Don’t Be BLINDSIDED By The Cost To Own in Florida | Living In Jacksonville Could Be Your Best Option

I had a couple reach out to me who are thinking about moving to Fleming Island in the next year or so. They sent me a list of questions, which I love by the way, and they were related to hurricanes, flood and homeowner’s insurance, repairs and expenses related to getting hit by a storm. They had watched a video of an agent in another state talking about why you shouldn’t move to Florida. Instead you should move to their area. It’s a neat concept. I’ve read of other agents doing the same thing. The issue I have is their information on some of their points was incorrect. This could be intentional to make their area look more attractive, or they just didn’t research enough or know what to look for. That’s why it’s important to talk to a local real estate agent who is knowledgeable. Like me. 🙂 I decided not to mention who the agent is or what area they serve, because I don’t want to dis them or have any drama. I will say they are in a coastal area about 3 or 4 states north of me. So let’s dive in……

Florida is the state hit the most with Hurricanes

Yes, Florida has alot of storms. This is true. In fact, we have the most storms to hit us than any other state in the country. I mean we do stick out, not just for the geography part, but the “interesting” people who call Florida home. Of course, storms don’t target us for our people. At least that’s what I tell myself. All of Florida has had storms come through, but it seems to be worse in the southern part and Panhandle. Northeast Florida, like Jacksonville has not had a direct hit from a hurricane since 1964, with Hurricane Dora. We have had storms come through, but we are spared the worse it seems. I’m not sure exactly why, maybe that little bend on our coast helps or I’m just making things up. I’m not science-y like that. I’ve lived here since 1999. It’s more annoying getting ready for a storm that probably won’t amount to much. We had multiple storms come through in 2004 like Charlie, Francis, Jeanne and Bonnie. Back to back. One of them there were people who lost power for 10 days! I was lucky, we lost power only for a few days, which is bad enough. Not having AC in the hottest month of Florida is scarier to us Floridians than the actual storm. Not to make light of the people who have lived through the worst of these hurricanes. We just hide our anxiety with jokes and hurricane parties.

Insurance Companies have left Florida

Many insurance companies have left Florida or went bankrupt. Okay, this has happened. There’s still providers here. If you contact insurance brokers, they have access to multiple providers. I can give you contact info to a few. This agent mentioned only Citizens Insurance as the only provider for Florida. Not true, they are Florida ran to provide insurance for homes that owner’s have a hard time finding insurance for. There are still private companies here. There are 8 new insurance companies coming into Florida, which will help us get some relief.

Flood insurance is required in Florida

Flood insurance is required in Florida. NOT TRUE! If it was, I did not get the memo, and I am now a rebel with an unknown cause. If you have a mortgage and live in a flood zone, the mortgage company will require flood insurance to be purchased. If you have wind coverage through Citizen’s insurance, they are requiring everyone who renews with them or are new, to have flood insurance by January 1 2027. It’s happening in phases. Click here to see how they are phasing in flood insurance requirements.

You have to replace your roof every 10 years

All about roofs. Roofs are expensive. Yes. The costs have shot up since 2020. Agent TK421 said Insurance companies are requiring owners to replace roofs or not insuring homes that have roofs that are 10 years old or older. NOT TRUE. It was signed into law that the roofs that are 15 years or younger can’t be denied coverage if they are still in good shape. Older than 15 years you can get a roof inspection. Click here to see the changes signed into law.

Repairs after a storm can take forever to complete

It can take forever to get repairs done after a storm. Maybe. We haven’t experienced this in Northeast Florida like the south has. I have heard it has taken a long time to get needed repairs. We did have many flooded homes when Irma came through in 2017. People needed to be rescued from their homes, because Black Creek rose so high it broke records.

Super high property taxes

TH421 mentioned high property taxes that come out of nowhere the next year of ownership and make the home owner regret moving to Florida. I can’t speak for property taxes in other states, but here in Florida we have seen a jump in the past few years, because of the home values rising. The taxes are loosely based on the price you pay for your home when you bought it. I say loosely because they can be a little complicated to calculate. I’ll give you a real life example. We bought our house in July 2021. The previous owner of our house was paying $716 a year. So for 2021, that’s what ours were calculated at, until the next year. They then more than doubled for us. I’m not gonna lie, It sucks. I don’t want to pay that much in to the government. To find out more about homestead in Florida click here.