Where our experience with storm damage on Long Island helps
Storm damage on Long Island usually comes with an insurance file, a half-finished repair, and at least one open permit. Each of those frightens off an ordinary buyer and none of them frighten us.
We take open permits and violations on and resolve them after closing. We can work around an unresolved storm damage claim, and the contract will say plainly who receives the proceeds. If you are mid-claim and unsure whether to settle before selling, we will talk it through with you rather than rush you into the answer that suits us.
Storm damage that was never fully repaired
Owners often feel they should complete the storm damage repair before selling, on the theory that a finished house sells better. Sometimes that is true. Frequently it is not, because the remaining work costs more than it adds.
Run that arithmetic before you spend another dollar. We will give you a written number on the Freeport house exactly as it sits today, so you can compare it against the cost of finishing.
Selling in a flood zone after storm damage
Flood zone status is the quiet reason a lot of storm-damaged listings stall. A buyer who loves the house runs the premium, and the payment no longer works.
We do not carry that constraint. We have bought Freeport houses in flood zones with unrepaired storm damage and closed them on schedule. If you have an elevation certificate, bring it. If you do not, we will work without one.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom estate sale on North Long Beach Avenue. A four-bedroom on Westside Avenue. A four-bedroom on Laurel Road. All of them in Freeport, all bought by us.
Freeport is roughly 43,713 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11520, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, ranch, colonial. Around Freeport Nautical Mile and Freeport LIRR station, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Freeport stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have bought enough here to know which streets take water, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what the Freeport Public Schools does to a resale price.
Tree and roof damage after a storm
A tree through the roof produces the same problem as a fire: the lender will not finance it, so the retail market disappears and you are dealing with cash buyers whether you intended to or not.
The useful question stops being what the house is worth and becomes which cash buyer puts a real number in writing and then closes on it. We buy storm damage of that severity regularly, tarps and all.
Open storm damage claims on a Freeport house
People assume they have to close the claim before they can list or sell. In practice a great many storm damage claims are still open when the house changes hands.
The part that matters is documenting the assignment of proceeds properly. Your attorney will want to see it, and so will ours. We have run Freeport closings both ways and neither one is unusual.
What you do not pay when you sell a storm-damaged house
Each of the following comes with a retail listing of a storm-damaged house, and none of it comes with ours.
- Agent commission
- $33,000 at 5% of the Freeport median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,200 on a $660,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Everything a buyer would flag, paid for before you list none
- Cleanout and removal
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 92 to 107 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
Why storm-damaged Freeport houses sit on the market
Storm damage removes financed buyers from the equation, and financed buyers are most of the market. What is left is contractors, investors, and people willing to take on a project.
So a Freeport house with storm damage can sit for months collecting price reductions rather than offers. Selling is what we do, and we do it well. If your damage is cosmetic enough that a lender would still fund, we will tell you to list it.
Common questions
There is an open storm damage claim. Can we still sell?
Yes, and it is common. The storm damage claim and the sale can run in parallel as long as the assignment of proceeds is documented properly.
Do you need an engineer report?
Not from you. If the storm damage needs one, we will order it ourselves and pay for it.
The storm repairs on our Freeport house have an open permit. Is that a dealbreaker?
Not at all. Permits attach to the property, so they come along with it. We handle the Freeport building department side ourselves once we own it.
The damage is from a storm years ago and was never finished. Do you still want it?
Yes. Old unfinished storm damage is one of the most common situations we buy, and the age of it does not count against you.
Can you close before the next storm season if we need to be out?
Tell us the date you need and we will work to it. Nobody can guarantee a specific day before title comes back, but we can move quickly when the house is already damaged and sitting.