Condo, insurer duel over storm costs

Condo, insurer duel over storm costs

Nearly two years after Hurricane Wilma blew out windows and buckled walls at the Chalfonte Condominium in Boca Raton, residents of the 21-story twin towers are still waiting for their insurance company to pay them for the roughly $13 million they spent on repairs.

On Monday, they took their dispute with QBE Insurance Co. to U.S. District Court in hopes a jury will order the company to make good on the policy, which cost them about $311,000 annually.

Residents of the 378-unit oceanfront condo claim QBE officials didn’t even tell them how much it was willing to pay until roughly five months ago. And, when insurance officials finally adjusted the claim in March, they said the condo sustained about $400,000 in damages – far less than its $1.3 million deductible, said attorney Daniel Rosenbaum, who is representing the condominium.

The Australia-based company, which does business in South Florida through Florida Intracoastal Underwriters, provides coverage to roughly 1,800 condominiums in Florida with a combined insured value of $33 billion – more than any other insurer in Florida, according to state records.

WCI’s Financial Fortune Is Staked To Condo Tower In Miami [South Florida]

WCI’s Financial Fortune Is Staked To Condo Tower In Miami [South Florida]

One Bal Harbour may look like just another sign of excess in Miami’s oversaturated condo market, but to developer WCI Communities ( WCI) the luxury tower represents crucial cash.

The Bonita Springs, Fla.-based developer is counting on sales of 185 condos and 115 hotel-condos for the bulk of the $400 million to $600 million in free cash it will generate this year. So far, WCI’s free cash flow has totaled about $130 million.

With mortgage rates rising and lenders either tightening their requirements or shutting their doors, buyers are abandoning contracts. No one knows how many of One Bal Harbour’s buyers will walk away before closing.

“It’s the most important building they have to close this year,” said Vicki Bryan, senior high yield analyst at Gimme Credit. “They bet the farm on Bal Harbour.”

Bradenton builder stays busy in down market [South Florida]

Bradenton builder stays busy in down market [South Florida]

At a time when several small- to medium-sized regional home builders have hit rough patches or simply folded, Bradenton’s Gibraltar Homes seems to have weathered the storm of real estate’s big downturn.

Albert Sanchez, Gibraltar’s president and owner, sees an improving housing market ahead.

He thinks places like Lakewood Ranch, where he is building single-family homes, will continue to be desirable places for people to buy homes.

Gibraltar also is building at Bougainvillea Place, a private, gated enclave in Ellenton featuring 160 luxury villas and town homes. And the company is building custom bayfront residents and villas at Legends Bay at IMG Academies in Bradenton and will start construction on a new community of 60 luxury homes in the same development.

Official knee-deep in debt [Tampa Bay Area]

Official knee-deep in debt [Tampa Bay Area]

Already facing the challenges of a lengthy 2008 presidential ballot, the retooling of his office’s voting system and his own re-election campaign, Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson has chosen this year to revamp entirely his finances and his living arrangements.

In the last eight months, he has sold the Plant City home he built in 2006, purchased a luxury high-rise condo in downtown Sarasota and created a corporation which bought and platted a six-lot, 19.98-acre tract where he says he intends to move.

The new purchases have saddled Johnson with debt totaling $1.32-million, about 10 times the $131,878 annual salary he draws as elections supervisor.

For all the spending, Johnson’s moves have set back his living conditions.

Home appraisals defy the market [South Florida]

Home appraisals defy the market [South Florida]

Despite a collapsing real estate market, appraisers determined that the value of a surprising 48 percent of homes actually went up in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

In Manatee County, 85 percent of single-family homes built before 2006 rose in value, while 39 percent of similar properties in Sarasota rose and only 19 percent rose in Charlotte. Property owners are getting the news in the mail this week or next week when they open their TRIM, or Truth In Millage, notices.

The reason Charlotte County lowered far more values than it raised is that Property Appraiser Frank Desguin put more emphasis on the slumping real estate market than his counterparts to the north.

“When we started gearing up to look at last year’s numbers, we saw that the second half of 2006 looked significantly different from the first half,” Desguin said. “So we decided to give more weight to the second half.”

Home buyers wait years, but lots are still empty

Home buyers wait years, but lots are still empty

Minh-H-Nguyen and her husband, Ha Ngoc Nguyen, took out a loan for a down payment on a “dream home” in Lake County two years ago after being dazzled by pictures of a sprawling house with a screened pool.

“The dream has not come true,” said Minh-H-Nguyen, 38, frowning.

Like hundreds of others, the Ocoee couple haven’t seen their home built. At least 10 of them have filed lawsuits against developer Platinum Properties of Central Florida, which took the Nguyens’ $35,190 deposit but has not delivered on their $351,000 home in Millbrook Manor.