The freedom to choose finishes and design details is what draws many people to new construction homes. But at the same time, anyone who has stepped foot into a design center knows how overwhelming (and expensive) it can be.

When it comes time to decide on the upgrades and options, it’s important to think for the future, steer clear of obvious fads and select those upgrades that will give you the most value for your dollars.

I suggest buyers focus on items that...

Flood Insurance is one of those topics that people don't like to talk about, but with Florida leading the other states with almost 1.8 million flood insurance policies, residents need to be aware that the current national flood insurance program is set to expire on September 30, 2017.

The last time the National Flood Insurance Program expired, Congress made multiple short term extensions and actually let the program lapse 4 times before they finally got their act together and passed...

Shopping for insurance for your home purchase is never a fun task. But there are ways you can save money on your insurance here in FL.

Do you have a newer roof? Have the windows been replaced (with permits)? Has the garage door been replaced in the past few years? Any of those things can potentially save you money on your insurance rates if you have a wind mitigation inspection done on your home.

Wind mitigation discounts are available from Florida insurance companies...

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be up for renewal yet again, in September.

The program is $24 billion in debt and members of Congress are again saying something has to be done to address the deficit. They have been considering how to get the private insurance companies to participate more in the flood insurance market. However, most private insurance companies will not get involved as long as many of the flood insurance rates being charged are subsidized under...

The SW FL real estate crash back in 2007 - 2011 saw a large number of condo owners, who'd bought at the height of the real estate boom years, doing either short sales or allowing their condo units to go back to the lenders. This created a hardship for many condo associations, since these owners were no longer paying their monthly or quarterly assessments.

As a result of the fallout, condo financing rules were tightened up considerably. Buyers could no longer qualify for 100% financing....