Selling A House With Hurricane Damage

Selling A House With Hurricane Damage

Hurricane damage in Florida

Only last year, Hurricane Ian knocked out power for 2.6 million people in Florida, and it caused more than $47 billion in damages. It will take Florida years to recover from the hurricane and flood damage. To make matters worse, hurricanes are a pretty normal occurrence for the Sunshine State. On average, Florida experiences about 120 hurricanes a year. Although Floridians experience so many hurricanes, only 13% of Florida homeowners have flood insurance, according to Fox Weather. Even with insurance, there are still exclusions, and there is no such thing as hurricane insurance. That means many homeowners end up paying for repairs and renovations out of pocket. This is a huge problem if you are trying to sell your house after a hurricane or flood. Before you do anything else, first you need to assess the damage.

What are the ways hurricanes can damage a house?

Hurricanes are huge forces of nature—wind, water, and fire. Because of their destructive power, hurricanes can damage a house in many ways. 

• Wind damage 

Hurricanes have strong winds from 75–150 miles per hour. They can easily destroy roofs, siding, doors, and windows. Depending on the speed, these gusts can even cause power outages as well as uproot trees and utility poles.  

• Water damage 

Water damage can be caused by flooding and storm surges. Flood damage caused by a hurricane can lead to structural and foundational damage. Flooding can also affect the interior of the house and lead to mold and mildew growth. 

• Fire damage 

Since water is a conduit for electricity, fire damage can also occur during a hurricane if flooding affects any of your outlets or appliances. 

As long as the hurricane and flood damage to your house isn’t too severe to the point of demolition, you have options to sell it. 

How to sell a house with hurricane damage

Selling a house with hurricane damage in Jacksonville can be tricky and expensive. You might not have a problem getting an agent, but you will probably have trouble finding a buyer. Upon disclosure or discovery during appraisal, most potential buyers won’t want to take on the risks and costs of repairs. Another consideration to make is that lenders won’t normally finance a damaged house, depending on the severity of the damage. This means that even if there are buyers that show interest, they won’t be able to get a loan. Since hurricane damage affects the entire house, repairs can be expensive. To get your house in condition to sell, you could easily spend thousands of dollars on repairs. Regardless of whether you repair any hurricane damage, your home value can still drop by 20% to 30%. If traditional selling is too much of a hassle, or if repairs are too costly, another option is to sell your house to a cash home buyer like us. 

We Buy Ugly Houses^® 

We Buy Ugly Houses^® has been in business for over 25 years, and we are America’s #1 home buyer. Although we have over 1,100 franchises, each one is locally owned and operated. We have a streamlined process that makes selling easy. Since our Jacksonville property buyers are also locals, we can help sellers who are experiencing financial distress due to hurricane damage.

We can help you sell your damaged house fast.

We have a 95%^* customer satisfaction rate for a reason. We come to you for a free consultation on your schedule. You don’t need to repair any hurricane or flood damage—we can make an offer on your house “as is.” Since we know the Jacksonville real estate market, our local property buyers know the best value for your home. We can give you an all-cash offer fast, sometimes on the same day we visit your property. Thanks to our close relationships with local lenders, we also close quickly—often in as little as three weeks. We’ve helped over 150,000 customers get fast cash for their houses, and we can help you, too.

Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation and to get a cash offer on your house!