Palm Beach Tax Watch: Florida tops for International Buyers!

TaxWatch: Fla. tops for international buyers
Working with the International Client

Learn more about the growing international market niche: Attend Jacky Teplitzky’s 1.5-hour educational session at the Florida Realtors Convention & Trade Expo on Friday, Aug. 10, at 3 p.m.; and watch Florida Realtors Take 5 video hosted by Coco Waldenmayer.
ORLANDO, Fla. – July 2, 2012 – The Center for Competitive Florida, a division of Florida TaxWatch that evaluates the state’s fiscal policies, performed an analysis of foreign homebuyers in Florida. It finds that approval of a Silver Visa (or Retirement Visa) by U.S. officials would not only increase demand for Florida real estate, but it would also inject up to $25 billion into the state’s economy.

According to the report’s authors, Florida far surpasses every other U.S. state in the number of foreign homebuyers. Over the past four years, the state had more than twice the market share of runner-up California.

Since Florida already commands a large share of the international buyer market, TaxWatch analysts claim that approval of a Silver Visa would have an out-sized impact on the state. Under a Silver Visa program, retirees may live in the U.S. full-time under a special immigration status for people who no longer plan to work, which a Silver Visa would not allow. Currently, the U.S. has no Silver Visa program, but many countries do, including the United Kingdom and other European countries.

According to an earlier TaxWatch analysis, approval of a Silver Visa could add more than 100,000 jobs in Florida over 10 years.

The complete TaxWatch analysis is available online.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

T hanks a Million!
Constance Crawford, P. A.,
CDPE, SFR
Advanta Realty
Primerica
Direct: 561-601-2622
Fax: 800-215-8895
www.ccrawford.advantarealty.com
www.ConstanceCares.com
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Congress votes to keep flood insurance program!

Congress votes to keep flood insurance program
WASHINGTON (AP) – July 2, 2012 – Congress on Friday approved a 5-year extension to the National Flood Insurance Program, which covers 5.6 million people.

Failure to renew the program would have been a blow to the fragile housing market because potential homeowners in flood-susceptible areas would be unable to close on mortgages or refinance loans. A two-month lapse in the program in 2010 resulted in some 1,400 home sales a day being cancelled.

Congress created the flood insurance program in 1968 because few private insurers cover flood damage, leaving the government to cover the costs of disasters. Many of those covered by the program live in flood-prone areas where flood insurance is mandatory for those with mortgages from federally regulated lenders.

The program was generally self-sustaining until Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes struck in 2005. The program now owes the Treasury nearly $18 billion dollars.

The plan approved Friday attempts to put the program on better financial footing by giving the government greater flexibility to raise rates. It also ends federal coverage for some properties, including vacation homes.

The flood insurance measure was included in a package of bills that also set federal transportation policy and prevent a doubling of interest rates for millions of college students.

It includes a provision by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., that enlists the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to assess the nature of hurricane damage. After Katrina, private insurers tried to avoid paying claims for wind damage, saying that homes were destroyed by federally covered water damage.

It also moves to improve the floodplain mapping of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the flood insurance program, and streamlines FEMA efforts to raise or move homes that are sources of repetitive claims to the insurance fund.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press.

Related Topics: Property insurance