Wanna be a FL Resident? If your rich, think twice about Floridizing.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Many people in FL self insure for Hurricanes otherwise you can't afford your house.
You can put that 5K a year in the bank and buy yourself your own roof when the next big one hits.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Can't your house move off the foundation too or a lot of other damage as well that is very expensive to repair?

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

most houses are cement block construction. we have shutters over every window, reinforced garage door, or lanai is at risk, but that is not covered. deductible is 2% of the insured value, so 4 or 5 thousand dollar deductible.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Can't your house move off the foundation too or a lot of other damage as well that is very expensive to repair?

Highly unlikely unless we got a tsunami along with it then we will just get FEMA bail out money like everybody else does.


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[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I know it is very tempting to drop Hurricane insurance. One neighbor pointed out that Koreshan State Historical Site has been there since 1896, with all the buildings undamaged by hurricanes or flooding is one mile from our subdivision so we should be safe.

Like I said, out Hurricane deductible is 10% . . . our deductible for other perils is 2.5%. I don't have our flood policy handy.

We are protected by the Indians who first inhabited our areas, so it's said.

You will likely recall that we were watching Charlie on NWS radar. It was projected to turn in at Tampa Bay, and when it turned in short of there, Charlotte Bay, I said, "Oh, $#!+!"

Still, the Indians protected our area then.

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

Whan I moved to Floria 20 years ago, in answer to my concerns about hurricanes the real estate agent explained how the newer homes are constructed here. (since Andrew) The block walls have rebars running through them, tied to the rebars in the foundation on one end and to the roof trusses on the other. Theoretically, if you had a big enough crane, you could yank the whole house out of the ground, foundation and all...Shutters on the windows and a re-enforced garage door complete the package. I remember Charlie too.and I remember the news people flying over Port Charlotte. Some homes were destroyed, others only lost a few shingles...The difference was when they were built. pre Andrew, or after.

As far as the tax laws. Dont try to beat them by establishing "paper" residency here....actually move. Sell the old house, and cut the ties. If you need to spend time "up north" buy more timeshares, and stay there, out of harms way during hurricane season... Its just that I dont think you can run away. Anywhere on the east coast is at risk. No??

and insurance is not too bad...unless you are on one of the barrier reef islands like Sanibel.....In 20 years Ive only hung my shutters once, (and that wasnt Charlie)

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

we bought 6 months before Charlie, right after Charlie we bought the storm shutters.
Jim I didn't think you owned here during Charlie.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

This thread is interesting to read for folks out of the area. We had to do some of it here for earthquakes too after one of the big ones. I saw a beautiful old condo in a historic building with a reinforcement bar running through the bathroom but that's what it took.

Also some of the houses in the hills or canyons of Laguna Beach have copper roofs and no more wood siding or wooden beams anywhere because of the many fires almost every year.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Jim I didn't think you owned here during Charlie.

Don't know that I said we did.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Of course, one of the biggest differences between Old construction and new construction, and the thing the insurance companies look at first is the roof:

A “Four Point Inspection” focuses only on four main areas of interest in a home:
•HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning)
•Electrical wiring and panels
•Plumbing connections and fixtures
•Roof

The "new" style is the hip roof:

http://cdn-0.carpentry-pro-framer.co...a-hip-roof.gif

because there are no flat sides to catch the wind.

Four Point Inspection is so much a way of life with home-buying, and insuring, that when you Google Florida Four, it autocompletes Point Inspection.

We were lucky in that our 50-plus year old house had updated HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing less than 10 years before we bought it, lucky in that as a foreclosure, the sales was as is. It was very hard to get things done prior to closing, since it was not ours to do anything with, long distance.

Once we got it, we had some roof maintenance done, to attest for the Insurance Company that it had at least a three year useful. At our first-year renewal, we had to do that again, have an inspection and assure a 3 year useful life. Now I do roof maintenance each Winter and take pictures. Ideally, we'd like to put a metal roof on.

Like I said, roofs are a big deal, and it's kinda hard not to see them if there's a problem.

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

I assumed from your post that you did

You will likely recall that we were watching Charlie on NWS radar. It was projected to turn in at Tampa Bay, and when it turned in short of there, Charlotte Bay, I said, "Oh, $#!+!"

I mean why would you say "Oh, $#!+!" except that you were in the path

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

I assumed from your post that you did

You will likely recall that we were watching Charlie on NWS radar. It was projected to turn in at Tampa Bay, and when it turned in short of there, Charlotte Bay, I said, "Oh, $#!+!"

I mean why would you say "Oh, $#!+!" except that you were in the path

that's what I thought too

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Not me.

Written words can be that way, misleading. Spoken words, too, but I'm not so good with that.

I was sitting at our Summer Place, watching NWS radar Key West, and then Tampa NWS radar, and following the up-to-the-minute news on the Internet.

Wherever you are, you can that . . . you don't have to be in Florida to watch Florida weather radar.

Here, click this:

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?r...01111&loop=yes

So, every few minutes you refresh the page, ya know, and when I did it that one time, it had turned east into Charlotte Bay. I said, "Oh $#!+" because it turned in over Sanibel/Captiva, m/l.

We were on Sanibel/Bonita Beach that following January, and followed the highway (36) Charlie took when we went to Orlando.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Digressing . . . a Florida resident away from Florida the entire year, serving in the military, is still a legal Florida resident.

http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/2010...tate-return-2/

By that same token, Legal Florida residents who have a job elsewhere, but return to Florida when not required to be at their job, are Florida residents. Right?

I feel like I already said it somewhere, but our Northern state's definition of residency is "the place to which you intend to return." Well, that pretty much describes both it and Florida. My (better) definition is "the place you intend to stay when you're done going other places."

I would use the example of Florida Senators and Representatives, but I don't think they spend much time in Washington, except to buy their drugs.

[ronparise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronparise]

Digressing . . . a Florida resident away from Florida the entire year, serving in the military, is still a legal Florida resident.

http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/2010...tate-return-2/

By that same token, Legal Florida residents who have a job elsewhere, but return to Florida when not required to be at their job, are Florida residents. Right?

I feel like I already said it somewhere, but our Northern state's definition of residency is "the place to which you intend to return." Well, that pretty much describes both it and Florida. My (better) definition is "the place you intend to stay when you're done going other places."

I would use the example of Florida Senators and Representatives, but I don't think they spend much time in Washington, except to buy their drugs.

And the guy before our cocaine representative owned a home in Gulf Harbor, Ft Myers, but spent a lot of time in California, with his wife the former Mrs Sonny Bono also a congressman (woman)