Gulf Coast Associates' Blog: Around Florida

Governor Charlie Crist signed the property insurance reform "Homeowners' Bill of Rights" into law yesterday. It offers a number of protections and upgrades for Florida homeowners. In his letter issued to the public, Gov. Crist said "the bill contains many important consumer protections that will help keep insurance costs more affordable for Florida's homeowners."

The law goes into effect July 1, 2008, and makes the following changes:

• Extends the rate freeze for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state's insurer of last resort, to January 2010.
• Allows single-family residential homes and condominiums with a replacement value of up to $2 million into the Citizens insurance pool.
• Requires Citizens' policyholders of property located…

Just a reminder, only two days remain for Florida homeowners to apply for a homestead exemption and for 2007 homebuyers to apply for the new property tax portability provision passed in the Constitutional amendment voted into law on January 29th.

To receive these benefits, residents must take action prior to March 1, 2008. Please pass this information on to your neighbors, friends and family.

Increased Homestead Exemption

Floridians who live in their homes as permanent residents are “homesteaded,” which grants them certain tax benefits. However, homestead status is not automatic. New homeowners must declare themselves to be homesteaders by March 1 of each year to their local property tax appraiser.

A major benefit of declaring a homestead is the…

It appears some of Florida's largest insurer carriers tried to use loopholes in the new insurance law to bypass the requirement that they pass on reinsurance savings to homeowners from the state- backed financial safety net fund. And, that's just one of the conclusions many lawmakers came to Tuesday after two days of Senate hearings on compliance with the law passed last year to help deal with Florida's ongoing property insurance crisis. Insurance executives were called to testify under oath why their companies didn't reduce premiums after changes in the new law gave them access to cheaper state backed storm reinsurance coverage and mandated they pass the savings on to consumers.

The hearings were just the latest battle in a long feud between state…

By a yes vote of 64%, Florida residents passed the real estate tax reform amendment at Tuesday's primary election. The new tax amendment was the first Florida ballot proposal that faced the recently passed requirement of a 60% approval threshold instead of a simple majority. Changes in the new amendment included doubling the standard homestead exemption to $50,000; keeps the state's Save Our Homes (SOH) feature which caps annual real estate tax increases on homesteaded properties at 3% per year; allows homeowners to take a portion of their Save Our Homes tax exemption with them when they move; offers a tax break on personal property for business; and caps tax assessments on commercial and non-homesteaded properties at a maximum of 10% per year.

Immediate…

What Are The Typical Characteristics of a Florida Home Seller?

Based on a review of NAR’s “2007 Profile of Florida Home Sellers", the answers to this question are interesting and provide real estate professionals with a glimpse into who their potential selling clients are and what they expect when selling their home.

Florida Home Sellers Characteristics

• The median age of home sellers was 48 years.
• 69% percent of home sellers were married.
• 51% of home sellers traded up to a larger home when purchasing their next home.
• The typical home seller owned their home for 6 years.
• 53% of recent home sellers reported that they undertook home improvement or remodeling projects prior to putting their home on the market.
• The typical home…

What Are The Typical characteristics of a Florida Homebuyer?

Based on a review of NAR’s “2007 Profile of Florida Homebuyers", the answers to this question are intriguing and provide real estate professionals many valuable insights into who their potential clients are and what motivates them to buy a home. Having this information is more important than ever in order to understand the changing demands of consumers in today's dynamic marketplace.

Florida Homebuyer Characteristics

• The median age of homebuyers was 43 years old.
• The median income of homebuyers was $67,500.
• 64% of homebuyers reported they had no children under age 18 living in the home.
• 59% of homebuyers were married couples, 21% single females, 12% single males, and 6%…

As promised, Governor Crist announced the launch of the state's new floridaperforms.com website which is designed for making Florida government functions more accessible to the public. The site compiles data from a variety of government resources and provides an easy to use format to show a synopsis of Florida's current state of affairs.

The website reports on how well Florida is doing in areas that affects its residents quality of life. According to his introductory letter welcoming visitors, Governor Crist states that "the performance measures will not only provide you with a window into your government, it will also provide our managers with important tools to build upon successes and address shortcomings", which should be invaluable to those agencies…

No matter how much the drive-by media wants to spin the current housing slow down, one thing those of us who live in Florida know for sure, people will continue to flock to the Sunshine State no matter how much doom and gloom the pundits currently espouse. And, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why. A simple look at the numbers mixed with a little common sense is all anyone needs to see the forest for the trees.

First and foremost, if you read a newspaper or watch cable television, you'd have no choice but to think that absolutely no one is buying houses anymore, especially in Florida. And, while it is a fact that the sales numbers are down from the boom in 2005-2006, the reality is sales are still occurring at a pretty respectable pace.…