Rich May Catch Break on Florida Insurance

Florida's home-insurance relief bill is not meeting with univeral approval. The state has OKed a plan that lawmakers say will lower rates across the state by an average of more than 20 percent. But according to the Orlando Sentinel, savings "will vary wildly from household to household."And columnist Scott Maxwell says rich second-home owners with beach houses will catch a break while costs will go up for millions of fulltime Sunshine State residents.

Vermont Vacation Club Bites Dust For Now

The Haystack Club, a private corporation that bought a 400-acre property for $5 million from Mount Snow, VT in 2005, has folded, at least temporarily . There just aren't the number of tourists visiting because of the unseasonably warm weather, David Dillon, president, told the Brattleboro Reformer. "That means fewer people from Boston and New York with a lot of money to join the exclusive resort are here to take tours and look over plans for luxury mountainside homes and condominiums, the paper reported.

Tax Breaks for the Under $100K Owner

Do you know all the tax breaks open to a second-home owner? Real estate writer Bob Bruss points out that" if you materially participate in managing your second-home rental and if your 2006 adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less, then you can deduct up to $25,000 of second-home tax loss from your other ordinary taxable income." So what's "material participation?" It includes setting standards for tenants, establishing the rent and approving tenants, even if the day-to-day management is left to others.

Slower Market? Buy! Says Expert

"Because houses aren't flying off the shelf, there's less pressure on you to make a quick decision" about that second home you've always wanted. "You can afford to take your time, do your research, and refine your plan," says Christine Karpinski, director of Owner Community for HomeAway.com and author of two books on the subject, including Profit from Your Vacation Home Dream: The Complete Guide to a Savvy Financial and Emotional Investment. In addition, "when your monthly mortgage payment is less than or equal to one peak week rental, twelve weeks of rental will cover your mortgage payments for the entire year," she says.