Another hurricane season is set to officially begin this weekend and it is important for Florida Gulf Coast residents to pay attention and be prepared. With two recent years of above-average storm forecasts and below-average actual storms, many residents may feel confused about what to expect this year. Government forecasters officially predict six to nine hurricanes in 2008, with up to five becoming major storms. They also say the chances for an above-average season are about 65 percent; the chances for a normal season about 25 percent; and the chances for a slow season about 10 percent. Unfortunately, for many Floridians, the forecasted outlook seems like nothing more than a guess.

Tags: homeowner insurance, hurricane preparedness

With aproximately 87 wildfires encompasing over 45,000 acres currently burning in Florida, now might be a good time to consider some simple things you can do to help protect your property.

Fire researchers from the Division of Forestry say that even 30 feet of defensible space around a home can greatly decrease the probability of structure damage or loss due to a wildfire. Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson urges state residents to take action and points to three problem areas that can be corrected very inexpensively:

• Roof and Gutters: remove all dead leaves, pine needles, small twigs and palm fronds - anything that can ignite easily by falling embers.

Tags: living

When the 2008 Florida Legislature adjourned on Friday night, Realtors counted numerous law changes that will benefit property owners, renters and the Florida real estate market in general. All the bills will still need to be approved by Governor Crist, but here is a synopsis of the real estate related highlights:

Tags: legislature, new laws

Now is the time to be sure and recommend flood insurance to your new home buyers in Florida. It takes 30 days for a new policy to become effective, and signing up early is important in order to make sure their coverage is in effect for the start of Florida’s hurricane season on June 1st.

Another thing to remember is that certain exemptions also exist to the 30 day waiting period. A policy is immediately effective if a lender requires it in connection with a new loan or loan change; if additional insurance is required because of a map change; if a lender suddenly decides that a property does indeed require flood insurance; and if a higher level of coverage is added when a policy is renewed. For more information on flood insurance rules, go to: How to Purchase Flood Insurance at FloodSmart.gov.

Tags: homeowner insurance, hurricane preparedness

Welcome to Gulf Coast Associates, Realtors® and Metro Mortgage Company’s new Southwest Florida Blog. We hope to provide you with some valuable insights into both the real estate and mortgage markets throughout Florida and beyond.

Up until now, we did all of our blogging over at Real Estate Webmasters. Our Southwest Florida Real Estate blog at REW has been a great success - we’ve had over 100,000 page views over the past few months. At this time in our company’s growth cycle we’d like to expand our web presence by participating in another arena. This is a place where we can share the latest information for our industries with you and open dialogues for education and advice. Having this new blog as part of our own website will give us both that opportunity.

Tags: mortgages, real estate