Honestly, for that hull value and your experience, the higher first year quotes are not surprising. I paid $4k the first year on the Aztec, which was either $40k or $60k hull. I think that was basically right at 225 TT, maybe 50 complex (in a Mooney), <10 HP, and 0 multi. Didn't even have my multi rating yet. I had to get 25 hours of dual before I was allowed to fly it (interestingly the insurance didn't require me to have the rating, so I got signed off to solo the plane to my multi checkride, which was pretty awesome).
So, you're looking at 2-3x the hull value with similar experience levels on a plane that has the same number of seats, albeit a single instead of a twin.
Experience is king when it comes to getting your premiums down. The 414's insurance is ~$2800 on a $160k hull. And that's a pressurized, turbocharged twin. Of course, I've also got over 2,000 hours in piston twins (and over 2,600 TT) and plenty of cabin class and Twin Cessna time within that.
From what I've observed, you basically have to bite the bullet somewhere and pay a "high" insurance premium early on. Once you get over that hurdle, the hurdles get much lower each time you go up. And at a certain point, there basically isn't a hurdle anymore. After the first year, the price goes down a lot. Like I said, first year in the Aztec was $4k. 2nd year was around $3k, despite increasing the hull value that year.
Alternately, you can wait and build some more experience in the club planes, or find a plane with a lower hull value. You could also look for a partner which would allow you to 1) spend less on the plane out of your pocket and 2) split the fixed costs.
I can give you my insurance broker's contact info and he's done very well for all the pilots upgrading who I've sent his way. That said, I doubt you'll see much lower than the $4k number you got. Maybe a bit.
