5 Ways to Protect your Investment Property in Case of a Hurricane!

Hurricane season is upon us, and since our business resides in South Florida, this is a season that we simply don’t enjoy, not to say that anyone else does, but it’s just a time in which if we are not careful we could lose one of our sources of income, we have to be careful and plan out what exactly we should do to protect our investment, alongside protecting our tenants, remember it’s better safe than sorry, and thinking ahead it’s what will help you get the best side of your investment sorted!

Number 1: Surge!

One thing you should install is a surge protector, this way you can protect your electric panel, devices, and appliances from voltages pikes, since that can be an absolutely terrible thing to happen, it could damage the things inside of your property which means you would have to replace them, and that’s an extra investment taking away your cash flow, which is not good for business at any point! So prepare yourself, buy a surge protector and install it in the house, whether its occupied or empty, this can be the thing that saves it!

Number 2: Insurance!

This is a no-brainer, however, you must do everything in your power to ensure your property is safe and sound, one of the things you must do, take pictures of everything that’s yours inside of the property, every single appliance, the walls, the doors, the windows and the roof, this will ensure that you have evidence of any changes in the property should the hurricane hit, that way you can send those to your insurance company and they’ll take care of it all for you!

Number 3: Plywood!

If your property is in the way of the hurricane, make sure you board up the windows, reinforce the door and for that, you can use plywood! Only if you haven't already put impact windows in the house, which we highly recommend you do! However, if you haven’t, you must, this will prevent your property from getting completely destroyed during the hurricane, and now you may be thinking, why would I do that if the property is insured? Think about keeping your tenant through this process, even if the property is insured, be safe and keep it livable so that through this process you are still cashing in!

Number 4: Central A/C?

We spoke about protecting your appliances, however since South Florida is a rather warm are to live in, having central A/C is almost the norm, and that comes along with having a big clunky device that usually sits outside, now when it comes to hurricanes, everything that’s outside of the house is in danger, so our recommendation is getting a cover for it, make sure it’s locked in place, so that the winds don’t blow it towards your investment or any other causing further trauma to the properties! Do make sure these covers are made properly from a good source, and not something like a plastic garbage back since it can build up moisture and that’s not something you would want to have in your device!

Number 5: Protect from Flooding!

The one thing you need to consider the most is how flooding could potentially be the one thing that destroys your investment! This you can do in advance, as in whenever you are preparing the property to be put up for rent, make sure your electric devices are all high off the ground and out of ways in case there’s a flooding, like it was during Hurricane Irma just last year, this way you will be able to save up some money in your appliances! One thing you can do as well protect your windows and doors, especially if you have a garage door, reinforce it as best as you can so that water won’t leak in too fast, taking everything it can at its path!

Do you have any further ideas for this particular topic? Do you have any other tip that might work better? Let us know in the comments!