[patfla06]

Is there any way to get a feel for house insurance,
car insurance and utility prices?

I currently live in Tampa and we are paying high property taxes, CDD and home insurance.

Any way to figure out the difference?

[Army Guy]

What we did before we bought, was we had found a CYV we liked and used the sq ft, etc to call and inquire about costs for things. Our figures were pretty much right on, except for taxes which were $500 cheaper then we figured.

Army Guy

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by patfla06

Is there any way to get a feel for house insurance,
car insurance and utility prices?

I currently live in Tampa and we are paying high property taxes, CDD and home insurance.

Any way to figure out the difference?

Pat,

If you are working with a TV sales rep, they have a fact sheet on the costs to live in TV. It shows the costs in ranges (if my foggy memory is working) - so you would be in the lower end for a patio villa and the higher end for a premiere.

k

[BobKat1]

That fact sheet is also included in the packet with DVD, info etc. that TV will mail out on request. We've talked to people who say the estimates are pretty close. I think the last one I looked at used a $250K home as an example.

[Carla B]

Re car insurance, you can ask your local agent for a quote and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. We saved $650 per year when we switched from Palm Beach Co. to Sumter.

[Xavier]

$250,000 Designer @ 1943 Sq. Ft. NOT with a view or on a golf course, regular sized lot, extended Lanai, large spa

Taxes (everything that is on the tax bill without exemption if paid by 12/01/09): $3,600
Insurance: $702

Utilities October 2009:
Water: $ 15.92
Sewer: $ 25.88
Solid Waste (Garbage): 16.92
Amenities: $135.00
Electric: $ 154.55
Gas: $ 60.11

That should give you a ballpark figure. We believe that the costs are very reasonable. We were really surprised about the homeowners cost. It's about half of waht we were paying 10 years ago on our former home up north. The same is true of our taxes. When the exemption kicks in it'll be even better.

Originally Posted by BobKat1

That fact sheet is also included in the packet with DVD, info etc. that TV will mail out on request. We've talked to people who say the estimates are pretty close. I think the last one I looked at used a $250K home as an example.

We found those estimates to be just a little high. Smart move - better to over estimate than to under estimate.

[patfla06]

Thanks - very helpful!
Hillsborough County (here in Tampa) is expensive!
(with lots of traffic!)

[RVRoadie]

The biggest variable in utilities is the cost of irrigation water for landscaping. Obviously, the larger the lot the more water you will use. Each lot is allowed a reasonable base rate for the first 8,500 gallons of irrigation water. Exceed that and the rate almost doubles. Exceed 15,000 gallons and it goes up again. When I had my landscaping redone this summer and had to water every third day (almost 9k sq ft of lawn) the bill hit $150. My normal bill is $40 to $50.