The inspection your carrier asks for on an older Fort Myers rental — and, where the report turns something up, the contractor who puts it right and re-inspects.
Four-points in Lee County have become easier on the roof and harder on everything else. The roof question is often already answered by a post-Ian replacement with a permit to prove it, which removes the most common cause of decline.
What remains is the electrical and plumbing in the 1960s to 1980s stock, and it is the standard Florida picture: obsolete panels, aluminium branch wiring, polybutylene at the later end. Storm damage did not fix any of that.
Where a property was repaired after Ian, we check that the work was permitted and closed out. Unpermitted or open storm repairs are a live problem across the county and they surface at inspection, sale or the next claim.
Each of the four systems is assessed for age, condition and whether it contains anything the market has blacklisted. That last part is what most often decides the outcome.
Covering type, age, visible damage and estimated remaining useful life. Carriers typically want at least three to five years of life left, and many will not write a shingle roof past about fifteen years or a tile or metal roof past about twenty-five. Age is usually evidenced by a permit record rather than an opinion.
Panel make and amperage, wiring type, and the presence of anything uninsurable. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels are refused by most carriers outright. Aluminium branch wiring, common in homes built between roughly 1965 and 1973, will usually need remediation with approved connectors before cover is offered. Knob-and-tube, cloth-sheathed wiring and open splices are all findings that stop a policy.
Supply and drain material, water heater age, and evidence of active or historic leaks. Polybutylene supply pipe, installed widely between about 1978 and 1995, is effectively uninsurable and needs repiping. Cast iron drain lines in mid-century homes are increasingly queried because of the claims history around them.
System age, type, condition and whether it is operational at the time of inspection. A unit past about fifteen years will be flagged, and a system that will not run on the day cannot be passed.
A four-point does not have a formal pass or fail. What happens is that the report goes to an underwriter, and the underwriter declines, offers cover on restricted terms, or asks for the finding to be corrected within a stated period.
This is where most landlords lose time. The inspection is booked, the report comes back with a Federal Pacific panel or a stretch of polybutylene on it, cover is refused, and the whole thing restarts with a different contractor doing the remedial work and a second inspection to evidence it.
We do both halves. If the report turns something up, the same company quotes the remediation, carries it out under permit where one is required, and re-inspects. You are not left holding a report and a list of phone calls.
Buying an older property. Your carrier will want it before binding cover, and your lender will want the cover before closing. Build the inspection into the timeline early.
Renewal on a home over thirty. Carriers re-underwrite at renewal and increasingly ask for a current four-point even on a policy that has run for years.
Moving carrier. Any new application on an older home will trigger the request, including a move off Citizens.
After a claim. A significant claim can prompt a re-underwriting review of the whole risk.
Carriers generally ask once a home passes about thirty years old, though some start at twenty-five and Citizens applies its own rules. In Fort Myers that captures most of the older stock and very little of the newer development. If you are buying, refinancing or changing carrier on an older Lee County rental, assume you will be asked.
Yes — Fort Myers and the surrounding area including Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita Springs, Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers. We cover the whole state, so if you are just outside, call and ask.
Yes. We give proper notice and work to a time that suits them. The utilities need to be on and we need access to the attic, the panel and the water heater, so a completely unattended visit does not usually work.
Most single-family rentals take about forty-five minutes-to an hour on site. Larger properties, or ones where the panel and water heater are in awkward places, take longer. The report is normally with you the next working day.
There is no statutory expiry — validity is set by the carrier. Many accept a report up to a year old, some stretch to three or five years, and some want one dated within ninety days of the application. Check what yours will take before booking, because it is the single most common reason an inspection has to be redone.
No, but somebody needs to let us in and the utilities need to be on. The HVAC has to run and the water has to be live, or the report comes back incomplete and the inspection has to be repeated. We give tenants proper notice and work around their day.
One call for the inspection and for whatever it turns up. Licensed, insured, and reporting in the format your carrier expects.