We are talking about pets and NOT service animals nor emotional support animals. I recently looked into this for our new listing in the Marina Tower. In Marina Tower one pet (cat or dog) under 25 lbs is allowed.

The Admiralty Building allows one cat or dog under 20 lbs.

The Quay NORTH building does not allow pets.

The Quay SOUTH building allows one cat or dog under 20 lbs.

The Marina Tower building allows one cat or dog under 25 lbs.

Neither the Cove Tower EAST NOR WEST allows pets.

The Lakepoint Tower building allows one pet under 25 lbs.

The Harbor Village buildings allows one pet under 25 lbs.

This is contained in Florida Statute which states:

Notwithstanding any limitation on transfer fees contained in s. 718.112(2)(k), an association or its authorized agent may charge a reasonable fee for the preparation and delivery of an estoppel certificate, which may not exceed $250, if, on the date the certificate is issued, no delinquent amounts are owed to the association for the applicable unit. If an estoppel certificate is requested on an expedited basis and delivered within 3 business days after the request, the association may charge an additional fee of $100. If a delinquent amount is owed to the association for the applicable unit, an additional fee for the estoppel certificate may not exceed $150.

So, $200 for the normal estoppel, plus $100 if it’s an expedited request, and/or plus $150 if the estoppel shows delinquent fees.

So I get this question ALL the time from folks looking to move to the Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens area of Florida. How much will I save?

Florida curently ranks as the 47th out of 50 as the state with the lowest overall tax burden. Yes, one could live in Alaska and pay lower taxes but who wnats to? That’s Property Tax, Individual Income Tax and Total Sales & Excise Tax as a Share of Personal Income. Florida has zero, nada nilch personal income tax. Think about that the enxt time you pay the New York, New Jersey or Mass tax man. Now remember that wil the SALT (state and local taax limitations) that you can only deduct 10k of that from your fenderal return. Let’s forget, just for now, that MA, New York and New Jersey now have a Millionaire Tax and look at the couple making 200k a year. The New State income tax ALONE is 10,667 for these folks. Let’s say you live in a 1M house. The median New York state property tax rate is 2.39%. In Jupiter Florida this is 1.73%, in Palm Beach Gardens it’s 1.81%. I compared them last year. That’s another 6,600 a year in property tax savings. We do have a 6% sales tax in Florida but NO excise tax.

Thus, for even those earing 200k a year BEFORE the SALT tax limitations math is used if you move to Florida you save 17k a year.

Do yourself a favor. Call your accountant and ask them to run the numbers. If I lived in Florida last year how much would I have paid in taxes. What you’ll find out if that all those rich friends you know who are moving to Florida, they’re doing it to save money. You should too. Call me Chris at 561.818.3858 and I can help you move to the Sunshine State.

OK, so this is the short answer in “back of the envelope” style math. There some physics involved here and we are going to simplify things. The fundamental differance is between the force exerted by the “compressible” flow of gas (air) and the non “compressible” flow of water.

The physics are basically the mass multiplied by the velocity squared. So, let’s look at water, fresh water, moving at just 3 miles an hour, a slow walk. This calculator shows the force to 38.5 lbs of force per square foot. The BASIC (the formula we once used) for the force of hurricane speed winds are calculated from the Ensewiler Formula, P = 0.00256 x V2, where V = Wind Velocity in MPH and P = the Differential Pressure in Pounds per Square Foot (PSF). A wind of 110 miles an hour equates to a load of just 31 lbs per square foot. At 150 miles and hour the force of the wind is 57.6 lbs per square foot. This is a HUGE design load. But at just 5 miles per hour the load of the water is 105 lbs per square foot, nearly double the design wind load.

The above math is why we have “break away” walls for the first floor of new houses subject to flooding. The loads get to be too large to economically design for so we sacrifice the wall on the first floor to save what’s holding up the living area above it, the pilings.

In late 2024 in Palm Beach County FEMA is about to impliment the latest revisions to the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). When these new maps are officially adopted there will be a whole buch on folks in places like North Palm Beach, Juno Beach and Jupiter that will find they are now offiially in a Flood zone. If your house is now in the Special Flood Hazard Area, and you have a loan, you will be notified that they you now required to carry flood insurance.

First things first as they say. If you’re reading this then you probably should have flood insurance. That said many folks who look at the new map will note, as I did, that the flood zone may just touches your property. If this is the cae then it is worth investigating if you qualify for ask FEMA to remove your structure from the SFHA flood zone. The way to do this is to files for a Letter of Map Amendment.

Will the house qualify? To qualify for this the Lowest Adjacent Grade (LAG) at the corners of your house need to be HIGHER than the Base Flood Elevation for the speacial flood hazard area that touches your property. For me it was changed to 6′ and the LAG at my house was 6.5′ (NAVD 88).