A $1.5B real estate firm gave us one of their hardest buildings. We cut the cost 42%.

So here's what happened. A multifamily investment firm with more than $1.5 billion invested across San Francisco sent us one of the hardest buildings in their portfolio. It was a test. If we could handle this one, we could handle anything they own.

The building is a 4-story wood-frame on the Divisadero corridor. Built in 1905. Five apartments with retail on the ground floor. If you know insurance, you know this profile. Old frame habitational is a class most carriers avoid. And when carriers avoid something, owners pay for it.

What they were paying

The expiring policy cost $22,804 a year, all-in. That might be fine if the coverage was good. It wasn't.

• Theft was excluded from the property form entirely.
• Medical expense was capped at $1,000 per person. That's the minimum the market will print.
• There was a $1,000 deductible on every liability claim. So even small claims meant real money out of pocket.

This is the usual story with buildings like this. The market decides nobody wants the risk, prices it like nobody wants it, and thins out the terms on top. You pay more and get less.

What we did

The asset manager filled out one short form and sent us the expiring policy plus a list of building upgrades. That took about thirty minutes of her time. It's everything we needed. No back-and-forth.

Then two things had to go right.

First, the underwriting story. This building had been maintained and upgraded for years, but most submissions bury those details or leave them out. Our AI surfaced the ones that mattered and painted the true picture of the asset: upgraded, well run, and cared for. That changes how an underwriter sees the risk.

Second, the carrier match. Not every carrier avoids this class. A few actually want it and compete hard for it. We matched the building to Maxum Indemnity, a Hartford company rated A.M. Best A+ XV. Right carrier, right appetite.

Four days after we received the documents, they had a bindable quote in hand.

The result, side by side

	Expiring policy	Quinn program
Annual cost, all-in	$22,804	$13,302
Theft coverage	Excluded	Included
Medical expense limit	$1,000 per person	$5,000 per person
Liability deductible	$1,000 per claim	None
Carrier	Specialty E&S market	Rated A.M. Best A+ XV

That's $9,502 in year-one savings, taxes and fees included. 42% cheaper. All other core limits were maintained.

And the coverage got better, not worse. Theft is covered again. The medical expense limit is 5x higher. The liability deductible is gone.

Here's what Rose, the asset manager, told us:

Any amount saved on insurance is a win, so getting a quote that was over 40% cheaper was amazing, especially because the coverage was actually better than what we had. And the entire process was so much faster and easier. We're already planning to bring other properties in our portfolio to Quinn.

Why I'm sharing this

Anyone can place a new concrete building with sprinklers on every floor. Hard buildings are where a broker actually earns their fee. The old wood-frame, the mixed-use, the property everyone reflexively marks up. Those are the ones where the right story and the right carrier make a real difference.

This was the first property this firm placed through Quinn. More are already on the way.

If you own a building the market treats badly, we'd like to look at it. Book a call and send us the expiring policy. Worst case, you'll learn your current program is fair. Best case, you'll get a story like this one.