Ft Meyers real estate

A silver lining in mayhem, destruction, & death — always the optimist, George…

Assuming people want to rebuild there unless on 15 foot stilts. https://www.wsj.com/articles/flood-insurance-fell-in-florida-before-hurricane-ian-struck-11664591058?mod=mhp

I should be a realtor. I've learned all the silver linings now.

“It’s awfully small. … “ --> “I’d say it’s awfully — cozy!”

“That’s dilapidated… . “ --> “Rustic!”

“That house is on fire!” --> “Motivated seller!”

"That house was just leveled by a hurricane" --> "Existing home removed by a gracious God, bring your architect!"

I know a number of people that live on the West Coast of Florida, no one's thinking ka-ching. My wife's best friends family lost everything, which included a lot of family heirlooms, and memories that won't be replaced by an insurance pay out.

Just like with Sandy in New York, there are tens of thousands of people in Florida with no flood insurance. And when you get just a few miles off the beach, you're dealing with neighborhoods with houses in the 2 to $300,000 range, these are not folks with a lot of options while waiting for insurance companies to dole out money and electricity to come back on.

I hope that a tone of mocking opportunistic real estate people came through in the original post and subsequent response

George, While I do not know people on West Coast in FL, it is a pretty sad situation out there looking at the video footage of homes being destroyed and people suffering. And then there are heartless looters.

Maybe a bit too early for mocking anyone as it relates to this disaster...

Shows what a brutal society we live in when people lose everything and they have to fend for themselves. Maybe they couldn’t afford expensive flood insurance. Many people will become financially ruined and homeless.
Ron DeSantis voted against aid for hurricane Sandy victims. He is relentless in his attacks on Biden.

In many areas people have built in places they had no business building homes in, therefore insurance SHOULD be expensive, but then they can't afford it and expect the government to bail them out after the totally foreseeable disasters happen.

Some of these areas should simply be condemned and bought by State/Federal government and used to create spaces which will prevent flooding in more viable areas.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/nyregion/cuomo-seeking-home-buyouts-in-flood-zones.html

I would say that describes most of coastal central/southern Florida. Hurricanes are something you have to be willing to accept if you want to live in this 'paradise'.

Ian was one of those giant anomaly storms that brought a great deal of flooding to areas that hadn't seen such flooding in 100 years if not longer. Flood insurance is only about $600 a year, just like Sandy in New York, people didn't have it because they didn't think they would need it. Some people don't realize their homeowners policy does not cover floods. The expensive insurance down here is wind insurance, the closer you are to the coast the more expensive it is. If you're just three or four miles inland from the coast, your rate can be 50% cheaper. And also depends on the results of your four-point/ wind mitigation inspection.

If people cannot afford flood insurance, they should not live in a flood zone, or at a minimum, not expect the their homes to be rebuilt at taxpayers expense when tragedy occurs. This has nothing to do with a “brutal” society. Where you choose to live has consequences. I lived in Florida for two years, very much enjoyed my time there but knew full well the risk of hurricane s and paid thousands of dollars a year in insurance, which fortunately I never had to use. But had my home been wrecked by a hurricane, and my insurance was inadequate to cover the damages, I would not have expected taxpayers in Wisconsin or North Dakota to bail me out to the point of making me whole again. If Ian gives residents serious pause whether or not they want to continue living in Florida, that is not a bad thing.

Fema has a cap of $250k. So essentially a govt program to help mostly lower income people in the case of natural disaster. There are lot of other housing subsidies by the govt as in public housing, section 8 vouchers, FHA loans and even mortgage tax deduction.

That said, I think govt should figure out some way to discourage (re)building in high risk areas via building permits, forcing to build on stilts etc.

https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20210318/fact-sheet-myths-and-facts-about-flood-insurance#:~:text=The%20limit%20for%20contents%20coverage,your%20property%20has%20been%20flooded.

You don't hear locals complaining about the damage caused by hurricanes. Mostly right now there's just a lot of people helping each other. I'll be dropping off a car load of supplies later this afternoon. A neighbor took his truck over near pine Island towing his BBQ/smoker and cooked up about 500 lbs of chicken, a lot of hungry and grateful folks! Also brought gasoline, ice and water along with his skiff, brought some supplies out to people who were staying put, took a couple of people back to the mainland. He's just one of many lending a hand. If you've lived down here long enough you've been through this before, but most folks agree this was one of the worst.

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/climate-change/hurricane-flooding-threatens-access-new-york-area-hospitals-study-finds?utm_source=daily-alert-wednesday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20221005&utm_content=article3-readmore

As far as my claiming this is a brutal society, it’s not only due to the fact that so many people will be homeless. It’s much more than that. When children are getting murdered in classrooms and the powerful gun lobby rules by way of paying politicians to not pass gun legislation, yes this alone is an indication of a brutal society that puts money ahead of human life. And one could go on and on. The rich can certainly parlay their influence to tighten their grip.
Soon the Supreme Court will be in our bedroom.

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/06/1127083845/hurricane-ian-florida-property-insurance

Home insurance is definitely a problem in Florida, but not so much for the wealthy/wealthy New Yorkers that come here. It's most troublesome for working/middle class.

I think most people can afford flood insurance, unfortunately not a lot of people are educated on why they need it. And the fact that their standard homeowners insurance doesn't cover flood damage. A friend of mine in Westchester learned this the hard way, had no idea there were flooding issues in Rye. Just because you're not right on or near a point of water doesn't mean you're home can't flood.

I pay $5,900 a year for my homeowners insurance in Florida which includes wind. I pay another $600 for flood. In 2012 a similar policy was $2,200. And I live in a home that's fully buttoned up, from a whole house natural gas generator, to hurricane impact everything and a roof that's properly anchored to the structure. If you don't have your house secured like this and you live near the coast, few will insure and the cost could easily be double.

Ah. So insurance not all that crazy compared to NYC coops. I pay a similar amount for a large 3 bed loft but it is a multifamily where a leak can cause more damage that in a house and rebuild cost is far more expensive.
But once you adjust for housing prices and related paying capacity, FL is very expensive.

Keith, What is the insurance for a say 400k home which is build before 2000?

@300 I'm about half a mile from the ocean and live in a house valued at about $1m (for now). I'm not an insurance expert, however down here it has more to do with your proximity to the coast. When you get about four or five miles out from the coast your insurance options open up, and the cost is significantly less. In some cases a bank won't require wind insurance if you have a mortgage with them. I certainly would always recommend flood insurance.

When you buy a condo, even if it's on the Ocean or the intracoastal your HOA will cover the hurricane portion of your insurance, at least in all the cases I know of and the buildings I've owned in.

And also greatly depends on what your house is made out of, most are cement block and stucco but there are some older Florida neighborhoods that still have wooden homes. Most likely you would not be able to get wind insurance on these homes.

How your roof is attached to the walls, whether you have hurricane impact windows, doors or not play a very big role in what your premium will be. I had a neighbor that paid twice what I pay, they had a roof that was not up to the current Dade County hurricane code, and the original jalousie windows.

I was mocking but I was right - there is a lot of interest in the newly cleared lots in Ian's wake.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/home-buyers-flock-to-florida-cities-devastated-by-hurricane-ian-11666047662

It's Florida, (most)people forget hurricanes. First the vultures come...

Generally speaking I would say the real estate market here in Florida is in the crapper like everywhere else. Strange to hear brokers on the west coast saying it's "business as usual" when you add a devastating hurricane into that mix!