The Malibu Real Estate Blog

Luxury Home Insurance

Just as elite and expensive cars require special insurance, so too do the luxury homes of Malibu.  From an insurer’s point of view, however, a house isn’t a luxury home just because it came with a high price or an enormous amount of square footage. Instead, a luxury home must have one or more of the following features: fine architectural detailing or uncommon construction details, high-quality construction, significant age, and contents that include fine art, collectibles or antiques. If your home meets this description, you should be shopping for a luxury home policy.

While all luxury home policies still cover all of the same perils and conditions as basic homeowners insurance policies, albeit at higher limits and values, there are certain things you must discuss with an agent up-front. Specifically, they are:

·      Contents: Be sure that your policy will give you enough to replace, not just your home, but also its contents, including valuable collectibles, antiques, and art. Go over each type of personal property and ask how the policy valuation clause works. Just last week I walked it to a Malibu Beach home with an impressive Warhol collection of Art.

·      You want a policy with guaranteed replacement cost on the structure itself with no limit, and replacement cost on the contents without limits like “actual cash value” on antiques. You will need to pay special attention to the limits on sub-classes of contents, like furs, jewelry, and silver, as well. Go in with an itemized list, if possible, and keep your list current as annual renewal dates roll around.

·      Age: With antique homes, it is imperative that you make sure your policy will pay to upgrade the construction to meet current building codes after a loss. This includes upgrades in undamaged portions of the house, if local building authorities so mandate.

·      Appraisal: While many insurance companies use a copy of the real estate appraisal done when you built or bought your house, with a luxury or antique home you may be better served if the insurer sends an appraiser of their own out to assess your property, and document not just the value, but also the construction details of your home. This will go a long way toward expediting your settlement if a loss occurs and you must make a claim. It will also insure that your coverage is really enough to replace your home in the event of a total loss.

Luxury home policies will cover every normal peril named on a standard homeowners insurance policy, but one thing they do not generally include is coverage for mudslides. Mudslides and landslides are considered flood-related perils, and are usually only covered within flood insurance policies, something you should consider adding to your insurance portfolio, especially if your home is in a flood zone.

Finding cheap insurance on a luxury home and its special contents, is more difficult than insuring the average single family home in a suburban subdivision, but this is because both the structure and the items inside cost more to replace. By being an active participant in the process, you will ensure that your home insurance meets your needs. 

The gilded age continues! For $150,000 per month, with a two month minimum, you can rent the ultimate get away house. The home, located on Cliffside Drive on Point Dume, has 4 bedrooms and 8 baths with enough interior space to park a few Gulf Stream V’s. There is a  direct trail to the beach and you can run around the property naked if you please because you will have total privacy. You are going to have to cough up a nice security deposit of $300,000 which means you’d better be ready  to cut a check for $450,000 to move in for the first month.  Let’s work with smaller numbers ya’ll can grasp. It’s only $200 per hour or $5000 per day. Considering that the Presidential Suite at Shutters in Santa Monica is $3500 per night, renting this for a mere $1500 more  makes sense, right?. Why rent a room in a hotel when you can rent a Mansion? The only downside to staying here is that you can’t walk outside and buy fake sunglasses or watch guys in Dolphin shorts skating on the Venice Boardwalk. Oh well. 

 The home is listed with Chris Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker

While the under $3,000,000 luxury market for homes seems to be slowing down, the growing demand for high-end finished products within the Malibu real estate market continues to be met with new homes such as this one with a listing price of $25,000,000.  This stunning East Coast traditional is situated on the cliffs of Point Dume with a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean.  The home sets a new record asking price for this section of ocean view bluff located on Birdview Street and will most likely elevate the value of all the neighboring properties when a sale is finalized. Competing for high-end buyers are two other listings: 7049 Birdview at $19,950,000 and 7307 Birdview at$11,250,000.  The highest sales price achieved on Birdview closed around $13,000,000.
The home was built by Albino Construction, known for building the highest quality homes that are frequently purchased by buyers from the entertainment industry.  It features 7 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms with 8756 Sq. Ft. on little over one acre of prime Malibu soil. There is an infinity edge pool, expansive ocean views, and direct beach access via a private gate with your own path to the sand. If you love the homes in the Hamptons, the weather in Southern California, and can afford to buy a small, private island, then you’ve found your perfect home in highly sought after Malibu. 

 Listed with  Chris Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker Malibu