Floridians flock to get home hurricane-preparedness inspections from stateTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Aug. 16, 2006 — Florida homeowners flocked to a new state program Tuesday that offers free hurricane-preparedness inspections and grants to help cover the cost of improvements. More than 3,500 people applied online within hours after the state began accepting applications. The $250 million My Safe Florida Home program, passed by the Legislature in May, was supported by insurers as a way to help control skyrocketing costs in Florida’s insurance market. “Retrofitting homes must be a part of our culture of preparedness,” said state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, whose agency is running the program. With eight hurricanes in two years and insurance company losses hitting nearly $40 billion, insurance premiums have spiraled, and some residents have said they cannot find private coverage at any price. The program provides free home inspections outlining ways in which homeowners can protect their property from storm damage. Inspectors will look for things such as whether the roof-to-wall connections should be reinforced, whether stronger garage doors are needed and whether shutters should be installed. “It’s not hundreds of things that need to be done,” Governor Jeb Bush said. “It’s a handful of things.” Homeowners can apply for matching funds from the state to make recommended improvements, and some low-income homeowners can get grants of up to $5,000 with no matching requirement. Gallagher said the goal is for 12,000 inspections to happen before November and possibly as many as 50,000 could be evaluated in the next year. After that, it would be up to legislators to continue the program. Bush, who leaves office in January, said the program should be made permanent. Officials in Gallagher’s office said the first inspections will be done in South Florida, primarily in Miami-Dade, Broward and Lee counties, where more than 100 inspectors have already been hired and trained. After that, inspections will move to several other coastal counties. The program is open to permanent Florida residents living in single-family homes with an insured value of $500,000 or less. On the Net: http://www.mysafefloridahome.com/ ***As always, the latest in Real Estate News as it pertains to Spring Hill Real Estate, Brooksville Real Estate, Weeki Wachee Real Estate, Hernando Beach North Real Estate, Hernando Beach South Real Estate, and Hudson Beach Real Estate. – Brought to you by Hernando Luxury Homes, Your Luxury Real Estate Leader in Hernando County, Florida and Pasco County, Florida. Bookmark This Post
New policy: Throwing caution to the windWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — July 12, 2006 — Al Vazquez calls his house “The Alamo.” “Because it’s tough,” he said. “It’s been through more hurricanes than I’ve been through, that’s for sure.” Enough so that Vazquez and his wife, Barbara Murphy, are betting that the strength of their 1926 mission-style stucco house east of I-95 in West Palm Beach is similar to that of the mission-turned-fortress in San Antonio. This hurricane season, the couple plans to drop their windstorm insurance, or “go bare,” as the decision to self-insure has been dubbed. They’re waiting to sell another property and use the profit to pay off their mortgage. And they’re not alone. No Florida homeowner has to go bare because coverage is available from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s last-resort insurer. But after two destructive storm seasons, and with windstorm insurance rates climbing ever higher — sometimes doubling in a single year — more people are questioning whether it’s worth the price. That was the case with Vazquez and Murphy. They’re sick of their company, Citizens, and sick of paying a premium they think would be better off stashed in a mutual fund. They’re ready to ride out this storm season without falling back on any good hands, good neighbors or last-resort insurers. It’ll be up to just them to make any repairs. Their savings: $1,400 a year in premiums. The average homeowner might dream of going bare to save a few bucks and stick it to the insurance company, but it takes a specific mix of financial resources and moxie to drop your insurance. Few have it. Florida’s increasingly dysfunctional insurance market is pushing more of those people to act. A growing number of homeowners are either quietly dropping their windstorm coverage or threatening to, they say. Most shy away from talking about it, and no one tracks their numbers, but agents say they are largely wealthy individuals who can afford to replace damaged homes. But the regular Joe wants to go bare, too. The region’s booming housing market has pushed his home — and thousands of others — above the $1 million mark, especially in high-risk coastal areas. “I’ve started to have clients threaten. They’re saying, ‘It’s getting crazy. We can’t afford it.’ They’re just venting right now. But there’s an undercurrent of seriousness to it,” said Rick Bogani, owner of Bogani Insurance Services in Royal Palm Beach. “I think if the price pressure keeps up, people will start making the move.” Self-insuring means a homeowner drops his insurance coverage and plans to repair any damage and replace any lost possessions with his own money. Often, people who self-insure will set aside money just for that purpose. There are many obstacles to going bare: • Most lenders require insurance, so you can’t go bare if you have a mortgage. • For most people, their house is their biggest asset. Gambling with it doesn’t make financial sense, no matter how they calculate it. • Many folks couldn’t stash away sufficient money quickly enough to handle hurricane damage alone. Tom Lynch, owner of Plastridge Agency in Delray Beach, said he has a few wealthy clients who have decided to drop their wind coverage. The insurance agent makes them sign a statement saying they understand they must pay for any wind damage. “You’d have to figure out, ‘How old is my roof? Do I have shutters on my house?’ You really have to go through the logic with these people,” he said. He said it often makes sense for owners of homes worth $1 million or more with 10 percent windstorm deductibles to self-insure. Those folks could be paying out as much as $100,000 before insurance kicks in. By comparison, the owner of a $200,000 house with a 2 percent deductible might pay only $7,000 for his windstorm premium and deductible before the insurance money starts coming, Lynch said. “For $7,000, do you really want to risk your contents and all the rest of it?” Lynch asked. For Judy Ferel, the answer was yes. The high school science teacher dropped her windstorm insurance from Citizens about four years ago when she paid off the mortgage on her 33-year-old house in Delray Beach. She weathered Frances, Jeanne and Wilma with minimal damage. Even her screened pool cage remained standing. “It was just getting so expensive. I’m a single mom, and I just decided I didn’t need it,” she said of her windstorm insurance. “My whole neighborhood did well in these storms.” Ferel said windstorm insurance from Citizens would cost her $2,628. Vazquez, who will save $1,400 a year in premiums, said he figures that if a hurricane destroys his house, for which he paid $93,000 in 2004, he’ll be able to recover because of the land value. Indeed, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office valued the house at nearly $130,000 in 2005 — about $83,000 for the land alone. “I’m willing to take the risk,” he said. Most experts in areas from financial planning to home safety caution against going bare. They usually recommend a higher deductible to lower premiums. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, said homeowners need to ask some hard questions before they drop windstorm coverage: How close is the house to the ocean and what kind of damage did similar houses sustain in past hurricanes? Does a structural engineer think it can withstand a serious storm? How much is the premium and what would happen if the house were destroyed? What is the value of the land? “If you feel that your financial situation will allow you to make a complete recovery on the same timeline as with your insurance, maybe you could go without insurance,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. “But if you can’t, you’re taking a dramatic risk with what would be your biggest investment.” Homeowners insurance covers more than hurricane damage. It also pays for damage caused by thieves, fires and burst pipes. Its liability component protects the homeowner if he’s sued by someone who gets hurt on his property. Because most people have one homeowners insurance policy, canceling windstorm means canceling all other coverage, too. The only alternative is to buy an all-perils policy to cover everything but windstorm from a surplus-lines insurer. These companies are not regulated and often charge much higher prices. People living in the area designated for the high-risk pool, an area roughly east of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County, get their windstorm policy from Citizens and their all-perils policy from another insurer. They can sometimes drop their windstorm insurance and keep their all-perils policy. But if the company carrying their all-perils policy finds out, it might demand they purchase a windstorm policy. Bob Lotane, a spokesman for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, said there’s no law requiring homes to have both policies, but insurance companies don’t want to partially insure homes. “It’s a company decision, and generally you’re going to find the companies want you to have both,” he said. “They don’t want people to be under-insured. It’s just not considered a good risk.” Ferel, who lives in the high-risk area, has run into this problem. Her all-perils policy with the now-defunct Florida Preferred Property Insurance Co. will end on July 17. The insurers she has talked to want about $1,000 for an all-perils policy, double what she paid before, and are demanding she buy windstorm insurance, too. That would cost her an additional $2,628. “If I’m forced to take it, I’ll just put it on my credit card,” said Ferel, who’s hoping to find an insurer who will overlook her windstorm insurance gap. Not everyone is looking to self-insure. Jeff Platz, owner of First Florida Insurance in Jupiter, said he has been getting phone calls from self-insured homeowners who have been spooked by the past two hurricane seasons. “They’ll say it’s not worth rolling the dice anymore. They’re saying it might be better not to self-insure,” he said. “Some guys who were self-insuring are jumping to the other side of the fence.” ***As always, the latest in Real Estate News as it pertains to Spring Hill Real Estate, Brooksville Real Estate, Weeki Wachee Real Estate, Hernando Beach North Real Estate, Hernando Beach South Real Estate, and Hudson Beach Real Estate. – Brought to you by Hernando Luxury Homes, Your Luxury Real Estate Leader in Hernando County, Florida and Pasco County, Florida. Bookmark This Post
Citizens offers extra coverage to meet codeTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — July 12, 2006 — People with older homes have the chance to buy a little extra insurance coverage for them. Â Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort, recently sent out letters offering more ordinance and law coverage to its customers who have older homes not constructed to meet the current building code. Â And if they buy the extra coverage by Saturday, it will kick in immediately. Bookmark This Post
Latest Updates (click below to view!)
Deal of the Day
Communities by Type
Communities by Name
New Construction / Builders
County Clerks Offices
County Property Appraisers
County Property AppraisersRecently Previewed Homes
Featured Listings
Neighborhood Sales Reports
Search Site
New Resident Information Package
Latest Blog Entries
Blog Post Categories
Blog Archives
Links of Interest
Who We Are
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
