Tag Archives: florida state housing

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seniors-floridaEarlier this month, the Kalyvas Group announced the opening of two newly-constructed assisted living and memory care facilities in the Tampa Bay region. One is in Largo (Seasons Largo) and the other in Belleair (Seasons Belleair). The Autumn Senior Living will be responsible for the daily workings of the two housing facilities and the Seasons Northdale community due to open later this year.

These Florida housing facilities for seniors are designed in consultation with the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. The region is popular with seniors for renting, enabling retirees to maintain a good quality of life without having to deal with the potential pitfalls that come with purchasing, especially given the housing market crash.

Florida state housing for seniors is popular in various parts of the region. First, Charlotte County comprises 32.9 percent of baby boomers, the highest in the region. Countrywide, Manatee County has the 14th highest rate of baby boomer rentals. Palm Bay’s metro population is 543,376; 20.2 percent of which is comprised of over 65-ers. In a recent article by Kirsten Klahn, reporter and contributor to the ‘Milwaukee Daily,’ Palm Bay was ranked Number 2 on a list of 8 US Cities With the Most Retirees. Jacksonville increased its number of seniors by over 400,000 in the last four years. Last year’s figures for the entire state put the number 65+ers living in Florida at around 3.6 million.

So Florida state housing for retirees is definitely popular – a trend which is showing no evidence of being reversed. Given that the state offers a great climate, no income/inheritance/estate tax, lower cost of living, lots of free entertainment (with the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and tons of lakes and canals), active adult communities boasting great activities, easy, accessible, air travel, museums, operas, good hospitals, and more this should not be such a surprise. In particular, Florida’s First Coast features a high density of hospitals and health care professionals which is definitely an attractive feature for seniors.

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florida housingA couple of weeks ago, Florida state housing officials re-launched a fund for those who are perceived as struggling the most with their mortgages. Today, representatives from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation are accepting online applications for Florida’s Hardest-Hit Fund Principal Reduction program. The program aims to assist homeowners who have kept up with mortgage payments, and did not apply in 2013 for HHF-PR assistance. Therefore, those who previously applied but were not accepted, now have a new opportunity.

The Florida HHF-PR program aims to offer up to $50,000 to those homeowners who owe at least 125 percent more on their home than its current market value. In other words, for those who have a home known as being “underwater.”

While this is good – and most welcome – news for Florida state housing and its homeowners, the move has not come without criticism. This is due to the fact that over 6,000 Floridians who have kept up with their payments are not being considered eligible for such a program that is dipping into the same federal money source.

One real estate consultant in the region, Jack McCabe, said it was “dead wrong” to help to help people who have reneged on their payments and that it should be those who have kept up on payments that are getting preference for any “mortgage reduction program” available.

Four years ago, in conjunction with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government put $7.6 billion into the Hardest Hit Fund for states poorly affected by the housing crisis. Florida received more than $1 billion from the fund.