People are stampeding through supermarket doors to get water by the gallons, flashlights and batteries by the pounds and enough non perishable goods to last through the days and nights where electricity may seem Stone Age. The hardware stores are out of lumber for makeshift hurricane shutters and you are concerned about whether or not your home is even safe to weather the storm. Is your insurance policy in place? Is your insurance company going to cover any assuming damages? If there are damages should you fix it or sell it?

Let’s assume we are being faced with a category three hurricane named Hurricane Andrew Jr. You intend to sell your property during this hurricane season and you want to protect it. Do you go for wood hurricane shutters or steel?

Hurricane Shutters

You have multiple options for hurricane shutters. Those which are affixed to the property or those which you manually put on when a hurricane is on its way. The top two least expensive shutters are the steel panels or plywood. The steel panels will have to be stored away when not in use and plywood can be a little tricky to properly place. So you want to choose wisely. On a budget steel and plywood work best. For shutters that are more expensive you can get accordion style which are already fixed to the sides of window and often can just be pulled shut to protect windows and doors.
Where to seek shelter during the storm, is your home safe?
When it’s time to seek shelter it is often announced for given areas that are not safe. You want to stay tuned to all news broadcasts when a hurricane is nearing our coast because it announces all locations open for shelter, usually schools and usually for places nearest the beaches, mobile homes and low lying areas in danger of flash flooding. Evacuation sites are listed on www.miamidade.gov and www.broward.org

Recovering after the storm & Damage Assessment

Sometimes recovery is slow, depending on the scale of the damage. Power can be out for hours, days, or weeks. You might even be showering in the hose with the neighbors you still don’t know the names of, bodies all sudded up with soap in the fall sun. Broward County even has a Home Damage Assessment program that comes out and assesses the damage on your home when you dial 311. While Dade County has the Neighborhood Damage Assessment.

Headache with insurance companies

Now for the annoying insurance company! You know they don’t want to pay out, even though you pay into your insurance plan year round. You’re going to have to get your property inspected to determine the cost of the damage. This can be done for free with the National Storm Damage Center by a certified, trustworthy contractor. But it’s also time to whip out the ole’ insurance policy and see what is covered and what isn’t. You don’t want to take too much time to file your claim since most insurance companies have a time frame in which you can file. This will likely help you determine the finality of the last bullet point in the blog.
Check out www.stormdamagecenter.org for more information

Roof Repair cost estimates

Roof repair can be costly. You can seek damage estimates from the National Storm Damage Center’s reliable contractors or choose your own to learn the cost estimates for repair. Also the National Storm Damage Center warns against choosing the cheapest contractor versus the best contractor and to be weary of Insurance Company Approved contractors you want to do your own research before blindly relying on whomever your insurance company has on their list. But according to homeadvisor.com the average cost to fix a roof is around $1,175.00, the lowest cost being about $309.00 and at the height being around $2,000.00. Home Advisor has a directory of reputable Roofing Contractors.

Should you fix it or sell it?

Now the hard part, should you fix the property or just sell it? Or fix it then sell it? This would  depend on the level of damages. If there is minor damage, say a few leaks in the roof and missing shingles, a broken window or two, you could still sell the property as is without much complaint. If there is extreme damages, like deep gashes in the roof, flood damage and mildew and black mold, you are likely going to have an issue selling as is. Base whether you sell on the estimate you get for repair costs. The higher it is to fix the harder it’ll be to sell. The cheaper it is to fix the easier. Choose a trusted contractor for your project estimates, it is always best to check out a friend or family reference first.

I primarily purchase properties from people who either really want to sell or desperately need to sell. My specialty revolves around helping people out of a tough situation. Despite this fact, I still receive a large amount of inquiries from people who are normal sellers and not in any kind of a desperate situation. If this is you, I can still help.

I work with the best Realtors in the industry. These select few individuals have amazing track records and have helped me sell my properties within a matter of months, in most cases, weeks!

My connections have worked with me for years and I'd never go anywhere else. In this business, like any business, your power grows with your assets. One of your most, if not the most important asset yoi have, is who you know. When you decide to work with me, whether you desperately need to sell or are just thinking about it, you'll benefit from connections that I've nurtured and maintained for many years.

Don't go into the process of selling your home, condo, warehouse, office building, lot, house or investment property blindly. Only disaster will come of it. Interview at least four different professionals before making a decision. Review all contracts thoroughly and never take anyone's word on anything.

Verify all data for yourself. I can guide you though how to do this. My business grows because I am fair, honest and sincerely want to help people. You will see this through my actions, not these words.

I look forward to serving you soon!

The first of the month is coming up and so is your mortgage payment for both your personal property and your investment property. Your tenants recently lost their jobs, or so they say, and now you're stuck with expenses and have no idea as to when you'll receive your rent payment.

The stress is mounting as you haven't budgeted for two mortgage payments in addition to the unexpected car repairs that popped up a couple of days ago. In the beginning,  when you purchased the investment property, you thought it was going to be an excellent second stream of income to help you get out of debt, but now, it's becoming a nightmare.

From this point, you've got several options, some of them completely legal, some on the side of questionable. Now, this is not legal advise and should not be interpreted as such. Read this with a light heart and seek legal help if you require further assistance.

The first solution that I'd recommend you try is to talk to the tenants. Let them know that you can't afford randomly timed rent payments and if they're unable to pay every month, on time, they'll need to move within 30 days.

In the mean time I'd recommend that you start the eviction process if you don't see any boxes 20 days into your verbal / written agreement. This process can be done on your own (which I highly recommend,  especially if you want to continue your career in Real Estate landlording) or with the help of an attorney.

Some landlords have taken to the extremes of physically cutting power and water pipes to the property in an effort to smoke out the tenants. I've even heard of landlords infesting the property with pests such as bees, wasps and rats in an effort to scare them away. The most extreme case has been a property owner hiring a rouge officer to visit the property and demand immediate vacation.

I wouldn't recommend any of the previous stated methods. It's always best to stay within the confines of the law. If you or anyone you know is experiencing problems and is sick and tired of dealing with their investment property,  I'll be more than happy to assist in the eviction of the problem tenants for NO CHARGE and buy the house all cash!

A picture deserves several thousand words. Keep this statement in mind as you go about discovering the very best method to showcase your property to the world. Purchasers are really fussy about exactly what they desire. You most likely have a gem that appeals to a big swimming pool of purchasers, but how would they know exactly what you have unless they can get an accurate concept of what it is? The images serve as the bait to draw individuals in to set visits.

Let's think of who precisely you're offering to. There are a couple kinds of purchasers. We've got regional financiers who are interested in fixing and flipping. On the other end, we've got families that want a move-in ready piece of Realty. To go into further detail, let's analyze the frame of mind of the repair and flipper.

A lot of fixers are searching for a bargain where they understand what they're getting into. It's vital that you do not leave out any crucial photos of repair works. Something you'll definitely want to prevent is coming off as dishonest. The fixer community is an extremely little one and word spreads rapidly to reveal that you're serious about offering and trustworthy. Take in-depth pictures of the exterior and interior of the home in addition to all significant and minor repairs. If you truly desire to obtain trust and seal the deal, attempt producing an itemized estimate of repair works or acquire an assessment report from a local basic service provider. From this point you'll wish to offer a website for all of these pictures and information that can be accessed by any individual. I 'd suggest submitting your data to Google Drive and setting sharing alternatives to 'public.' Away you can access the link and share it with any purchasers that came along or have your Real estate agent (if you're utilizing one) post the link to the information section of your MLS listing.

Families that desire a home to reside in are an entirely various breed of buyer. While fixers are trying to find concise and precise information to make a business decision, families or retail purchasers, as I like to call them, are searching for images that cause favorable, positive feelings. When you're going after these types of buyers, you'll really want to see to it the property is absolutely repaired up and ready to go. Any upgrades are a huge plus. For an additional boost, you can try leasing furnishings for the purpose of staging the property. As soon as you have it all set, you'll wish to work with an expert photographer to come in and take pictures. You can likewise buy an $850.00 electronic camera and do it yourself, but if this is a one time deal, it's much better to pay someone $115.00 one time and get it done that way. Another exceptional option is to have them take a video walk-through of the home and post it on YouTube. From there you can add the link to the listing.

The possibilities are endless! If you wish to find out more about offering your property or if you feel that you do not have the time or energy to take pictures and market your property and would rather offer quickly, please feel free to call or text me at 305-349-3231