Richard Newquist, Realtor, PN at: www.liveatthebeach.net in Jacksonville Florida says:
Study: Florida among top 10 business-friendly states...WOO HOO! Something good is being reported!
NEW YORK – July 19, 2007 – Florida is as one of the best places to do business, ranking seventh in the 2007 listing of business-friendly states by Forbes.com. For the second year in a row, Forbes.com has ranked the top states for business, taking into account living costs, job and income growth, and educational achievement, as well as projections of job, income, and gross state product growth.
Forbes also measured the amount of available venture capital and how much red tape state governments inject in the business environment.
Who came in as No. 1? Virginia was the top-ranked state for the second year, finishing in the top 10 in four of the six main categories. Its strongest attributes include environmental incentives and a low unemployment rate. Here are the top 10 states and their rankings from Forbes.com: Virginia (1); Utah (2); North Carolina (3); Texas (4); Washington (5); Idaho (6); Florida (7); Colorado (8); North Dakota (9); and Minnesota (10).
Source: Forbes.com, Kurt Badenhausen (07/11/07)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
They Done Did It Again!
My Safe Florida Home eliminates grants for most roof renovations!
Richard Newquist, Realtor Par Non (PN) Live At The Beach!
This is from www.floridarealtors.org which reprinted it from the Palm Beach Post.
This is the way it goes in Florida! The government giveth and the government taketh away. The biggest problem with hurricane protection is roof protection. The State legislature never got it together on roof repairs. They are willing to assist with window covers and garage door strengthening but not roofs! They can't agree on how to strengthen roofs against hurricanes!
Their consutant, Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit that helped develop the My Safe Florida Home program has taken their consulting fees but, sorry to say, can't help out in THIS case.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – July 13, 2007 – Tens of thousands of homeowners seeking financial aid from a state program to reinforce their roofs against hurricanes may be blown away by what they find.
Over the past few months, the My Safe Florida Home program has eliminated most roof retrofits from its list of improvements for which homeowners can be reimbursed up to $5,000.
Lawmakers ordered the changes to the $250 million mitigation program during the spring legislative session even though studies show roof problems were the primary cause of further damage to homes during Florida’s busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.
Adding to the lawmakers’ reluctance are the disagreements among roofers and local building departments as to the best way to implement suggested roof renovations. Lawmakers have ordered the Florida Building Commission to come up with statewide guidelines by Oct. 1.
State Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, said eliminating most funding for roof retrofitting will prevent abuse by homeowners who try to bill the state for replacing old, leaking roofs.
“We shouldn’t be paying for routine maintenance,” said Posey, chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
My Safe Florida Home has been plagued by problems since it was first funded by the legislature in May 2006. For example, it has awarded less than $1.2 million in home-hardening grants so far.
The changes mean that more than 50,000 homeowners – including about 11,000 in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties – whose residences were inspected after April 22 will have more limited options for the maximum $5,000 state grant.
About 14,000 homeowners whose homes were inspected in the initial phase of the program will not be bound by the new restrictions, state officials said. That would include more than 2,300 homeowners in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
But going forward, the state will pay mostly for exterior wall and door protections, such as hurricane shutters and hurricane-related garage doors.
It will pay for limited roofing work in homes with gabled roofs. Those homes will be eligible for bracing gable ends because they provide additional support, Posey said.
In South Florida, however, most homes don’t have gabled roofs. Gone are grants for upgrading roof shingles, reinforcing roof-to-wall connections, creating a secondary roof covering or barrier to prevent water intrusion, and improving the strength of roof deck attachments.
Officials at the state Department of Financial Services, which runs the My Safe Florida Home program, had no choice but to follow the mandate of the legislature in restricting the program, spokeswoman Tara Klimek said.
But the changes were not publicly announced by Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who just last week made an appearance in Pensacola to award a grant to a homeowner.
On Tuesday, the state’s Web site, www.mysafefloridahome.com, had conflicting information about which home modifications are covered under the program. Both the new and old requirements are listed.
Klimek said homeowners on a waiting list to obtain the program’s free home inspections were notified of the changes by e-mail if the state had their addresses on file.
Lawmakers had cited the popular home modification program as the long-term solution to Florida’s high homeowners’ insurance rates. Hardened homes will cause fewer losses for insurers during hurricanes, allowing rates to stabilize, they said. Insurers also offer discounts for homeowners who make modifications.
Klimek said more funding for the program should be released quickly. She said more than 5,000 residents have been approved for grants and will receive the money once they show they have finished recommended renovations.
The latest challenge may be reaching an agreement on how to implement roof retrofits and what should be covered by the grants.
“Roofing is the last frontier of mitigation,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit that helped develop the My Safe Florida Home program.
That’s important because 90 percent of homes sustaining damage during Florida’s most recent hurricanes had roof damage, said Wanda Edwards, an engineer who serves as director of code development for the insurance industry-funded Institute for Business and Home Safety.
She said the amount of damage due to broken windows without hurricane shutters would be small by comparison.
Posey said legislators can expand the My Safe Florida Home program to include more roof work if the building commission can come up with cost-effective ways to perform roof rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, Klimek said homeowners are free to use their own money to do roof modifications. She said the free reports by state-certified inspectors will specify what roofing work needs to be done.
Copyright © 2007 The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Randy Diamond. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Richard Newquist, Realtor Par Non (PN) Live At The Beach!
This is from www.floridarealtors.org which reprinted it from the Palm Beach Post.
This is the way it goes in Florida! The government giveth and the government taketh away. The biggest problem with hurricane protection is roof protection. The State legislature never got it together on roof repairs. They are willing to assist with window covers and garage door strengthening but not roofs! They can't agree on how to strengthen roofs against hurricanes!
Their consutant, Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit that helped develop the My Safe Florida Home program has taken their consulting fees but, sorry to say, can't help out in THIS case.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – July 13, 2007 – Tens of thousands of homeowners seeking financial aid from a state program to reinforce their roofs against hurricanes may be blown away by what they find.
Over the past few months, the My Safe Florida Home program has eliminated most roof retrofits from its list of improvements for which homeowners can be reimbursed up to $5,000.
Lawmakers ordered the changes to the $250 million mitigation program during the spring legislative session even though studies show roof problems were the primary cause of further damage to homes during Florida’s busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.
Adding to the lawmakers’ reluctance are the disagreements among roofers and local building departments as to the best way to implement suggested roof renovations. Lawmakers have ordered the Florida Building Commission to come up with statewide guidelines by Oct. 1.
State Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, said eliminating most funding for roof retrofitting will prevent abuse by homeowners who try to bill the state for replacing old, leaking roofs.
“We shouldn’t be paying for routine maintenance,” said Posey, chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
My Safe Florida Home has been plagued by problems since it was first funded by the legislature in May 2006. For example, it has awarded less than $1.2 million in home-hardening grants so far.
The changes mean that more than 50,000 homeowners – including about 11,000 in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties – whose residences were inspected after April 22 will have more limited options for the maximum $5,000 state grant.
About 14,000 homeowners whose homes were inspected in the initial phase of the program will not be bound by the new restrictions, state officials said. That would include more than 2,300 homeowners in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
But going forward, the state will pay mostly for exterior wall and door protections, such as hurricane shutters and hurricane-related garage doors.
It will pay for limited roofing work in homes with gabled roofs. Those homes will be eligible for bracing gable ends because they provide additional support, Posey said.
In South Florida, however, most homes don’t have gabled roofs. Gone are grants for upgrading roof shingles, reinforcing roof-to-wall connections, creating a secondary roof covering or barrier to prevent water intrusion, and improving the strength of roof deck attachments.
Officials at the state Department of Financial Services, which runs the My Safe Florida Home program, had no choice but to follow the mandate of the legislature in restricting the program, spokeswoman Tara Klimek said.
But the changes were not publicly announced by Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who just last week made an appearance in Pensacola to award a grant to a homeowner.
On Tuesday, the state’s Web site, www.mysafefloridahome.com, had conflicting information about which home modifications are covered under the program. Both the new and old requirements are listed.
Klimek said homeowners on a waiting list to obtain the program’s free home inspections were notified of the changes by e-mail if the state had their addresses on file.
Lawmakers had cited the popular home modification program as the long-term solution to Florida’s high homeowners’ insurance rates. Hardened homes will cause fewer losses for insurers during hurricanes, allowing rates to stabilize, they said. Insurers also offer discounts for homeowners who make modifications.
Klimek said more funding for the program should be released quickly. She said more than 5,000 residents have been approved for grants and will receive the money once they show they have finished recommended renovations.
The latest challenge may be reaching an agreement on how to implement roof retrofits and what should be covered by the grants.
“Roofing is the last frontier of mitigation,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit that helped develop the My Safe Florida Home program.
That’s important because 90 percent of homes sustaining damage during Florida’s most recent hurricanes had roof damage, said Wanda Edwards, an engineer who serves as director of code development for the insurance industry-funded Institute for Business and Home Safety.
She said the amount of damage due to broken windows without hurricane shutters would be small by comparison.
Posey said legislators can expand the My Safe Florida Home program to include more roof work if the building commission can come up with cost-effective ways to perform roof rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, Klimek said homeowners are free to use their own money to do roof modifications. She said the free reports by state-certified inspectors will specify what roofing work needs to be done.
Copyright © 2007 The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Randy Diamond. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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