What price and why have they not sold? 

I have flipped 30 houses, including having 10 projects going simultaneously, one of which sold for $1.8 million.

. $40-$50k out of pocket, HELOC or private money loan for the remaining $20-$30k 

We've been seeing big increases after hurricane Sally in 2020 and the latest Florida storms keep driving rates up.We sold gulf shores a year or 2 after getting hit by hurricanes in consecutive years close to 20 years ago.

This is in a town that has a very good Private College - Baylor University.

we only did private notes back in the day.. and never thought twice about DOS. 

Ideally, these would be vacant and abandoned properties that have not been sold in the past 5+ years.

If private companies continue to provide the insurance, I suspect we will see further increased premium costs which will need to be reflected in the rents tenants pay (all tenants: LTR, MTR, STR).  

If I wasn't able to get the cash together, using a private lender would've been a good option.

This would include doing mainly flips so i can get a solid return from that money or possibly even doing private money lending.