Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by pg t I University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Connor and I am your host. Good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact Podcast and we have a special little episode that we're gonna be doing today and we are speaking with Tim O'Neill, who is with the Florida Department of Financial Services. And so Tim, you couldn't be in our studio, but you're on the phone. Thank you for making time to speak with me today. Hey,
Speaker 2 00:00:37 Thank you. It's a pleasure. I look forward to speaking.
Speaker 1 00:00:39 Yeah. So tell us a little bit about your role and even maybe a little bit about what your team does for Florida residents and businesses.
Speaker 2 00:00:47 Sure. Be glad to the program. It's the My Safe Florida Home Program that is run out of the Department of Financial Services up in Tallahassee. And in a nutshell, the purpose of the My Safe Florida Home Program is to assist homeowners with reducing their insurance premiums by providing grant funds to mitigate their homes against future wind damage. That is the official definition for the program as it was reconstituted by the Florida legislature last session. So that's what it's all about. But bottom line is this, the program is here to help retrofit older homes, which will help people save money on their insurance premium. That's really the goal of the program right now.
Speaker 1 00:01:34 Wow, that's amazing. So I mean, we've known about the sales tax exemption and that's a holiday that's now until June of 2024 where there's no sales tax on product if it's gonna help harden homes. But the MEE Florida is something that I just recently heard of this. So my understanding is it's a grant that's available. So if they purchase impact rated Windows, doors and garage doors, they're eligible to get money back. Is it $2 for every $1 that they invest? Is that right?
Speaker 2 00:02:06 That's correct. Why don't I just kind of run through the steps. It's really 1, 2, 3, 4. The program's. Very simple. One, every Florida single family homeowner is eligible to apply for a free wind mitigation inspection that is basically $150 value. To do that, the homeowner just goes to the website, my safe fl home.com and submits an application. They apply for an inspection, they're qualified, they receive an inspection from a certified inspector who gives them their full wind mitigation report. That report identifies the strengths and weaknesses of their home currently. Then the key to the program one, the report is really a map for how to upgrade your house, whether you choose to or not. Then the next step after that is if a homeowner wants to, they can apply for a grant. Currently there's two levels of grants. There's a $10,000 reimbursable grant on a two to one basis, meaning to get the $10,000, you have to spend 15,000. Okay. And the homeowner gets reimbursed. The other one is a $5,000, what they call a lower income grant. But right now most people want the $10,000 grants. That's the way the program's going. And once you apply, then you're approved. Once you're approved, the funds can only be used to upgrade your house as indicated by your inspection report. So you can see how it goes from, you know, 1, 2, 3, 4. It's all tied together. So, um, that's the program in a nutshell. That's as simple as the program is.
Speaker 1 00:03:51 Wonderful. So do you have to have a homestead exemption on your property in order to qualify for the grant?
Speaker 2 00:03:58 Correct. Some of the criteria to get a grant is you need a homestead exemption. Your home currently has to be insured. Insured for $500,000 or less, and you have to be in a windborn zone county, which is, if you look at the Windborn zone map of Florida currently, that's the 26 counties that are basically on the ocean in the state.
Speaker 1 00:04:22 Okay. So that would make sense. And then does it matter how old the house is?
Speaker 2 00:04:26 It's really primarily for homes built prior to the building codes of 2008 and 2002. So we're catering to homes built before Florida's building codes came into existence. And we all know Florida is a leader in building codes. They're always evolving, they're very sensitive to it. But there's a lot of older homes. I've been given a number. There's basically 4 million homes built prior to the, uh, billing code upgrades. So that's a lot of homeowners. That's a lot of work and we think it's really worthwhile for homeowners to consider retrofitting their homes long-term. The program is really trying to educate homeowners to going, look, your home's a big investment, everybody likes to upgrade their homes, kitchen, bathroom. Why don't you add retrofit in your home to your list of investments and improvements? Because if you do retrofit your home and let's say windows and doors, et cetera, et cetera, one, you should save money on insurance. You should be safer during a storm and your house should have more resale value down the road. So it's really kind of a win-win, win. It's just really getting the message out to, uh, homeowners to go, Hey, think about this. Because 40% of all hurricanes every year touch Florida one way or another. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So hurricanes are affected life. And guess what? A hurricane season starts again June 1st. You know the old joke in Florida, either it is hurricane season or hurricane season is coming Right
Speaker 1 00:05:58 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:05:58 So, uh, it's a reality that we all live with every day.
Speaker 1 00:06:03 Be sure to tune in for upcoming episodes to help you understand the fest station industry, what you need to know when buying windows and doors and other related topics. You can find out more about us at PPG t i university.com. You can also find us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Speaker 1 00:06:21 Right. Well, and then to top that off, there's also energy savings because the chances are likely that you don't have a good insulated vinyl product in your house. And so, you know, upgrading, you know, having a better glass package and having uh, more energy efficient frames is gonna cut back on your electric bill and it's gonna cut back on your noise. And we all know how many people have been moving to Florida lately. So you've got more traffic, more neighbors. And so it keeps your sound quality, you know, your house becomes very quiet when you upgrade and have the right glass packages in your house. And definitely the insurance thing because we actually have a form on our website on all of our Florida brands that is an insurance letter. And so it's already pre-done and you submit that to your insurance company and I think I've heard upwards of 20 to 30% savings on your insurance premiums because of that.
Speaker 2 00:07:18 That's correct.
Speaker 1 00:07:19 So it's a no-brainer. And I know with the property values having gone up significantly in the last couple of years, there's probably equity in your house. And so why not tap into that even if you don't qualify for the grant program? I mean, we want people to take advantage of that. It's free money. Like do people know grants are there and it's free money, it's not loan, it's free. So it sounds like this is an amazing program for these people.
Speaker 2 00:07:44 Well, you know what we think it is too. Our teams done a really good job of getting the program up and running. We launched in, uh, late November, so we're still hot off the griddle as they say. But I'll tell you one thing I have learned as I get up to speed with, you know, windows and doors and roofs, because really the key to the program, keep your roof on your house and keep your doors and windows from blowing out. When I've heard the stories about how important windows are and the improvements that they make, when I hear that story told to homeowners nine times outta 10, they go, one, I didn't know that. And two, that's really a good investment. I want some new windows. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then three, if you're me, I've just ordered some impact windows for my home and that's a win-win. Plus I don't have to put up my really heavy storm shutters every time there's a hurricane warning. So it's really kind of a win-win win for, uh, all parties I think. Sure.
Speaker 1 00:08:42 Well, and then if you're in North Carolina, which I was during Hurricane Ian, I was out of town and on vacation and I'm like, wait, there's a storm. Oh no <laugh>. But fortunately I didn't really really have to worry about it. But for a lot of people they travel in the summer and you know, you have to cut your vacation tour to come back and shutter your house. So it's a no-brainer for us. So I'm gonna make sure that you, the website,
Speaker 2 00:09:07 My safe fl home.com, that's the site everybody go to. Please sign up for a free inspection and start your process and start today. The program will not last forever, but it's first come, first serve. And I think the takeaway from this whole thing is that the state really is trying to be of service and give homeowners a map for retrofitting their home. At the end of the day though, there's 4 million homes, it's gonna be up to the homeowner to create a plan that works for them to retrofit their home. It's really their responsibility. The state, as we know, will never be able to upgrade every home in Florida. It is just not a, uh, realistic possibility.
Speaker 1 00:09:47 Right. Well, and we can't control what the insurance companies decide to charge or not charge or whether or not they're gonna continue doing business here, but we can offset some of that through grant money. So how has the response been so far?
Speaker 2 00:10:00 Oh my god. It's like you said, you know, we be given, we're swamped. We've been absolutely swamped from day one. It grows every day. And they did this program, they launched this, this is reconstituted from about 10 or 15 years ago. And the impact of social media and word of mouth has really spread. So, uh, bottom line, we're busy. We're never too busy. We always want every homeowner to apply and we're gonna service every homeowner we can until the program's done.
Speaker 1 00:10:31 So is there just a big bucket of money and when the money's gone, it's over? Is that how it works?
Speaker 2 00:10:35 The legislature allocated 150 million to fund the program to get it off the ground. And they're in session right now and they are discussing how to refund it for the next year. I don't have a crystal ball right now, but there will be additional monies to fund the grants because there's so much demand.
Speaker 1 00:10:56 Wow, that's amazing. I don't know what more motivation people would need to proceed with this incredible opportunity. So I'll make sure that that website gets listed in all of the postings that I will make about this. And I know our marketing and communications team is gonna be pushing it out as well. So yeah, this is exciting. Is there anything else that would be helpful for homeowners to know about this
Speaker 2 00:11:19 Apply today? Get in line, get your name in the sooner the better. It's first come, first serve. We're increasing our capacity. But please, if you're interested in this and you like the way it sounds, please register for your inspection. You have to start there to be eligible for any other parts of the program. So please, if you're a single family homeowner, come to the website and apply for your free inspection.
Speaker 1 00:11:42 Awesome. And we're gonna be hearing from Glenn Stevens, who is an approved inspector for this program. And so he's gonna be sharing a little bit about what that looks like. So this will be part one, and then Glen's will be part two, and then everybody will have everything they need.
Speaker 2 00:11:58 And may I recommend to your audience, Glen Stevens is worth listening to. He is the guru of home inspections and he knows everything about keeping your roof on and keeping your windows intact. He really does. I'm in, I'm really impressed by his knowledge level, so he'll be more than worth listening to. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:14 Well he's coming in next week, so I'm looking forward to meeting him. He's local so he can do that. But you're in Tallahassee and um, just appreciate your time today, Tim. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 00:12:23 Hey, it's my pleasure. Thank you for having us on. And remember my safe fl home.com. All right,
Speaker 1 00:12:29 Thank you so much. Have a great day. Thank you.
Speaker 2 00:12:31 Bye-bye.
Speaker 1 00:12:32 PPG T I University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original Easy Breeze, porch and closure line, then became P G t, America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added cgi, C G I C Window, Western Window Systems, new South Windows, echo windows and doors, and lend windows and doors, and our latest acquisition Martin Garage doors. We create products built to withstand major storms, keeping people safe, secure, and prepared. Our exceptional brands give you the protection you need without compromising design or functionality. PPG t i University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
