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Re: Maintenance Fees Out-Of-Sight (by Melanie B.):

jgira12 wrote:

melanieb44 wrote:

rarghr wrote:

It's possible that both points of view are correct: insurance rates went up, *and* some businesses are increasing fees substantially beyond the increased insurance costs.

However, after a major hurricane, insurance rate increases often exceed 100% throughout affected regions. Myrtle Beach, mentioned in the initial post, has far exceeded that. The article at http://www.topix.net/content/kri/3775430556269411968333389293290507744366 describes increases as high as 700% for condominiums and homeowner associations in the area.

Well, I can speak for South Florida where I have witnessed 4 hurricanes pass through here. Numerous insurance policies have been dropped. Nobody is writing new policies. The largest insurer or last resort is called Citizens - which is the state insurance co. Those who are lucky enough to have private insurance policies have seen increases from 500% - 600%. Yes, that is correct. There is an insurance crisis here. I know many people who had policies of only 2,500 to see it increase to 17,000 per year. The insurance payment alone is raised even more than the mortgage itself. Insurance is unaffordable! Now that everybodies policies have been raised so high, no hurricanes last year. The insurance companies pocketed all that money and passed it on to their shareholders. Oh..and by the way, anything on the water or east of I-95...SKY HIGH. I would not doubt for even a second, that the amounts passed on is due to the insurance and the taxes in Florida. Resorts in Florida are going to have to increase their M fees......they have no choice. By the way, taxes are out of control for businesses and commercial property in South Florida also. There is a proposal on the table to eliminate property taxes for homesteaded homeowner's and to raise the sales tax to 8.5% for all.

Amen! You left out the bed tax increased last year to 5%, which now adds a total of 11% to the cost of renting a condo. With an average cost of approximately $3500/month in Fort Myetrs/Sanibel this adds almost $400 to stick to the snowbird who doesn't vote in the area, so he has no choice at all. It won't be long before people simply stop visiting 'paradise' due to the high costs. I canceled our fall trip due to medical reasons, but honestly, I also looked forward to saving the expense. Turns out we had very mild weather in the north, so I couldn't have picked a better time bail on the trip.

Also, with all those huge increases in insurance wouldn't you think there would be all kinds of people bailing out of the area? Real estate figures don't show it yet, just a slight flattening of sales....go figure! :)

Hi...snowbirds and commercial properties in FL are not protected by the Save Our Homes amendment. (Only homesteaded homes.) Foreclosures in FL are at record highes. Insurance is unobtainable, and IF you get it, it is sky high. Property taxes are sky high if you are not homesteaded. (Homesteaded people are protected at a 3% cap per year.)

There is both an insurance and tax crisis here. The statistics already show that people are having a hard time selling homes here because 1) nobody could afford the taxes appraised at the new value of the home and 2) insurance is way too high. So, homesteaded owners are stuck in their current homes because they can't afford to lose their homestead on the current home. Also, buyers get scared away because of the amount of the taxes and insurance.

The ones really screwed are the renters. Landlords can not file for homestead on rental properties. The landlords have to pass on the higher taxes and insurance to the renters. The working class can't afford to live here, and people are moving out of FL to places more affordable. The working class new people wanting to move to here can't afford it. Only established people can afford to stay as long as they remain in the home they own.

Our new governer is working on all these issues. If you want to learn more about it, you can read our local papers at www.sunsentinel.com or www.palmbeachpost.com. There are plenty of articles on there.

Insurance is definitely the reason why all the resort in Florida will have to charge more M. It is also the main reason why I bought my resort in Aruba - out of the hurricane zone, and no insurance issue like Florida. I pay low M. Thanks.