Hurricane Florence and Investor impact.

[Brock W.]

Hurricane Florence has come and gone as I write this from ground zero Wilmington, NC. I'm curious as to where the BP community thinks the best opportunities are to be had. I would think that short term prices would suppress on SFH's but from a little bit of online research about the RE effects of other hurricanes, that seems not to always be the case as demand goes up as rescue money and recovery related personnel pour into the region. I had been looking at "buy and rent" opportunities with condos and apartments, and on the one hand perhaps prices go down as less people want to live in the area, perhaps prices go UP as people still want to live in the area, just not in free standing homes? What do you all think?

[Jiri B.]

@Brock W. That's a great question! I was actually wondering the same. In some cases i have seen rental prices going up after floods as many units are not livable or need repairs so if you end up with a property that was not damaged, you might see some short term higher demand and price increase. I think logically, if the inventory goes down (due the the storm damage, etc) the prices will go up for the reset of the properties that were not effected in that area.. I would think, on the other hand, those effected properties will have a signification price / value drop so you might be able to get some from those who just don't want to deal with that or just walk away.

I'm a long term investor (10+ years) so i would worry about global warming, sea level rising, stronger storms and more flooding so i would probably avoid areas that was historically effected or might be effected in the near future. I don't even purchase properties near rivers, faraway from 500 year flood zones. Since in the past 10 years, you see those type of storms / flooding more and more.

I would also worry about the insurance price or having to need a flood insurance or even not begin able to insure the property at all.

Bottom line, costal living is still a dream for lots of people and if you are willing to take on the risk, then go for it. I'm not that type of person.