocketed. The failure of lumber producers to foresee this increased demand for construction supplies has led to widespread…
Tapping into the Benefits of Transitional Real Estate Coverage
The pandemic has reshaped the real estate and construction market as many offices became vacant with workers going remote and companies rethinking their square-footage needs. At the same time, urban dwellers fled their apartments for the suburbs. As things begin to normalize, developers are looking to leverage the thousands of unused and vacant properties across…
How to Find More Builder’s Risk Insurance Leads
The construction market is one of the many industries that has felt the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The initial lockdown forced construction to a screeching halt, disrupting project schedules and causing short- and long-term uncertainty across the industry. However, as restrictions ease, construction projects resume once again, with commercial and residential construction projects…
Winter Home Maintenance Checklist
Costly winter-wealth-related nuisances, like frozen pipes, can often be avoided with adequate preparation. But it isn’t always easy to know what needs to be done, especially for a new homeowner. Share this checklist with your insureds to keep winter maintenance simple.
What do Lenders Want to See?
When insuring tenant and owner-occupied multi-family buildings (apartments, brownstones, townhomes, and condominiums), insurance companies require information related to the type of construction; the age and type of wiring; plumbing; and heating, including whether the property has central heating, window units or floor vents. Buildings more than 40 years old raise additional concerns about asbestos and…
How E-Commerce is Increasing the Demand for Warehouse Space
The coronavirus has driven a surge in online shopping, and warehouse space is suddenly a hot real estate commodity. U.S. consumers spent $347.26 billion online in the first two quarters of the year, up 30.1% from $266.84 billion from the same period in 2019 according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. While e-commerce…
City Homes Insurance Trends and New Updates
Housing in city environments is different from what you find in suburbia and has a unique set of needs. For the most part, city homes are made up of condos, apartments, and multi-family mixed-use buildings. Often times you’ll find that at least one of the units is owner-occupied. So just from this description, totally different…
Water Conservation Tips for Buildings
It’s a no-brainer: Water=Life. We need it, we use it, but we have to conserve it better. Commercial and residential buildings can have a huge impact on water conservation with just a handful of low-cost or no-cost water solutions.
View from Above: Inside the Real Estate, Community Association Umbrella Markets
The impact of today’s hard insurance market – characterized by higher prices, diminished capacity, and tighter underwriting guidelines – is being felt across all industry sectors and, depending on the class of business and its location, much more so than others. Susan DeCarlo, Vice President – Product Manager, Distinguished – provides us with a high-level…