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Broker packages insurance, home
sale
By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
Published August 4, 2006
After watching real estate deals
collapse because potential buyers couldn't find or afford property insurance,
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Inc. decided to intervene.
The state's largest real estate
broker started offering its residential customers in Florida a wide range of
insurance, including auto and homeowners policies, through NRT Insurance Agency
Inc. of Waltham, Mass., an affiliate of Coldwell Banker's parent company.
Coldwell is banking on the notion
that the marriage of real estate and property insurance could be a key to
selling houses in a cooling market. With 168 offices in Florida, Coldwell
handled about 70,000 transactions last year worth more than $23-billion.
"We have seen for months the impact
(of the insurance crisis) on commercial transactions," said Budge Huskey,
president of Sarasota- based Coldwell/NRT in Florida. "And on the residential
side, we're now beginning to see transactions lost."
Coldwell Banker says the
arrangement, billed as a form of one- stop shopping for prospective home buyers,
will offer clients a choice to find property insurance on their own or through
NRT, formerly known as Coldwell Banker Residential Insurance Agency.
Policies will be offered by
regulated insurers such as Travelers and Liberty Mutual, as well as through
"surplus lines" companies such as Lloyd's of London. Coldwell Banker is also
considering extending the insurance service to developers and commercial
clients.
"We're not trying to insure every
resident in Florida," Huskey said. "It'll just help close the deal."
It could also help point to the
issue of affordability, rather than availability, as the root of the insurance
crisis.
"This proves insurance is available
in the residential market," said consumer advocate Bill Newton, executive
director of the Florida Consumer Action Network.
"If they (Coldwell Banker) are
selling insurance, it exists," he said. "So there's no capacity problem. There
is a price problem."
Still, company officials
acknowledged this isn't all things for all people. In some cases, Citizens
Property Insurance, the state- run insurer of last resort, may be the only
alternative, especially when a residential property is located in a coastal area
such as Pinellas or Pasco county.
What's more, only Coldwell's
customers can use NRT's service, and only NRT-owned brokerages will participate.
Franchised Coldwell Banker offices
are not in the program, and the sale of policies will not financially benefit
the Realtor who finds the buyer.
"We may end up having two or three
layers of insurance, including Citizens," Huskey said. "But in other areas,
we're prepared to provide full coverage."
Huskey acknowledged that Coldwell
might not always be the least expensive, but said it will be competitive.
Prospective buyers are under no obligation to use NRT, which is licensed in all
states
Tom Zucco can be reached at zucco@sptimes.com
or (727) 893-8247.
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