Dewayne:
What are buyers expecting with hurricane proofing of a house?
Welcome back to another episode of our series 60 lessons we’ve learned in 60 years. And today we’re going to talk about what buyers are expecting with hurricane proofing or wind mitigation.
Kirk:
Yeah, and the price depends too. So, for instance, if you’ve got a house over a million dollars, people expect hurricane glass, they expect the shutters, they’re expecting more things than something that’s maybe on a $500,000 or $600,000 range.
Dewayne:
And we see that not only are they expecting it, they’re taking that off the price if the house does not have it.
Kirk:
Correct. So, for instance, if you have no wind mitigation because you’ve gone through storms and you’ve had issues, people are saying, “Oh, my gosh.” We got an example, someone says, “Hey, my house is 1950s. I haven’t had any problems on it.” But their insurance is $7,000 or $8,000 a year, you can take the same house, it’s a 2015 house and that insurance will be under $2,000 a year.
Dewayne:
Right. Or the same house with a hip roof and full wind mitigation and it’s definitely going to the lower the cost.
Kirk:
So, would you say peace of mind and will give you more marketability?
Dewayne:
Peace of mind, more marketability and everybody always has the same question. “How much does it cost me to run this house from electric, to insurance, to taxes, everything else?” People always have the same question. So, wind mitigation is important with that. So, now what we’ve seen change is you used to get discounts if you had let’s say, “My East windows, those are all impact or they have shutters.” You used to get discounts for that. But now insurance companies say you get no discounts unless you have coverings or hurricane glass on every single opening, including doors and garages.
Kirk:
Correct.
Dewayne:
So, I mean, these opinions and tips are coming from over 60 years worth of experience in showing properties and clients. We sold 252 homes last year so we have a lot of data and know what buyers are expecting. So, if you have any questions about what preparations you need to make to your house before putting on the market, definitely make sure to comment or reach out to us directly so we can help.
Kirk:
Yeah, and again, if you have comments, reach out to us directly, we love to respond to those comments. Next week, we’re going to talk about what you should know as an agent when showing property. We’ll see you next week.
Dewayne:
If you’re enjoying our videos and our topics, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or like our Facebook page for our weekly videos.