Avoid Property Insurance Nightmares with Public Adjuster Andy Gurczak
Guest: Andy Gurczak is a seasoned real estate investor and public insurance adjuster. Starting with a humble duplex, Andy has strategically expanded his portfolio to include a variety of commercial properties. He leverages his construction background and keen market insight to navigate the complexities of real estate and insurance claims, making him a valuable resource for both novice and experienced investors.
Big Idea: Andy Gurczak delves into the intricacies of insurance claims for property investors, emphasizing the importance of strategic decision-making and thorough understanding of the process to avoid pitfalls. He also shares his journey from residential to commercial real estate investing, highlighting the lessons learned and strategies for success in the commercial sector.
Dan: Yeah, for sure. We’ve been trying to link up here for a little while to get you on the show. Main topic is going to be insurance claims, and I think it’s valuable for the listeners to hang in there. Whether they’re single-family investors, whether they’re commercial investors, nobody wants to have an insurance claim ever. But when you do, you can really, in my experience, get screwed up by doing it wrong, or maybe even choosing to make the claim in some instances. I know that’s been my issue, claiming something too small. But we’ll get into all the problems and the solutions, and what you do as an adjuster and why that’s something valuable here shortly. Before we do that, Andy, do you want to give us a background on maybe some of your investing career, and then also how you got into and what your adjusting business is today?
Andy: When it comes to the investing game, me and my wife bought our first duplex, this was when we got married, so it’s going to be 10 years ago almost. We bought our first duplex. We lived on one side, rented the other side. So we basically lived for free, had a little bit of income even left over. I was able to scale the business, not pull any money, didn’t need to even make money at that point, was able to reinvest everything. My wife brought enough for groceries and the small stuff. That was under FHA. I think we bought that actually before we got married. Right before we got married, I think we bought that under my name. Then two years later, we ended up buying another FHA under her name. It was another duplex. So we ended up doing only 3.5% down, which was nice. It was a small investment out of our pocket to have two properties that were cashflow and really nice.
From then, we bought a townhouse that was a foreclosure. Then we ended up buying a building that’s in downtown Crown Point where we live that we converted into a commercial now. There’s three tenants in there actually. Then last year, we did our first 1031, where we sold the townhouse, took the money or sold one of the duplexes, took the money, and then bought a seven-unit building. It’s a commercial building. There’s seven suites, about 15,000 square feet. I think that’s it. I know we have a lot. We’re building a home right now. Real estate has been something that we’re always interested in. We’re always looking to buy something different.
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Resources mentioned in this episode:
https://www.AllCityAdjusting.com/
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Andy Gurczak & I Discuss Avoiding Property Insurance Nightmares with Public Adjuster:
- 5:50 – Details of a 1031 Exchange: Insights into executing a 1031 exchange successfully and the lessons learned from the process.
- 10:01 – Acquiring a Seven-Unit Commercial Property: The story behind acquiring a prime commercial building and its financial implications.
- 15:40 – Financing Strategies: How leveraging relationships with local banks facilitated property acquisitions.
- 18:30 – Property Management and Tenant Relations: Managing properties personally and dealing with tenant issues directly.
- 27:35 – Critical Timing in Claim Filing: Brother Elijah’s experience highlights the importance of acting swiftly and seeking expert advice to maximize claim value.
- 29:19 – Settlement Offers and Pitfalls: Andy shares insights into deciphering settlement offers and avoiding potential traps.
- 35:52 – Commercial vs. Residential Claims: Understanding the dynamics between commercial and residential claims can influence strategy and approach.
Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)
- Andy Shamberg on Property Insurance Fundamentals
- REI Diamonds Show with Rick Thompson on Building Green, High Performance New Construction
- 100+ Unit Apartment Syndication with Stephanie Walter
- Rental Property Insurance Pitfalls with Attorney Galen Hair
- How to Avoid Capital Gains Tax Using a Deferred Sales Trust or Like Kind Exchange with Carl Worden
The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
