Real Estate News
Clearwater Florida Real Estate gets Florida Hotline to Home Insurance Options
March 24th, 2008 Categories: Clearwater Florida, Real Estate News
Clearwater Roadtrip to Florida State Capitol
Clearwater Florida - I visited Tallahasse last week with a group of Pinellas County leaders and got an update on what’s happening with issues that effect Clearwater Florida Real Estate.
You know I was particularly 
interested what’s happening with options for Clearwater home owners insurance and information about our Florida Property Taxes and I got lots of good info.
Clearwater Florida Real Estate Insurance Options
We met with Governor Crist who told us about the property tax progress we’re making and about a new website http://www.shopandcomparerates
This is a site that shows you lots of insurance companies offering Clearwater home owners a range of rates offered by various companies. The Governor told us this didn’t cost any money - it was the free-enterprise system at work.
Here’s what the Governor had to say about the positive trend happening in Florida:
(Just a note: The reference in the video to $11,000 was in response to concern someone shared since they got a notice that their homeowner’s insurance was doubling with no reason in what sounded to all of us like a normal home - not waterfront, not flood zone for example -his message was to empower yourself to check out your options because he felt consumers have lots more options now and are in control than they may realize.)
Companies that want to be competitive can see what other insurance companies are offering and offer property owners their best option. You can search by county so here’s a snapshot of what comes up for Pinellas County and Clearwater Florida real estate.
It was surprising to see how big the range of home insurance prices was… from $1,351 to $3,614 - Wow that’s a big range - almost 3 times from top to bottom. The Governor’s message to us was to encourage all of us to be proactive and research your home insurance options. Looks like great advice for all of us.
If you are thinking of buying or selling your Clearwater Florida Real Estate - we’re here to help. You can call us at (727) 422-8901 or feel free to search the complete Tampa Bay MLS with photos to see all the homes of condos for sale in the Clearwater - Tampa Bay area.
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Clearwater Beach Real Estate: 3 Things You Need in a REALTOR When You Buy Real Estate
March 12th, 2008 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Condos for Sale, Real Estate News
Clearwater Beach Florida - We work with lots of Clearwater beach condo buyers and not all of them have worked with a buyer’s agents when they have bought real estate in the past. Today we asked 20 year veteran Charlotte REALTOR and one of the best home buyer agents I know to share what makes a good Clearwater Beach real estate agent when you’re the buyer!
Terry McDonald, a leading buyer’s agent selling Charlotte Real Estate explains the Top 3 things to look for when you’re buying a home or condo in your REALTOR :
Top 3 things to look for in a Clearwater Home Buyers Agent
- Loyalty
- Objectivity
- Competence/Knowledge
We asked Terry the following questions?
What if a Clearwater real estate agent was loyal and competent, but not objective? Read the rest of this entry »
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Tampa Bay Real Estate News: If you moved in 2007 - Act by March 3rd to claim Portability Property Tax Benefit
February 26th, 2008 Categories: Clearwater Florida, Real Estate News, Tampa Bay
Clearwater Florida – Many of you have read my articles explaining Florida Real Estate Property taxes for Tampa Bay homeowners and the changes Amendment 1 brought about. If you or anyone you know bought a home or condo in Florida and moved from one homesteaded property to another in 2007 then please listen up, you’ve got to act fast to benefit from the new property tax portability benefits of a 3% cap on your new Tampa bay property as well as trasferring some property tax equity. This could save you thousands of dollars this year and every year after.
How big of a difference does it make – we know someone who downsized before we had Amendment 1 in 2006 and they sold a $400,000 home and bought a $200,000 home and their taxes doubled (so really they went up 4 time since portability didn’t exist) and that translated into about $2000 a year more they will pay in property taxes FOREVER. Don’t let this happen to you.
Read More:
- St Pete Time’s Amendment 1 Special Report
- Pinellas County Property Appraisers Portability Calculator
Which Tampa Bay Homeowners who must act now
If you purchased a new house in Tampa Bay from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007 you are the big winner if you act now because you can prevent your taxes from jumping on your new property by moving what I like to call “your tax equity” to your new property but it’s NOT automatic. So what do you need to do? Here’s the process…
What’s the Property Tax Portability filing process?
You must fill out forms at your county’s property appraiser office and bring something with your new address on it. This can be:
- your updated driver’s license,
- your voter registrration card or
- your vehicle registration.
- and if you are a resident alien bring your green card too.
How do I find out more information about Tampa Bay Property Taxes?
Local Tampa Bay Property Appraiser’s Office
- Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s Office: (727) 464-3207 or pcpao.org.
- Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office at (813) 272-6100 or hcpafl.org.
- Pasco County Property Appraiser’s Office: (352) 521-4433 or http://pascocounty.gov
It’s still a home buyers market so if you are looking to buy property – check out the Tampa Bay MLS and see all the Tampa Bay real estate for sale right now.
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