Mitigating Delays from Hurricane Helene

[Carolyn McBride]

I have a property that went under contract in Whittier, North Carolina right before Helene hit. The area wasn’t heavily affected... but a tree on the property was uprooted and unfortunately knocked down part of the home (roof and foundation were affected). 

I am under a time crunch and would like to purchase the property asap (due to tax reasons). But now that the sellers want to file an insurance claim, I’m assuming the claim will take a good amount of time to be processed. What are my options for completing the purchase sooner rather than later?

Should and can I continue to purchase the home while the seller has an open claim submitted? Should I write up an ammendment to the contract stating in the case the insurance claim isn’t approved and carried out, that I can get X amount in seller credits? Would I be able to collect those seller credits, even after the purchase has been completed?