This week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch takes a dive into something most of us have had to deal with at one time or another - Homeowner’s Insurance - with my friend Dave Inskeep, owner of Joe McGuire Insurance.

In recent months, I’ve had a number of conversations with lenders, bankers, community advocates, and others about the critical need for more housing. This need spans the state, and across all income levels.

There are a number of barriers that prevent needed development, and one of those that I think we don’t talk about often enough is the rising cost of insurance, policy changes that make it harder to adequately maintain a home, and the chilling effect all of that has on the housing and development market.

According to a report by the Consumer Federation of America, the average price of homeowner’s insurance increased an average of $628 between 2021 and 2024. In Kansas, the average rate rose 14 percent, but as you’ll learn, that isn’t consistent across the state - some areas saw higher, and lower, rate increases.

Kansas already had one of the highest insurance costs in the country, landing a spot among one of the seven most expensive states for insurance, which include Florida and Louisiana. On average, a homeowner pays more than $4,200 per year for coverage on a $350,000 home.

Dave does a great job of walking me through a lot of the complexities of insurance, and, I think, gives us an honest assessment of what is happening in the insurance industry.

If you own a home, plan to sell a home, hope to own a home, or have anything to do with homes, I think you’ll find this episode informative and enlightening. I know you’ll walk away knowing more about insurance than you did beforehand.

Link to the Consumer Federation of America report -
https://consumerfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/OverburdenedReport.pdf