Katrina (a storm)
 

Well, as of now it's a Tropical Storm, and it's heading towards South Florida, where I call home.

Glad I have money saved up for such an emergency (too bad I'll have to delay the new floors and kitchen in my condo).

Be safe, to my fellow Floridians and anyone else in the path!

heath

Here we go again!
 

Ironically, I just sent 'MY" Katrina back to college and lo and behold...here she comes again!!!

RB

I'm with you Heath. Everyone stay safe. Watch the path, it is changing.

Mike

It's slowed down and looks to be hitting Broward (south of Palm Beach, north of Miami-Dade) County. Ugh...

I'm gonna play Xbox, watch DVDs, relax and know that I have prepped the best I could. I spent a LOT of money on water, Gatorade, juice, some canned goods (whoops, probably needed to do more) and a million batteries and flashlights.

They say it may hit category 1, a weak one at that. At my old job, Channel 5 we got hit with hurricane Irene in mid-October 1999. Out of the blue, I might add! I was outside in the thick of it, next to the station, helping to do live remotes. Why? I dunno, but TV stations and networks and cable news stations are a bit...risky, I suppose, with their storm coverage.

heath

What's crazy is after all the hurricanes last year, we Floridians almost scoff in the face of a Category 1. 75mph winds? Shoot, we Floridians f@rt stronger than that. 'Specially down south with all that Cuban food...

I just bought a house near Orlando, and I was warned to have the home owners insurance guaranteed before we close in September. Because the Insurance companies will not see insurance with a Hurricane heading toward the house on the day we close. If the promise is made and arranged for before the Hurricane is known about, they are OK with that.

Also, I don't think any mortgage companies will close with a hurricane threatening. But, you should be OK as this will be done in no time, and is not even a hurricane yet.

Hey, welcome to Florida!!!!!!!!

Mike

You can't close without insurance, and they won't with any storm bearing down.

Hello, higher (much, much higher) rates!

heath

I'm still trying to get my house finished from last year. I'm hoping to be able to move back in before the first hurricane actually hits.

Man, that stinks! Where are you at now?

heath

I had about $9,000.00 in damage last year. All repaired finally. Old roof was about 18 years old, new one should take just about any storm this year.

I just hope for shorter power outages and NO CURFEWS!!! The curfews were worse than the hurricanes. Nearly two weeks last year after the first hurricane to simply go out and get a drink and something to eat. Power was on, but because of the curfews, employees could not get to work or stay there long enough to open a business.

OOOOH, they just said that Katrina is now a hurricane! Time to go out and get a burger and a beer now.

R J Gator's here I come.

Mike

The insurance is already arranged - we are staying with the same company our current house is insured by. That helps.

Also, we want to paint the entire inside of the house and install storage in the garage, so we are bringing our own crew in from Texas. There is nobody available to paint of do any kind of work sonce they are all involved in building new houses, or fixing hurricane damage from last year.

It will cost $700 in transportation (gas mostly) and lodging for the week for the crew, and we pay $340 per day for 4 guys for 6 days. That ought to be enough time to get it all done.

The Perfect Storm
 

Well, I must say that for me this is the perfect storm. Enough sound and fury to cancel work tomorrow but not enough to cause damage and cut off pow

RJ Gators is closed here, as is Duffy's. Darn!

Composition roofing is very common down here, and was once $10,000 to do an average house. It's doubled after the hurricanes. And in July, they were FINALLY replacing roofs all over my town of Wellington.

A house we walked away from has a wooden cedar shake roof that had a LOT of damage. They raised the price $10,000 after we walked but won't replace the roof. I've noticed more and more houses in that neighborhood are on the market. Probably because $350,000 is too much for a home that cost $120,000 4 years ago.

I wanted to invest in real estate, but the taxes are too high. The market's slowing down, which is good for me to buy a house I can afford, but bad for investing right now. Plus, hurricanes are bad for business in real estate.

STAY SAFE!

heath

Actually just the opposite as far a sales go. After last years hurricanes, the people buying and the price of homes, even on the vulnerable island areas went higher. I was working on Hutchenson Island and the prices of the condos I was working at went up by 10% almost immeadiately. No one understood it, but it did. The condos where I worked went from about $650,000 to right at a even million in only two months. Go figure!

Oh, just got back fro R. J. Gators, and the burger was great! Got more beers at home here. Stay safe everyone.

Mike