Affects of a CAT 5 Hurricane on the rental market

[John N.]

I live in Panama City, Florida. Last year we had a Cat 5 hurricane that basically turned everything upside down in our RE market. An interesting fact came out recently. The Panama City\Bay County area has the exact opposite owner/renter ratio than the national average. Our market is 70% rental and 30% owner occupied. The has caused a huge problem because of the number of displaced renters. There are simply no rental out there for them. Countless businesses cannot reopen or have limited hours a year later because there are no job seekers. I don't really have a question here, just sharing and soliciting discussion. The situation has made purchasing new rental properties impossible because all values are hyper-inflated for the short term.

[Jennifer T.]

Originally posted by @Nicole Heasley Beitenman:

Originally posted by @Jennifer T.:

My opinion. It's so much easier to buy in my backyard. Especially because there is a decent ROI here for buy and hold anyway. So I keep doing it. But I know I need to STOP IT. Too many eggs in my hurricane-prone basket. With rising temps and ocean levels, major hurricanes are becoming even more likely. Just like we saw in 2017.

 This is why I refuse to buy anything on a coast. My business partner really wants a vacation rental in Florida, but I don't want anything to do with it. It'll be, literally, under water in 50 years.

I have been so tempted to buy a vacation rental on the Gulf Coast of FL or AL, when I retire from my W-2 job!  It's one of my favorite places to vacation and is only a 4-5 hour drive away.  But then I remind myself, STOP IT!  Expand my real estate holdings to cities that are NOT part of Hurricane Alley.