Notes from the coast
What actually goes wrong in a closed-up Florida condo, written by the person who walks them. No newsletter, no gimmicks — three things worth knowing before you hand anyone a key.
What actually goes wrong in a closed-up Florida condo, written by the person who walks them. No newsletter, no gimmicks — three things worth knowing before you hand anyone a key.
Being current on your mortgage doesn't protect you from this one. Florida condo associations can foreclose their own lien for unpaid assessments, separate from your mortgage entirely — and the reserve study that was supposed to prevent surprise assessments had a deadline that already passed. What §718.116 actually says, why bills are landing bigger now, and why it hits an absentee owner hardest.
A boat left in the water on this coast fails quietly, in the rain, on a chain of cheap parts nobody is watching. Here's what actually goes wrong between visits, and what's worth having someone look at.
The storm on the news lasts two days. What damages a closed condo is usually the week after it — no power, no AC, sealed windows, and nobody inside to notice. Here's how the days after a storm actually go on this coast, and what's worth arranging before the season.
"Coverage stops when the home sits empty." "Theft isn't covered after 60 days." "Insurance requires monthly checks." All three get repeated constantly — and none of them survive actually reading the standard policy forms. What the forms really key on, and the three questions worth asking your agent in July.
Almost every absentee owner has this arrangement, and almost nobody examines it. What you actually asked your neighbor to do is three jobs — and all three are unfair.
Home watch isn't licensed in Florida — anyone can print a card. Ten questions that separate a real operator from a confident one. Ask them of me too.
It's never the break-in or the hurricane. What ruins a closed coastal condo is quiet, cheap, and starts on an ordinary Tuesday in July — a drain line, a humidity number, and a date nobody can prove.