When insurance costs doubled, plenty of condo boards raised the deductible to hold the monthly number down, and at the time that was good management. He says a per-unit deductible above a set figure now makes the whole building non-warrantable, which means a responsible decision two years ago quietly took financing away from every owner in it.
He sets up the cost pressure first. "Premiums on condo buildings roughly doubled between 2021 and 2025." "It went from about $53 a door to $105 a door." So boards did the obvious thing: "a lot of boards took a higher deductible to keep the monthly cost down." He is fair about it — "It was a rational move at the time and you could even say it was good management."
Then the rule he says landed this summer: "as of July 1st, if that master policy has a per unit deductible over $50,000, the building is now non-warrantable."
Which produces the situation he wants buyers to understand: "there are buildings out there right now, today, where the board made a responsible financial decision 2 years ago, and accidentally made every unit in the building unfinanceable." "Nobody sent them a letter." "Now, they're going to find out when somebody's loan dies."
His instruction is one document and one number: "So, get the master policy declarations page, and look at the per unit deductible." And a budgeting note that follows from a high deductible either way — "You'll also need your own HO6 policy to cover that deductible gap in most cases."
“So, get the master policy declarations page, and look at the per unit deductible.”
The declarations page is a one-page document that an association or its manager can send the same day, and almost nobody asks for it. It is a faster check than the reserve study and it answers a yes-or-no question: can a conventional loan happen in this building at all.
Verify the current threshold with a lender who writes condo loans in your market before you repeat a number to a client, because this is an investor guideline and guidelines move. But the habit stands regardless of the figure — the deductible on the master policy is now a financing fact, not an insurance detail, and it belongs on your list next to the dues and the reserves. A listing agent who has that page ready is selling a building that can close.