Exit Realty Premier's (pmorton) Blog

The hurricane deductible clauses in policies for homes near the coast often require the homeowner to pay some of the repair costs, typically 5 percent. So if a house insured for $200,000 is seriously damaged in a hurricane, the homeowner would have to pay $10,000 toward repairs before the insuran...

Gov. Crist yesterday signed property insurance reform into law, the so-called Homeowners' Bill of Rights (SB 2860 by Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-N. Palm Beach). The final version of the bill included other bills that were added as amendments, and is the biggest insurance change to come out of the 2008 L...

The worst of the painful housing slump and the credit crunch might come to an end this year. Now the bad: The U.S. economy will weaken further and unemployment will rise. That is the latest outlook from forecasters in a survey to be released Monday by the National Association for Business Economi...

Two powerful senators announced Monday they had reached an agreement for a homeowner rescue package that could help a half-million strapped borrowers get government-backed mortgages. A White House spokesman said President Bush did not have a position on the proposed bill yet. However, Bush said e...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) revamped its 20 percent premium discount rule for flood insurance policies, which will impact some Florida communities, such as Indian Shores.The new rule stipulates that homes with first-floor living space that is one foot or more below FEMA's base ...

Scrambling to shore up the faltering economy, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to the lowest point in nearly four years as the nation teetered on the edge of recession. Wall Street rallied at first Wednesday but then pulled back, concerned that the reduction might be the last for a while. I...

Bills passed during the 2008 legislative session, which ended last Friday, could impact property owners, real estate practitioners and others with real estate interests by:Making it harder to tax properties based on the potential value - a boon to commercial property owners currently being taxed ...

Experienced real estate agents may neglect to follow up with their contacts, believing that being out in the field with as many buyers and sellers as possible constitutes a busy day. However, experts say agents with automated follow-up systems accomplish more when they complete these tasks on a d...

Realtors across the country believe mortgage lenders make the housing downturn worse by taking months to make decisions on short sales and sticking to high internal target prices. As a result, more home buyers avoid short sale properties, forcing foreclosure sales that typically result in lenders...