What if you want to buy a house with PARTIAL SHUTTERS, or without any SHUTTERS WHATSOEVER? Not all homes for sale in Miami come with hurricane shutters! Actually, you might be rather surprised at how many homes have NO hurricane shutters… NO impact glass… no protection!.
Can you GET windstorm insurance on a house without shutters? In applying for a mortgage, your lender will require windstorm insurance…. but the question is CAN YOU GET IT? The word is out that Citizens may REQUIRE the house you are buying to have hurricane protection on ALL OPENINGS… (if the value of the house is $750,000.00 or more). Wow! And if it doesn’t … what then?
Buying a new home in South Florida ? You’ll probably want information … up to date, current data… about the latest windstorm insurance requirements. Don’t rely on here-say!
Buying a house with PARTIAL SHUTTERS, or one completely WITHOUT shutters? There ARE a couple of quick fixes. Here’s one: Citizens will provide you with windstorm coverage, temporarily, right from the date of purchase, as long as the house is brought into compliance within a specified period of time (That time is SHORT … to be blunt… but it can/and will… do the trick in a pinch.) Citizens will give you just under two months (post-purchase), to bring your shutter situation up to code!. Citizens will cover a property that has no shutteres (or has partial… or ‘not-to-code’ shutters), provided that the buyer brings the property up to snuff within 5o-some-odd-days from the time of purchase. EWM Realtors Vicki Restivo and Alexandra Restivo offer solutions, and make home-buying easy. Questions? The Restivo’s have answers! http://www.MiamiRealEstateCafe.com
South Florida’s MAIN carrier is Citizens. (Yes, there area handful of other windstorm insurers… but, they are few and far between). A couple those OTHER carriers, by the way, will insure properties that have no shutters. They impose a value limit up to, and not beyond, a million dollars on the home itself. If you’re looking to buy a home or vacation property in Miami, rely on a Realtor who knows the ropes: We’ll walk you through the process… one step at a time: 305 793 1365 Vicki Restivo… 305 632-1064 Alexandra Restivo . Have the right information at your fingertips. There are so many ways to save money when purchasing a home … and it’s not JUST on the purchase price or on insurance!
Windstorm rates in Miami are promulgated. And for some odd reason, rates are higher to the west side of the highway… lower to the east side of the highway. (By ‘highway’ I am refering to US 1… also known as South Dixie Highway). For the life of me though, I cannot fathom why rates GO DOWN as you get nearer to the water, but they do… and if you can explain that, I’d love to hear from you!
Throughout Miami, you’ll see absentee owners whose homes are barracaded for the season … contrasting with others of us, slapping together last-minute or “partial -shuttering” … (as the shelves of Publix are nearly literally being stripped of food).
Miami is a breed in and of itself… a melting pot of ideas … Some of us look forward to our hurricane parties… neighborhood festivities and comraderie. Others flee. (I’ve done both: Once forced to evacuate because we were in a floodzone, but every other time, we’ve stayed to savor forced computer -abstinance, no AC or electricity… as we hunker down and relish pre… and post… hurricane parties … tepid beverages, and barbeques, and spit baths, pooside!)
Many “Miamians” have lived in the same home and same neighborhood for years or decades, with no hurricane protection (ever!) and no damage (ever!). Eventually, a few of those iconic homes actually go up for sale. You MAY stumble across one … fall in love… and decide to buy!
Yes, you CAN buy a home with NO hurricane shutters AND yes, you CAN get insurance on it. You’ll just have to bring the house into compliance in just under 2 months… if Citizens is the carrier… or… you can opt to pay higher premiums… use an alternate carrier… and keep up the ‘tradition’ before you. There ARE CARRIERS who will cover a house valued at up to $1,000,000.00 with NO shutters … and NO obligation to install them…. for a higher premium. The Restivo Team at EWM Realtors ( 305) 793-1365 or 632-0164 will give you the resources, and spell out the options. There are ALWAYS options. Call us. We’ll help. Together, we’ll find you just the right house … MiamiRealEstateCafe.com Contact Us with any questions. We’ll respond (and may well blog about it too… because if you’ve got a question, chance are, someone else will have one too!). Buying/ Selling? Contact me.
