Hurricane Safety and Your Boca Raton Luxury Property

Hurricane safety in Boca Raton continues to be a focus for both town officials and property owners. The luxury real estate market has many resources at the fingertips to help them prepare for these types of events. This week's blog highlights some paramount information for homeowners to consider to play it safe!

With the recent brush with 'mother nature' and the near miss of category 4, Hurricane Matthew, many Floridians are taking this type of disaster a bit more severe. Our focus is in particular to people living in our luxury communities. With investments on the higher end, and hurricane season still current, these folks aren't taking any chances. Boca Raton offers a lot of valuable companies and services to assist people in preserving their homes and staying out of harm's way.

Many of our seasonal residents who aren't around for hurricane season, must rely on outside companies to prepare their homes for potential disasters. According to the Palm Beach Post, there's an estimated 900,000 snowbirds living throughout Florida, and they typically stay for a few months. However, this population is not here during hurricane season so these homeowners reach out to companies such as Assured Storm Protection to give them a hand.

Assured Storm Protection (among others) offers a wide variety of home preparation services from walkover tracks to accordion shutters. They also do maintenance and repairs once the storm passes. This is an excellent resource if you own property in Palm Beach County. Contact them direct for a quote.

Another valuable resource for our residents living here and abroad would be Hurricane Fabric. You've probably seen some of their products in our neighborhoods such as their hurricane shutters and panels. These are much nicer as they look more like curtains with tie downs. These products are created for windows and garage doors to protect your investment. The heavy duty fabric these shutters are designed with protect your home from flying debris. The best part is once the object impacts the material the construction acts almost like a trampoline causing the object to spring backward rather than penetrating the window or door.

Speaking of windows, many of our property owners living in places such as Townsend Place and Boca Grand in downtown Boca Raton have impact glass windows installed. Many of our new construction will most likely use this type of window solution during building. However, there are many good organizations you can contact for this kind of upgrade.

Companies such as Armor-Vue are accredited by the Better Business Bureau and offer a Gold Standard Installation program. Their impact resistant windows receive the energy star rating and extended warranties. If you haven't included impact glass windows on your wish list for Boca Raton properties, then you may want to consider this benefit. When you live in a tropical destination such as Boca Raton, you want to know that your home has the highest level of preservation.

Once your condo or house has protective windows, you'll want to make sure your homeowners insurance covers things like flooding when it comes to hurricanes. If you're unsure of your location being prone to flooding, you can visit the Flood Map tool from FloodSmart.Gov. The map is very easy to use and follow. Add a zip code, and you can see if you're in a high-risk zone. Of course flooding can happen anywhere. But, when you live in areas surrounded by water, this can be even more prominent. The biggest point here is to be prepared and have a plan.

Having a plan both before and after a tropical storm or worse yet, a hurricane is extremely important. With the recent scare many South Floridians had expecting Hurricane Matthew to hit, it had people questioning homeowner's insurance. If you're new to the area or even if you've lived her for a long time, you'll want to ensure that your insurance includes hurricane coverage. According to A&B Insurance and Financial, there's no hurricane protection for every type of storm. For instance, windstorm damage may not be covered where storm surge is. The best time to find this out is way before a hurricane or natural disaster hits. Do your homework and make sure you fully understand your policies. Don't rely on the agent to tell you everything.

Many of our residents have the luxury of owning a boat or yacht. If you're an owner, then you know this is another item that needs to be secured during rough and increment weather. Cruising World has some very useful tips in their article "How to Prepare Your Boat for a Storm." In this blog, they offer a checklist for you to make sure that your vessel and you are ready to face the weather. They cover everything from docking on canals to the Boat Catastrophe Team. A good read whether you live here part or full time.

With Boca Raton being 3rd in the nation for investment properties, you can assume there's many people buying homes to use as rental properties. That being said, it's really important to keep your assets intact. Don't rely on your renters or house guest to board up your windows. It may be more of a hassle if you count on tenants than doing it yourself. Take the extra time to find companies willing to do this type of work if you live here as a snowbird or are only here seasonally.
For all residents of Boca Raton, the mayor as well as city officials want to keep you informed. They do a pretty good job of it as well. If you're seeking more info on Hurricanes such as the Planning Guide or Emergency information, be sure to visit the City of Boca Raton's website for urgent advice and instruction.

By taking the time to prepare for a devastating storm you're not only protecting yourself, you're making sure your equity holds its value. Make sure that you have a plan in place before the storm season which is between June and December. By using every measure, you'll be more at ease bringing you peace of mind even during a Category 4.

If you or someone you know is thinking about selling your home, please speak to one of our luxury representatives.