Casa Monica in St. Augustine a great choice for a late summer trip

The Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine is a “can’t miss” for baby boomers thinking of heading to Florida soon. The hotel, while on the expensive side, is worth every penny. Located in Florida’s most historic city, The Casa Monica is part of the Kessler Collection and a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts.

There’s plenty of walking around, trolley tours, and sightseeing to do in St. Augustine, but whatever you do, DON’T MISS this… right inside the hotel. 95 Cordova has one of the best filet mignons on the east coast of Florida…trust me.

Insuring Your Second Home

Here is an article from The New York Times Online that reiterates some of the main themes of the Homeowners Insurance chapter of my “for Boomers” books.

The main tips:
1) Start shopping for insurance early in the home buying process.
2) Do plenty of research.
3) Don’t forget about flood insurance.

Continue reading:
Insuring Second Homes - New York Times

New UF Hurricane Simulator

The University of Florida has introduced a new hurricane simulator unlike anything that has been available before it. The $500,000 machine can simulate the force of a Category 1 through Category 5 Hurricane with the flick of a switch. Continue reading about the UF simulator…

Texas Tech has a Wind Science and Engineering Research Center whose website is worth checking out as well if you are interested in hurricane research.

While researching this post I found two hurricane simulators that you and I can use to see the types of damage different levels of hurricanes can cause. One is on the National Geographic website and the other is through the Associated Press. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Buenos Aires: "The Paris of South America"

For any of you considering moving to South America, namely Buenos Aires, I’ve recently discovered a great blog written by Will Bonner. Actually I found this through a daily e-zine I subscribe to called Early to Rise, available at http://www.earlytorise.com

If you go to Will’s blog, what you’ll find is a true and unflinching daily account of what it’s like to live and work in what many describe as the “Paris of South America.” Will doesn’t just cover the good, he will gladly and freely fill you in on all the bad as well. Check it out at http://willbonner.com

I’ve found it to be a good dose of entertainment, even though i have no plans to move to South America. He’s also got several links to other Buenos Aires and Argentina blogs and websites.

Florida’s New Property Tax Laws Explained

Well, if you follow Florida real estate at all, you’ve probably long since heard that Florida passed some new property tax laws a few weeks ago. What you may NOT know, however, is what to make of it. For what it’s worth, here’s my take on it.

1) To begin, what was done probably wasn’t enough to cause any real change in Florida’s lousy real estate market. Homesteader’s in Florida were helped out a little. By that I mean a 3-9% reduction on their next tax bill. So at the most, if your tax bill is $5000 you MIGHT save $450. At the most. That’s a night in a fancy hotel, dinner, and drinks…maybe even top shelf drinks. In my book not enough to get me too excited.

2) If you live outside of Florida but own property here (non-homesteaded) you didn’t get much help either. By most accounts I’ve seen, you won’t save anything. But, your taxes might not go up like they have been because…

3) Millage rates will be rolled back to 2006-2007 levels. (Basically 1-year). Most Florida taxpayers were hoping for much more, legislators are telling us, hey, at least its something, and city leaders (who have to roll back their spending) are saying its too much…Go figure!

4) Up next for Florida voters will be a chance in January to increase the homestead exemption (currently $25,000 in most cases) to what is called a super-exemption or, 75% of the first $200k in value (Minimum of $50k exemption)

As always, we’ll keep you posted as things progress. But for now, put away any immediate hopes of huge property tax reform in the sunshine state.

New Florida homeowners insurance option for the rich

If your home is worth $1 million or more, there is a new company that wants your homeowners insurance business. The company is called PURE. Read an article about it from the Naples Daily News. PURE says that they can offer the owners of “high-value property” better insurance rates than they might otherwise find on the market.

I don’t know how many Boomers on the Move readers this will apply to, but it is worth noting that there are other options available for insurance if you’ve got the money.

Maybe something else like this will come along soon for the rest of us.

More rave reviews!

The reviews keep rolling in:

“If you’re a baby boomer thinking about buying a home in Florida, this is your blueprint.”

-Barbara Corcoran, NBC’s Today Show Real Estate Correspondent

“…over the next 25 years or so, the Sunshine State can expect over 22.5 million new boomer residents. Each and every one should own a copy of Ryan Erisman’s book.”

-Richard Croker, Author, “The Boomer Century; 1946-2046″

“In the old American Express Commercial, Karl Malden advised people not to leave home without their card. I think no one should buy a home in Florida without reading Florida for Boomers. It is that good.”

-Steve Weisman, Author, “Boomer or Bust”

Sorry, Charlie: No Florida property tax relief yet

Florida Governor Charlie Christ’s first legislative session has ended without any sign of property tax relief in the immediate future. A special session has been called for June, but consensus here is that not much will come from it. The best most lawmakers think they can agree on in that session would be a roll-back of property tax rates and a cap on them rising. Better than nothing.

But any real reform will have to wait…perhaps for a while. The House and Senate cannot come to an agreement on what is the responsible solution to Florida’s property tax problem. Lawmakers are citing a desire to cross the t’s and dot the i’s properly this time. Once they do agree, or at least come to a compromise, voters would have their say. If lawmakers can’t come together on it this June, this may not happen until November 2008.

Florida Property Tax Gridlock

From FloridaCapitalNews.com:

“TALLAHASSEE — Legislative negotiators officially declared gridlock Tuesday on the radical idea of abolishing all property taxes on resident homeowners by raising sales taxes - the centerpiece of House Speaker Marco Rubio’s reform.
House Republicans have refused to budge from their demands to give a whopping multibillion-dollar relief plan to voters, while the Senate has steadfastly refused to consider a sales tax increase.”

It sounds to me like Governor Christ’s more conservative plan of rolling back property taxes and then capping them has a better chance of meeting with both House and Senate approval.

Read the full story here.

Possible Flood Insurance Reform

There’s a whole section in my new book Florida for Boomers about flood insurance and how important it is to have flood insurance regardless of where your home is located. There may be some changes to the National Flood Insurance Program coming up:

“Currently, homeowners can obtain up to $250,000 in coverage for their houses or condominiums, plus up to $100,000 in coverage for their contents. But last year, the House voted to raise those limits to $335,000 and $135,000, respectively.”

It’s anybody’s guess whether or not these changes will be enacted by Congress, but the wheels are in motion. Read the full article

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