Who doesn’t love the tradition of Thanksgiving?  It starts off with The Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade from the morning to noon.  By noon the house starts to smell great, football comes on the tube, the family gets together, fights about politics break out and everyone eventually goes home both full and angry.  You gotta love Thanksgiving.

The last two years have been tough though.  Thanksgiving in 2020 kept almost all families apart because of the Covid 19 situation.  More families probably had Thanksgiving by ZOOM than they did in person.  It was sad, countless other families had an empty plate or two at the dinner table because of loved ones they lost due to the virus.  It really was a nightmare for almost all of us.

This year, while Covid certainly seems to be far less of a factor, we can’t help but think about the tragic loss of lives at the Champlain Towers in Surfside.  I had to see it for myself and I will tell you that the scene was indescribable.  I saw the 9-11 destruction in person and while certainly on a smaller scale, Champlain Towers was no less dramatic when you realized how many lost their lives in the rubble.  How many were simply unaccounted for.

So what will Thanksgiving 2022 be like in our condominium associations?  I don’t want to be a downer on the holidays, but for many, it’s not going to go well.  Of course we will still be happy that we are sitting with our families for another year.  If we have good health, we will be happy for that.  But I guarantee this, this time next year many Florida condominium unit owners may not be able to afford to make a turkey dinner in their homes.

As I said on the show last week, it’s as if a perfect storm is coming together all at once.  Food prices and gasoline are soaring, the price of insurance in our condominiums and the cost of labor are soaring. 

Insurance in some condominiums is tripling in price resulting in incredible increases in monthly assessments.  And of course, by this time next year, rest assured that there will be laws in place making it impossible to waive reserve funding in your community at least for your roof, electrical and structural components.  In other words, besides the cost of insurance, the fact that you won’t be able to waive reserves will make your monthly assessments skyrocket even more.  Next Thanksgiving there are going to be many people sitting at their Thanksgiving tables wondering if this is the last Thanksgiving they will be spending in a condominium that they may have been living in for decades.  They’re simply getting out priced and won’t be able to afford it any longer.  And it’s sad.

But have no fear……we know how much Florida loves to treat its developers.  So look forward to laws that will allow developers to buy up units, kick out the old folks and build more buildings that people from mostly foreign countries can buy and put tenants in.

So to all of you and your families….I wish a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Holiday, and I hope it’s not the last one you get to spend in your current home.