While many families are working to get their house in a "livable" condition so they can work on repairing damage while living in the house, some houses are starting to enter the housing market as "investment opportunities". By investment opportunities the seller means that the house was flooded, gutted, and now on the market. Now that "flipping" is a thing, I think that many of these houses will be picked up by investors. Seems like a win-win; home owner is able to liquidate a house they can not repair and an investor has an opportunity to flip a house a good price.
My concern post-flood has always been houses that were not gutted / fully gutted because folks felt that some things were salvageable / would dry out / were not damaged.
When we gutted our house, just 6 days after the flood, mold had already begun to grow - under cabinets, on plywood behind walls. When we cut open the walls the insulation was as wet as the day the house flooded. Everything has to come out. Cabinets, showers (drywall and insulation behind them is wet), doors (warped from the water). Everything.
The picture below is of a house around the corner from ours currently listed for-sale. While the drywall has been cut out, cabinets still in, shower in place, appliances and doors, etc. It makes for a scary housing market. As a buyer folks may unknowingly purchase a house like this post-flip that has not be properly gutted. I worry about the effects of this now and down the road - if houses in the neighborhood develop toxic mold surely that could impact property values and buyer confidence.
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