How To Maintain Your Beach House

If you just bought a new home near the coast of Marco Island, you should understand that beach home maintenance is absolutely necessary and a bit more involved than your average home. Homes near the beach are generally more difficult to maintain because materials like wood and metal are more likely to become brittle or oxidize due to a combination of moisture, salt air, sand, and wind.

Review your home insurance policy

It’s never a bad time to review your insurance policy for your beach home, because you may be missing out on coverage you need or discounts. For example, adding hurricane shutters or hurricane windows could save you quite a bit in monthly premiums. Make sure you know what your deductible is for named storms, wind, and other…

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Property Taxes in Marco Island

Florida gives real estate taxation rights to thousands of locally-based governmental units. Typically taxing municipalities’ tax assessments are combined under the same notice from the county. Every municipality then is allocated the assessed amount it levied.

Property taxes have traditionally been local governments’ near-exclusive domain as a funding source. They’re a capital pillar for public services in support of cities, schools, and special districts such as sewage treatment plants, public safety services, transportation and others.

These are a few of the public services most local governments typically offer. Again, real estate taxes are the main way Marco Island pays for them, including over half of all public school funding. All other…

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How Trusts Can Benefit Property Owners

How does having a trust benefit property owners?

Estate planning is about creating a custom plan to allow you to transfer your money, property, and assets to your family in the most efficient way possible. The two most common estate planning documents are the last will and testament and the revocable living trust.

There are two main reasons why people put a house into a trust. The first reason is that they want their family to be able to inherit their home without having to go through the long, stressful, and expensive probate court process. Instead, their home can be transferred to their heirs in a private setting shortly after their death.

The second reason deals with planning for incapacity. It’s a common misconception that estate planning…

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Will My Homeowner's Insurance Cover Me After a Hurricane?

Hurricanes are a reality in Southern Florida and you probably want to make sure that your homeowners or renter insurance will hold up during this kind of a disaster. Here's some information about homeowners insurance and hurricane damage.

It often depends on the type of disaster you have. Most damages from many calamities are covered by a standard policy but some are not and so it's important to know what your policy covers. Plus, it might cover some of the damage but not the full extent and many homeowners and renters don't have adequate protection to cover all their losses. In addition, new tax reform laws could mean that uninsured losses can only be deducted in specific cases.

Homeowners insurance, condo, and renters insurance will cover…

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Sanding and Refinishing Wood Floors

A beautifully smooth and shiny wood floor is one of life’s little delights and if you haven’t been able to experience that joy with your wood floor lately due to scratches, dents and stains, take heart. With some sanding and refinishing, you can stop cringing each time you walk through your home and be happy to have visitors see your floor instead of hiding it with rugs.

Wood floors that are able to be sanded and refinished include hardwood (solid planks of wood such as oak, maple, walnut, beech and cherry), engineered wood (plywood core planks with a thin layer of hardwood on top), floor boards (soft wood like pine) and patterned wood (like herringbone parquet and finger block mosaic). The methods used to refinish the floor depends on the direction of…

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The Most Cost-Effective Energy Source for a Single-Family Home

The Most Cost-Effective Energy Source for a Single-Family Home

The most cost-effective energy source for a single-family home could be widely argued for many reasons. There are many ways to run a cost-effective energy source in a single-family home, but it may be determined by what your family's needs and uses are, which isn't one-size-fits-all. There are many ways to approach effective energy sources, but are they the most cost-effective? Let’s take a look at some options. 

You can start by simply replacing smaller or larger appliances with more energy-efficient appliances. This can be as simple as the light bulbs you are using or as complex as the entire AC unit you are planning to have installed. Heating and air/ water heating are some of the…

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