Advantages of buying such land with loan from money lenders: The price of the land is very high if it is at the center of the city but if located at the outskirts of the city then the price decreases to a considerable amount. This depends on the facilities that are available in and around those areas. Most of the people want to build a house expects it to be customized as it should match according to the specifications of what they have expected. Customers nowadays want house that should have cleaner air and is spacious around the location. Some also opt for areas that are more open and do not have any trees or shade to cover the house and might have an open field to have an evening walk or for the kids to play. These days’ people are also becoming aware about the uses of the environment and looking for a green environment or using of the eco friendly material for their house.

The various factors that are considered before making the decision of buying Florida land for building custom made house are:

Choosing the zone: One has to check with the local authorities before making any commitment towards buying the land. For giving information on whether the particular land is having any disputes in that zone or every report of it is clear, the authorities are to be consulted. Information should be derived if there are offices, schools, shopping malls, station or airport near by the land that they are planning to buy.

Natural disasters: Soil of that land has to be tested before thinking of buying that property. The building structure must stand upright on that land and rocks are harmful chemicals should not be present, it should not be any earthquake or fire prone area.

Different ways to buy a land after all these processes have been taken care of are:

Loan for land: Make a study of what the lenders of the land loan want and if they are entitled to any insured company. Research has to be made if these money lenders are approachable. It is advisable not to approach any national money lender unless they have a local presence widely. A land survey should be obtained from the local registered surveyor. It should state whether the land is used for the residential purpose of for any other.

Loan for construction: Construction should be started within two years of buying the land for which local lenders should be approached for the loan. A complete portfolio, that comprises architectural design of the house, building costs, appraisal, etc. should be prepared and pay the interest on loan.

Five Florida hospitals rank among the Top 100 Most Wired. The 5th annual survey polls the nation’s hospitals and health systems on their use of IT to address the key goals of safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce and disaster readiness. 1,128 hospitals were represented in the study. The five Florida hospitals are Orlando Regional Healthcare (Orlando), Wuesthoff Health System (Rockledge), Baptist Health Care (Pensacola), Baptist Health South Florida (Coral Gables), Memorial Healthcare System (Hollywood).
(Hospitals & Health Networks, July/2003)

Miami (#12) and Tampa (#16) rank high among America’s most literate cities. The study creates a literacy profile of the nation’s 64 largest cities (population of 250,000 or more). Cities were evaluated on the following criteria: education level; periodicals published; newspaper circulation; library support, holdings and utilization; and booksellers.
(University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, July/2003)

Florida’s 4th graders ranked 8th in the nation. The 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “the Nation’s Report Card”, also indicate that Florida’s writing scores increased significantly more than the rest of the nation.
(U.S. Dept. of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, July/2003)

Valencia Community College is 2nd in the nation in total number of associate’s degrees awarded. It also ranks 5th in associate’s degrees awarded to minorities overall. The survey focused on degrees conferred during the 2001-2002 academic year.
(U.S. Dept. of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, July/2003)

Fort Myers (#3) and West Palm Beach (#4) achieve top ranking status in the 2003 Milken Institute Best Performing Cities index. The index measures where jobs are being created, economies are growing and businesses are thriving. Overall, 16 Florida metro areas ranked within the top 200.
(Milken Institute, June/2003)

Jacksonville is home to two of the top public high schools in the nation: Stanton College Prep (#2) and Paxon (#3). The schools are ranked on a ratio called the Challenge Index: number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students at a school in 2002 divided by the number of graduating seniors. A total of 50 Florida high schools made the list.
(Newsweek, June/2003)

Florida’s economy grew the fastest among the ten largest states. Based on 2001 data, the most current data available, Florida’s annual growth of real gross state product (GSP) was 1.8%. Trailing behind Florida is Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and California.
(U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, June/2003)

Florida is the 9th top job-creating state. The 8th annual jobs survey compiled the top three manufacturing and non-manufacturing job-creating projects from all state-level economic development organizations. The South-Atlantic region, which includes Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virgina, reported the largest number of jobs to be created.
(Area Development, June/2003)

Palm Beach ranked best place to live. After months of research, The Robb Report, has named the town of Palm Beach as the best place to live in the country. Some of the town’s attributes are culture, shopping, dining and golf.
(The Business Journal – South Florida, June/2003)

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University is ranked #1 for its undergraduate engineering program in Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical. The rankings are based on the judgments of deans and senior faculty who rated each program they’re familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished).
(U.S. News & World Report, June/2003)

Florida is the only state in the nation to have positive job market growth for the past 13 months. For the year ending in March 2003, the latest month for which comparable data from other states is available, Florida continued to create the most new jobs among all states and expanded at the fastest growth rate as compared to the 10 most populous states.
(Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, May/2003)

Florida International University takes top ranking as the college awarding the most Bachelor’s Degrees to Hispanics in the nation.
(Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine, May/2003)

Florida’s State Tax System ranked 7th on how friendly it is to businesses. In a new study, The State Business Tax Climate Index, the Tax Foundation ranks the 50 states on how “business friendly” their tax systems were at the start of 2003. The overall index is a composition of five specific indexes devoted to major features of a state’s tax system, features that definitely influence business decisions or the economy in general: the corporate income tax, the individual income tax, the sales or gross receipts tax, the state’s fiscal balance, and the conformity of the state’s tax system with other systems.
(Tax Foundation, May/2003)

Twelve (12) Florida cities make Forbes’ list of “Best Places for Business and Careers”. The 5th annual survey ranks cities based on income, job growth, cost-of-doing business, available labor pool, crime rates, housing costs and net migration. The Florida cities that made the listing and their rankings: Sarasota (44), Ft. Lauderdale (47), Jacksonville (48), Melbourne (51), Pensacola (52), Orlando (56), Ft Myers (60), West Palm Beach (64), Daytona Beach (75), Lakeland (85), Tampa (91), Miami, (130).
(Forbes, May/2003)

Tampa ranks 2nd in AOL’s “Broadband Wired Cities” survey. The online research study was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International and consisted of 3,600 respondents. The results indicated that in Tampa, more than 56 percent of adult respondents go online at home via broadband telecommunication frequencies and an additional 10 percent plan to obtain broadband within the next 12 months. Orlando ranked No. 9.
(The Business Journal – Tampa Bay, May/2003)

Intel ranks eight Florida cities/regions among the top 100 with the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. Florida’s “Most Unwired Cities” include Orlando, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Jacksonville, Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater, West Palm Beach, Sarasota-Bradenton, and Daytona Beach. The survey is based on the number of public and commercial wireless access points (hotspots), cell phone coverage offering wide area network Internet access, and Internet penetration.
(Intel.com, Apr/2003)

Ten Florida cities make the “2002 America’s Top 100 Places to Live” list. 5,100 communities were ranked based on low crime rates, amenities (such as museums, theaters, sports), peace and quiet, good schools, healthy economy and good neighbors. The ranking Florida cities were Coral Gables, Crest View, Deltona, Juno Beach, Lakeland, Naples, Ocala, Poinciana, Sarasota and West Palm Beach.
(Relocate-America.com, April/2003)

Miami ranks #1 as the best city for doing business in Latin America. América Economia surveys top Latin American executives annually. This year 74% of the 1,600 executives surveyed picked Miami as their #1 choice.
(América Economia, April/2003)

Miami-Dade County ranks third in the nation for business growth. The county had one of the top numerical and percentage gains in business establishments with employees between 2000 and 2001.
(U.S. Department of Commerce News, April/2003)

Sid Martin Biotechnology Development Incubator (BDI) ranks #1 among national incubator programs for the amount of intellectual property licensed into operations. The facility is one of 79 incubator programs examined in the study. The BDI sample group also ranked 7th in terms of average employment growth of its companies and 4th in terms of average equity investment. The BDI is operated by the University of Florida’s biotechnology program.
(National Business Incubation Association, April/2003)

Tampa Bay named Mega-Market of the Year for the second consecutive year. Tampa Bay had the most business “deals” among the South’s seventeen states.
(Southern Business & Development, April /2003)

Two Florida companies are awarded the 2003 Department of Defense Nunn-Perry award. The prestigious award recognizes outstanding partnerships between major defense department contractors and small and disadvantaged businesses. The partnership between Fort Walton Beach’s Manufacturing Technology Inc. (mentor) and Pensalcola-based firm, General Precision Manufacturing (protege), is the first Florida partnership to win the award. MTI is also the first company in the nation to win the award as both a protege (in 2000) and mentor.
(Pensacola News Journal, April/2003)

Florida is home to 688,460 creative class employees – the 4th largest number in the U.S. The research was conducted by Arthur Adiarte of the Minnesota Dept of Trade and Economic Development and Dr. Kevin Stolarick of Carnegie Mellon University and Catalytix, and is based on the same methodology used to rank metro regions in The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida also ranked 3rd for diversity and 10th for high-tech.
(Creative Intelligence, Feb/2003)

Tampa takes top honors in the 2002 Digital Cities Survey. The city received top marks for digital democracy and online services. The survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government, examined the use of IT among 125 cities.
(Government Technology, Feb/2003)

United Van Lines’ 26th annual migration study indicates that Florida is one of the top “high inbound” states in the South. Florida, with 57.6% of moves inbound, has seen this inbound trend every year since the study began in 1977. United Van Lines is the nation’s largest household goods mover. The annual study is based on interstate household moves handled by United among the 48 continuous states.
(United Van Lines Migration Study, Jan/2003)

Full Sail is named one of the top 5 game-degree colleges in the world. The college, located in Orlando, prepares students for the digital entertainment industry.
(Electronic Gaming Monthly, Jan/2003)

Four Florida companies rank among Fortune’s 100 best companies in which to work. The companies are Publix Super Markets, Baptist Health Care, Baptist Health South Florida, and JM Family Enterprises.
(Fortune, Jan/2003)

Florida climbs a notch to the 4th most popular location nationally for business in the Reader’s Poll. Readers were asked to give the top states they would consider for expansions based on criteria such as transportation access, workforce training and incentives programs. Florida also ranked 6th most popular in the Bizsites survey.
(Plants, Sites & Parks, Jan/2003)

For the third time, Jacksonville tops the list of Expansion Management magazine’s ranking of “America’s 50 Hottest Cities”. The ranking is based on a poll of 75 of the country’s top site location consultants. The River City has always been ranked the top 10 since the magazine began the survey in 1999.
(Expansion Management, Jan/2003)

New residents must register their vehicles in Florida within 10 days of gaining employment or enrolling children in school. To register a vehicle, be prepared to provide the Tax Collector’s office with your current driver’s license, proof of Florida auto insurance, prior registration certificate and ownership title. The vehicle identification number will be verified, and you will need to apply for a Florida license plate. The fee depends on the vehicle’s weight. Newcomers also must apply for a Florida Title Certificate if there is a lien on the vehicle.

The Tax Collector’s Office is responsible for processing applications for titles and issuing registrations for motor vehicles and boats.

Locations:
South Palm Beach County Courthouse Annex
501 S. Congress Avenue
Delray Beach, FL
Open: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

and Mobile Unit:
Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the
Boca Raton Police Services Station
100 N.W. Boca Raton Boulevard.
Call 561-930-7922 for additional information, including which documents you must have with you at the time of registration.

Drivers Licenses
Florida law requires that new state residents apply for a Florida driver’s license within 30 days. But first, register your car as noted above.

The Department of Motor Vehicles will need to see proof of your Florida vehicle registration, your out-of-state driver’s license and your social security card. If you own a Florida -registered vehicle, bring the registration as well. If your out-of-state license is valid, you need only take a vision test. A written exam and driver’s test is required if your license is invalid or if you are applying for your first license. The written exam is based on the Florida Driver’s Handbook and the driver must supply the vehicle for the test. A license is valid for six years.

Contact the driver license office at
901 Northwest 39 Avenue
33126-3668
305-229-6333
Office hours are Tues-Fri 7:30am-6pm Sat (appt only) 8am-12pm.

Registering to Vote
Any United States citizen who is a permanent resident of Palm Beach County, who will be 18 years of age by election day, and who has never been convicted of a felony or never been declared mentally incompetent (unless their civil rights have been restored) may register to vote. Pre-registration at age 17 is allowed, but eligibility to vote remains at 18 years of age. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections is responsible for registering eligible residents and for maintaining voter registration rolls. Mail-in forms may be obtained at City Hall or voters may register at the South County Courthouse, 345 S. Congress Avenue in Delray Beach or the Supervisor of Elections Office at 301 N. Olive Avenue in West Palm Beach. Forms are also available at many other sites – call 561-276-1226 for locations. Voters may register with or without party affiliation, but only registered Democrats or Republicans may vote in their respective party primaries. All registered voters may vote on referendum issues or for non-partisan candidates.