RESPONSIBILITIES Don’t wait until severe weather is headed your way (or after a storm) to become familiar with your insurance coverage. Certain coverages aren’t typically included in standard property policies, such as Named Storm or Flood coverage. It is also important to know your re- sponsibilities as an insured; you have a contractual duty to prevent further damage when a loss occurs at your property. Check the pol- icy section “Duties in the Event of a Loss” for specific responsibilities. Lastly, reporting losses as timely as possible can help expedite the claims process and ensure that you don’t lose coverage because you waited too long to report a loss. RESOURCES FROM FEMA, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE & THE RED CROSS Learn more about severe weather preparedness from FEMA on Ready.gov’s Se- vere Weather Preparedness website (https://www.ready. gov/severe-weather) and find severe weather safety tips on the National Weath- er Service safety page (https://www.weather.gov/ safety/). Both FEMA and the Red Cross also have apps for iPhone and Android. • > Continued from :: PG 61 Internet Interest
> Continued from :: PG 59 In Front of the Storm
resent someone looking for a service like yours to buy their house. If you focus on keywords like, "sell my house," you are casting too wide a net and will have trouble ranking with SEO or paying too much using Pay Per Click advertis- ing. You will be competing, not just with other real es- tate investors, but with most real estate agents as well. Forget the unnecessary competition. Focus on keywords that represent someone wanting to sell fast. Focus on situations that cause people to need to sell a house quickly. This list of keywords can be difficult for most investors to come up with, but you can find one at https://sellerleadhacks. com/keywords. Online lead generation can provide a consistent flow of motivated-seller leads for investors who understand how it works. Learn from and avoid these three mis- takes, and create an online presence that helps you con- sistently generate incredible deals for your house-flipping business. • > Continued from :: PG 75 The Pros and Cons of Arbitration Should arbitration clauses be included in residential leases? The most common litiga- tion between landlords and tenants revolves non-pay- ment of rent and eviction. For this type of dispute, the cost of arbitration would probably exceed the cost of litigation. Furthermore, states have developed
specialized courts that are efficient in dealing with eviction/non-payment- of-rent cases. For those disputes, arbitration is not cost- or logistically effective. However, disputes in- volving matters other than non-payment of rent/evic- tion could be beneficially resolved through arbitra- tion. For example, claims by tenants that they sus- tained injuries as a result of a defective condition on the property could be a prime candidate for arbitration. The best-known na- tional arbitration firm is the American Arbitration Association; however, there are small arbitration firms that are typically much less expensive and are not as structured as national firms. In specifying small firms, there will be a con- sistency in who is appointed as arbitrator, whereas with the large national firms, you may see a different arbitrator for every dispute. PREPARING THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE If you choose to include an arbitration clause in your lease agreement, we highly recommend that you consult with an experienced real estate attorney. Unfortu- nately, many people simply go to a website and paste in the first arbitration clause that they see. Many times, those arbitration clauses do not fit! This is especially true when a consumer agree- ment obtains a commercial CHOOSING AN ARBITRATOR
• Use tarps to keep rain from entering the property and causing additional damage after the initial event. • Board up your proper- ty to deter thieves and vandals. Find reliable board-up tips from the United States Fire Ad- ministration at http:// www.interfire.org/pdf/ USFA Board Up.pdf. • Move swiftly to prevent mold. The EPA has a whole web page dedi- cated to mold cleanup tips: https://www.epa. gov/mold. You may not be able to avoid a storm, but if you are on your guard, you could avoid becoming a victim of a scammer in the aftermath. Reputable contractors should be able to provide you with proof of their licensing and liabil- ity insurance. If they have employees, they should also carry worker’s compensa- tion coverage. Anyone who offers to get you more mon- ey for your insurance claim warrants additional caution, and high-pressure tactics can be a red flag. Don’t let the heightened stress following a loss cause you to rush the process of hiring a quality service provider. BEWARE OF SCAMMERS
MISTAKE NO. 3 Not Focusing on "Warm" Keywords
People search Goo- gle for billions of search terms. Only a tiny fraction of those search terms rep-
INSURANCE COVERAGES &
112 | think realty magazine :: may / june 2019
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