Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunday1
I for one, am enjoying an opportunity to discuss destinations through the lense of retirement. It's helpful not to have to wade through hundreds of posts about one school district vs. another, sports activities for school-aged children, etc. You don't have to participate in any one thread if you feel it's a waste of your time. I've enjoyed the vast majority of your posts but lately they are getting a bit snarly.  |
It wasn't a snarly suggestion - it was a serious one. I think the local forums are pretty important - especially for a state as large as Florida. I personally don't find the talk about a community a waste. For example - when it comes to schools - that's important in terms of resale value - and the kind of people who are likely to be attracted to an area.
Also - I think that the local area forums can get into more specifics than the retirement forum. For example - there's a lot of discussion on the JAX forum about CDDs in the JAX area. You're unlikely to find this type of discussion in the retirement forum. Also discussion about public transportation (or - rather - the lack of it) - cultural resources - sports resources (and not only for kids) - etc.
Finally - as far as homeowners' insurance goes in Florida (in terms of windstorm coverage) - it's a mess. It's not only USAA that won't write here. It's almost every major homeowners' insurance company in the US. The few decent companies left either won't write near the coast - or are high-priced spread companies that want hefty minimum annual premiums.
The largest insurer in the state is the state wind pool (Citizens). There are a lot of new start-up companies that are for the most part thinly and inadequately capitalized considering the number of homes they insure. Note that most aren't rated at all by AM Best (they won't apply for ratings there because their ratings would be horrible).
The insurance crisis used to affect only south Florida - but it affects north Florida now as well (largely because of the horrible 2004/2005 storm seasons).
IOW - homeowners' insurance is a legitimate concern for those people considering a move here. On our part - our State Farm Florida premium is still kind of reasonable (OTOH - most people in Kansas wouldn't think it is reasonable at all). So we're keeping the policy - for now. But we would probably elect to self-insure (which we can afford to do) if State Farm dropped us rather than going with Citizens or one of the new start-ups (no "real" insurance company will insure our location).
Here's one of many pieces that describes the current situation in Florida:
Beware of Florida Homeowner's Insurance Companies - Life
Robyn
P.S. State Farm Florida is no great shakes. Its AM Best rating is B- (Fair) and its outlook is negative. But at least it's substantial enough to have an AM Best rating.
P.P.S. I'm not familiar with the insurance of coastal barrier islands in Georgia or the Carolinas. But I doubt the insurance situations there are any better than what we have in Florida.
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. Anyway, we looked into it a little. Among other things, we learned they have issues with insurance too, (fire and earthquake hazards--fire is a big problem in the west, especially in the mountains). Insurance companies are now being pissy in a lot of areas of the country. It's sad (and annoying) but after awhile you do start wondering how much you should let it matter to you.
