Posted on 12/18/2023 7:36:03 AM PST by devane617
Florida condo owners are about to get hit by the perfect financial storm. With insurance rates already going up as much as 300% for some buildings along with recent changes to the Florida Condominium Act and new changes going into effect in 2025, many are going to face tough times in the coming months and year.
“Perhaps $50k’s worth to clean up the mess...”
I see lots of this here. Either no insurance or very little.
How did I double post????
“I own a single-family home on the Gulf coast and my insurance rates are absolutely outrageous and going much higher each year.”
I must have missed something. Did someone force you to buy a home smack in the middle of hurricane country? Were you not aware that the Gulf Coast is frequently is hit by very large, very destructive weather events?
L
Day drinking? :)
Day drinking? :)
In the 1920s, Florida was booming. Then came the 1926 Hurricane that hit Miami. The State went into depression for years after that.
‘Did someone force you to buy a home smack in the middle of hurricane country?”
And the crazy part is that I moved here from Tornado ally where hail as big as baseballs was a regular occurrence. In 2014 I did not complete one insurance claim for a new roof before I had to file a second claim for a new roof...Go figure.
You can’t drink all day unless you start in the morning.
“I do believe HOA fees are going to continue to increase at alarming rates”
It is a profit center. So you can count on costs going up as alarmingly as the market will bear, not just in FL, not just for condos, but everywhere that an HOA lords dominion over folks who thought they owned the property they paid for.
Karen Carpenter was a goddess.
I’m watching the Atlantic Ocean from my apartment, after having gone surf fishing this morning. I was hoping to buy a boat this year. However, I’ve gone back to work so I can contribute $20,000 for a new roof. Oh well.
“Then came the 1926 Hurricane that hit Miami. The State went into depression for years after that.”
My in laws live smack in the middle of wildfire country in the Sierras. They actually looked at a place oil Paradise but Dad got a bad feeling about the place and they passed. Thank God for that. They ended up buying near Placerville.
So last year when their insurance company canceled their policy for fire damage they were very upset. This was after a huge fire had them living in their trailer for 6 weeks.
It took everything I had to not say a single word about their choice of places to live. A couple weeks ago they told us they’re going to sell their place in the mountains, assuming they can find a buyer of course, and go back to Sonoma County.
I’m glad they’re moving out of the mountains. One day the luck of their small community will run out and I hope they’re not around when it happens.
L
“ It is a profit center.”
Not in my condo association. We have 20 units in our complex, so not only is the HOA not a money-making enterprise, with 5 board members we are very close to them. Literally 25% of the units have a person on the board.
A 500 unit HOA might be a money-maker but ours is simply an exercise in sharing the costs and I’m on the hook for 5% since that’s my ownership stake. Hurricane Ian resulted in a $4300 assessment (per unit) to cover our deductible and repairs. Even considering the monthly HOA fees, it’s cheaper than friends who own single family residences here. Our unit itself had zero damage and the roof was nearing end of life anyway so we had the money for replacement if not for the instantly higher prices due to the huge uptick in demand due to the hurricane.
Of course living in the middle of Florida rather than the coast is cheaper, and the middle of Montana costs even less, but you don’t get to boat out in the Gulf from either of those. There is a balance between the cheapest place to live and the most enjoyable.
Could be part of the New World order trying to get the servfs of the beach. Only the elite can own property on the coastlines..
If I were to spend time in FL, I would rent and not buy for these and many other reasons.
One thing I learned from owning a condo back in the day, is try to get on good terms with board members, a lot of times you can get the inside scoop on things beforehand.
Karen Carpenter was a goddess.
??
She was amazing.
Did she pre-pay your apartment, or, something?
:-)
I was going to post a response to this guy, here’s the issue in Florida and there is no easy solution, it’s going to be costly no matter who the Governor is, over the years the population in Florida has exploded, everyone knows that especially those of us who live here and have our entire lives.
What has happened over the years is, a large percentage of people want to live as close to the water as their budget will allow, the more money you have the close you live.
Houses have been erected in what at one time was swamp land, naturally when a hurricane comes it does more damage because more people are affected and their homes are built on land that easily floods.
It’s a given, if you live in Florida long enough you will go thru a hurricane, I’ve lived here for 64 years, been thru numerous hurricanes, years ago the wealthy lived close to the ocean, the rest of us live inland in the middle of the state where it’s significantly safer in a storm.
With the number of people living close to the ocean and property values rapidly rising, naturally insurance rates are going to follow along.
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