management culture, caused by State government sanctioned behavior that our CDD board follows and doesn’t have the intelligence, training, or insight to break free from. After all these years the board still believes it’s job is infrastructure and not the function of a master HOA that would focus on maintaining our amenities even when the developer said in the PUD, “The CDD will be the Master HOA.” The reason is the CDD board still gets their advice from the firms installed by the developer,  and they perpetuate the same old advice they gave the developer who did not have our best interest in mind.

       When you analyze and understand through research, “maintenance taxes authorized in Section 190.021(3)~” from the developers quote, you would realize the legislature never intended for certain communities to be singled out to pay more than everyone else. CDD’s were authorized to help implement Florida’s Growth Management Act of 1985 by funding the infrastructure with municipal bonds. Once the infrastructure is in place, the CDD should end because it’s job is done. Going forward the cost of infrastructure maintenance could be spread across a broader population base just like the bond issue that is paying for new roads, curbs, and landscaping in nearly all of Margate except Coral Bay.

       Chart (3) compares the average property taxes of homes in Coral Bay to the homes without a CDD or Master HOA to homes with a CDD or the Master HOA management structure. The difference? The CDD. The rest of Margate is spared the expense of paying for CDD roads, parks, and the giant 60 feet deep excavation pit at the center of Coral Bay.

       What should we do? We need a plaintiff to file a lawsuit, with the city and state as defendants, challenging the CDD concept of government that charges taxes and is against the Florida constitution. We should demand our money back while asking for dissolution of the CDD, to be replaced with Master HOA.

       As far as I can tell, this is the best solution and the easiest to win (so said a few attorneys who I’ve spoken with). Such an action  would help not only us, but all of the people living in CDDs across the State. The reason this is the easiest to win is because I believe it to be impossible to get the State legislature, Senate, Governor, County & City Commissions to change the current system supported by the developer’s lobbyists that contribute to their campaigns. © 2009, Velie Real Estate Services, LLC

 

At Home In Coral Bay, Jan-Feb, 2009

At Home In Coral Bay, Jan-Feb, 2009

At Home In Coral Bay, Jan-Feb, 2009

THIS MONTH

· Pg 1    Inside the Coral Bay Numbers

· Pg 1    Quote From Orlando Sentinel

· Pg 1    Sometimes It’s Not About Numbers

· Pg 2    Editorial: CDD Taxes Violate the FL

              Constitution

· Pg 3    Depends On How You Measure

· Pg 3    Characteristics FL Homes Purchased

· Pg 4    Are Trucks Allowed In Coral Bay?

·             CHARTS

à Pg 2   Prequalification Scenarios

à Pg 2   CDD Taxes, Actual vs. Homesteaded

à Pg 3   Coral Bay Home Prices Since 1990

à Pg 3   2008-By The Numbers

à Pg 4   Community Comparison, City Svcs.

·  

EDDIE VELIE, Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM

http://EddieVelie.com

(O) (954) 263-6287

Broker@EddieVelie.com

(F) (954) 532-9695

http://VelieRealEstate.com

©  2008 Velie Real Estate Services, LLC

         Articles and opinions here in do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EXIT Realty or any of my business, social, or voluntary affiliations or associations.

No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie, Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM

A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC

THE STATE HAS KNOWN ALL ALONG

       “And the developer-written law behind it has paved the way for deals all over the state that are ripe with state-sanctioned conflicts of interest and potential government exploitation of homeowners, a yearlong statewide investigation by the Orlando Sentinel has found.” (Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, October 15, 2000, “Government Inc: You Move In. They Cash In,” By Robert Sargent Jr., Ramsey Campbell & Jim Leusner of The Sentinel Staff)

SOMETIMES IT’S NOT ABOUT NUMBERS

                  Unless otherwise stated, all the editorials and many articles published over the last three years in At Home In Coral Bay on the subject of Coral Bay, are from original research, reading, analysis, interviews, and observation. We all learned in Elementary school to round off and estimate. A number true today may not be tomorrow. It’s not about the exact numbers and never has been. It’s about the attitude, perception, self deception, poor decision making, apathy, complacency, and misguided priorities, of the CDD Board.

         All the research on taxes, HOA fees, sales, square footage and such are downloaded from the SE MLS and the Broward County public records using MLX change, IMAPP Apps, MS Office apps, Calyx Point, etc. These numbers are believed accurate but not guaranteed.

         Direct questions to Eddie Velie who is available most any time. ©

No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie, Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM

Page 2

A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC

CDD Editorial: CDD Taxes Violate the FL Constitution

       The Coral Bay Community Development District (CDD) is a government entity and the money they charge us to fund it’s existence should be subject to the Save Our Homes Act and therefore capped at 3% per year or the CPI whichever is less.

       The Coral Bay developers knew this when they wrote, “Maintenance taxes, authorized in Section 190.021(3), F. S., will be used to defray the costs of maintaining the water management and landscaping systems which will be owned by the district. These taxes will be assessed on each benefited taxable unit (dwelling unit, structure, or portion of an acre) within the CDD.” (Coral Bay P.U.D., CDD Petition, Version: 11/1/89, Page 14)

       The Coral Bay CDD has not adhered to the Save Our Homes Act, on the premise that the homes are charged assessments, not taxes. But by definition they are in fact taxes.

       Look at the part of the quote, “used to defray the costs of maintaining the water management and landscape systems which will be owned by the district.” Now ask yourself, “defray the costs from who?” The answer is “the rest of the City of Margate”. The developer sold the Planned Unit Development (PUD) to the City commission by noting the city wouldn’t have to help us pay for anything and that we would pay for our own infrastructure.

       “These taxes will be assessed on each benefited taxable unit,” said the Coral Bay developer, using the definition of “assessment.” Ok, let’s look at the word “benefit.”

       Who “benefits” is where the whole problem lies. Coral Bay does not benefit from having a CDD! We do not benefit from the pools, parks, gates, tennis or basketball courts! 

       The opposite is true. Coral Bay CDD home owners are harmed

financially and by quality of life by having a CDD form of government.        We are hurt financially in six different but related ways. First, when we sell, because the $110 per month we pay to the CDD reduces a potential offer to purchase our homes by over $20,000 (Chart 1). Second, we are hurt financially because of the extra tax burden. Chart (2) shows how much your CDD taxes would be if it were subject to the Save Our Homes Act. Third we are hurt financially by the lost opportunity cost. The last column in Chart (2) shows how much a family would have saved by investing the same CDD taxes, over the same period, at 8%. 

       Fourth, we are hurt because we pay too much for simple things like the fencing mentioned, in the last Coral Bay Buzz that cost $243,000. Click here to see the quote provided for us by Nation’s Fence for only $68,850. One cause is that FL Sunshine Laws forbid a publicly elected official from

meeting with contractors who submit bids (like I did when I got the fencing bids).

       Fifth, We are hurt financially because the scraps of land that are normally contributed to the City, like roads, ponds, and parks, were sold to the CDD with bonds arranged for by the developer that we are still paying for. The muni bonds themselves are a joke. We got about 6% interest rate in 2003 when interest rates were at record lows but our APR is closer to 9% because the closing costs were over $200,000. Our own city accepted two parks and North Bay drive from our developer, then sold them back to the home buyers.

       Sixth, we are hurt financially because our current net worth suffers by the lack of buyers who enter the community and see financial stress because of the missing gates, closed parks, uneven landscaping, and neglected playground, tennis, and basketball courts. In a buyer’s mind, the lack of proper maintenance and neglect point to one thing: increased taxes!

       However, my contention is, we are taxed enough and the problem is bad

No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie, Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM

A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC

CORAL BAY HOME PRICES

APPROACHING 2002 LEVELS

DEPENDS ON HOW YOU MEASURE

         The Chart across the bottom of the page shows us the adjusted sale price on the far right after “seller contributions,” the MLS data field added to keep up with the declining market. You won’t see the same adjusted sales prices in the tax records. You will only see the unadjusted sale prices. Before the data field existed, appraisers would call the Realtor to ask if there were any seller contributions.

       When we average by quarter of a year, you can see the more dramatic decline in prices. The chart on the right shows us the 4th quarter median price in Coral Bay at $168,000. This number is way less than the $184,300 adjusted sale price you get when you use all 42 sales in 2008 at the same time. (© 2009, All charts original research by Velie Real Estate Svcs, LLC)

 

ARE TRUCKS ALLOWED IN CORAL BAY?

       In the First Amendment to Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions For Mallory Harbor at Coral Bay (and presumably the other 7 HOAs in Coral Bay) the developer declared, “anything herein to the contrary not-withstanding, trucks for private use having a load capacity not exceeding on-half (1/2) ton may be parked in the Village.

       Article 8.11 in our original Declaration says, “No trucks, commercial vehicles, recreational vehicles, campers, derelict automobiles, boats or boat trailers may be parked in the village, except when kept in a garage within a unit.”

       The City of Margate Residents Code Manual distinguishes between a “pick up truck” and a “truck” [commercial vehicle] and narrows the definition of a commercial vehicle to, “Any vehicle with tools, building materials, merchandise or outfitted with emergency flashing or rotating lights visible from the street or from abutting residential property shall be deemed a commercial vehicle.”

       What does that mean? It means, for example, that a pick-up truck with any tools or building materials in the back, or a tool box built in, or a van with racks on top, then becomes a commercial vehicle and cannot be parked in Coral Bay.

       Like it or not, commercial vehicles hurt your property value. This is as indisputable as ‘location, location, location” in real estate. If you see this problem and want something done, contact your HOA management or HOA board member (not the CDD). (© , 2009, Velie Real Estate Services, LLC)

No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie, Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM

A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC