Following consecutive hurricanes this season, many locals are preparing to sell their houses in order to relocate outside of flood zones or out of the Sunshine State altogether. Some signed a deal for a new house right away.
“We’re not going to move back into this house, it was a very traumatic, and I don’t want to go through this again,” St. Petersburg’s resident Jody Hameroff stated. “We actually have a contract on a new house, we’re just not going to come back here. No joke, my husband had someone looking for us two days after [Helene].”
After they rebuild, her neighbor in Shore Acres, who lives next door, said they are also selling.
“Is this worth going through again? How am I going to feel next year, let alone two weeks later like this one was?” Chris Beardslee, a Shore Acres resident stated. “It’s more important for peace of mind for the future to move along and sell the house for what we can get for it.”
According to Beardslee, his family attempted to persuade him to leave the state, but he was unable to abandon his local legal business.
“You think, should I move home where I grew up? Could we move across the country? But for my profession, it keeps me in the area,” he stated.
He intends to rebuild first, but according to a relator, she is receiving scores of inquiries, some from homeowners looking to sell their houses while they are still in ruins.
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“They don’t want to do it anymore, and I don’t really blame them, of course,” as per Tampa Bay area realtor Eileen Bedinghaus. “So, they’re very discouraged. And of everyone that I’ve met with so far, all but one are for sure going to sell.”
She did, however, caution that these abrupt actions can have certain drawbacks.
Bedinghaus stated that, “Moving out of their area there’s other issues, such as the values are increasing for areas that are not in a flood zone, taxes will increase when they move, and they’re very concerned about what is going to happen to their insurance.”
