Continuation of the blog “How Important Is Flood Insurance in the Hurricane Florence Aftermath”
Events such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes can impact the real estate sector. It’s been some weeks since Hurricane Florence descended on the coast of the Carolinas with record-breaking rainfall and flooding. It is now time to consider the after-effects of this devastating, unusual storm. How can hurricanes such as this affect the real estate market? Home prices could drop as a consequence of such a natural disaster and real estate agents should encourage their sellers to accept this reality if they want to sell their property quickly. At the same time, some experts also expect prices to eventually rise in hurricane-impacted regions. The real estate sector is sure to witness a flurry of documentation, and digital transcription agencies can be of great support for real estate agents, brokers and inspectors to meet their diverse property transcription requirements.
A real-life example of the hurricane’s impact – the case of Andrea Bowens – was presented on WECT 6 News. Andrea Bowens was supposed to close the sale on a home she owns on September 13; that too, only hours before Florence made landfall. Several trees in her property were down in this disaster, following which the buyer and the other parties involved refused to close on the property. Their requirements to close the deal was to get the trees removed and a home inspection by the lending company.
The latest report from a real estate website Zillow highlights that $1 trillion worth of residential homes sit in the potential path of Hurricane Florence.
It is very likely that people may contact real estate agents to sell their damaged property. People may also be reluctant to move to a storm-damaged area and will be concerned about storm-damaged homes. While selling a home in the affected area, agents must make sure to ask the seller about any past problems and whether they had insurance, and must disclose these details to potential buyers. They can also encourage buyers to talk to home insurers about rates and coverage needs based on any local risks.
Along with such disclosures, agents can also consider pointing out features that may help mitigate damage such as buying houses with domed shapes that are designed for higher resistance to hurricane winds. Buyers, on their part, have the responsibility to ensure that they know what condition a piece of property is in before they buy it.
An article in National Real Estate Investor highlights that different commercial property types are affected differently by a hurricane. This article discusses how hurricanes in previous years have affected this market. It reports that while the hurricane with the most damage was Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 ($75 billion), the one that brought the least damage was Hugo in South Carolina and North Carolina in 1989 ($7 billion).
Will This Hurricane Impact Last Long?
With what diverse reports are coming up with, there’s hope for the real estate sector. According to a report from WWAY, Cape Fear Realtors opine that historically, major storms have an obvious short-term impact on the housing market. Wilimington Biz reports that Tim Milam, the president of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, one of the largest real estate firms in Southeastern North Carolina, has said that “After all the storms we’ve had in the past, pretty much sales have picked back up after a week or two and gotten back to normal. I think it will be back to normal if we don’t have extensive damage.”
At the same time, there are also assumptions that this hurricane is likely to disrupt national home sales and construction for months to come. Several realtor associations are also offering grant assistance to victims of Hurricane Florence from the Realtors Relief Foundation, established by the National Association of Realtors.
As those involved in this industry have to often deal with recorded notes relating to construction sites and buildings, legal recordings of real estate deals, and general office work, real estate transcription services could be a good solution to get customized reports of these recordings.
