New Florida Condo Law

[Carnivore]

One issue in florida is across the state is rising property insurance rates, that some large carriers are leaving the state if they can't raise their rates due to the state insurance commission(not sure what they call it). I am kind of trapped because my insurance company is USAA. USAA can't leave florida because the state has a large military population of active/retired/. national guard coast guard etc. USAA spreads out these cost to all USAA members world wide.

So I am in a roundabout way feeling the rate increase because of this issue in florida.

I recall about 15 years ago my girlfriend at the time,took a car trip to orlando and then all the way down to South Beach for a cruise and then back. What we observed along the way was a lot of concrete condo towers along the coast that were not completed. They look like they were abandoned. Not sure if this had something to do with what's going on now.

I am about 5 hours inland from the NC Coast.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

condos located in coastal southern states....

Three factors. Geology - the soft sediments of Florida, the Gulf Coast are very weak rocks that have some issues supporting tall buildings in the best of circumstances. Weather - Hurricanes hit the Gulf and lower Atlantic far more often than make it into New England. Salt water - nothing I can add to what Mark said.

I bought a 67 Chevy Biscayne once. The owner was a professor who spent 2 years at Boston College. It ate the car up. I gave a $100 for it and he changed oil every 2,000 miles and only ran premium gas. It ran like a top with 80k on it. But I had to keep the tire tools in the back seat to keep them from falling thru the floorboard in the trunk. That's why I hate to see roads salted. Our state is now using beet juice and sand and avoiding the salt.

 

[J Grant]

In my area of South Florida, the ground is about seven feet above sea level. Which means the pilings cant; go down very deep. Combine that with salty humid air and rust - the reason why it is so expensive to retrofit buildings is obvious.

That said, I've seen and been in the before-and-after, and the buildings look good and feel more solid when the work is done—which often takes a year or two, the residents living in a construction zone. It sucks appraising in one of these buildings when it is halfway finished, with big assessments, some paid up, and other units on-time payments. FL has always had much higher insurance rates than many parts of the country, and IMO, part of it is a rip-off. We have high dedication, and other states are seeing more severe weather events and flooding now as well.

In terms of the local market, this is a more affluent area with many snowbirds. So far, it has not affected things much, but the prices can be vastly different for buildings that have been remediated post-inspection vs. those that have not been or are awaiting inspections.