Mortgage Advice for Hurricane Season

That is some great information.  Even though I am in Austin we can still get some good winds here if a Hurricane hits Texas.

J.

good advice... I closed on this house in between hurricanes.

Just make sure to advise your insurance agent why you are prepaying... but that you don't want to take the liability for damage to the property in case something happens

I wrote a post about having a home equity line for emergencies...  before a hurricane it may be advisable to pull some money from the line and put it in your checking account where you can easily reach it if you need to write a check... I do not recall any lenders cutting off lines of credit in the past 4 hurricanes, but you can never be too prepared.

Generators and Grills should be kept away from windows!!  Carbon Monoxide is emitted and the gas can have sickening fumes...

Standard Generators are NOT meant for overnight usage... they are meant for 4-5 hr stretches with a cooling off period in between.  There is a battery generator that you can charge prior to the hurricane and recharge on your generator for use INDOORS @ night.... you can connect fans to it to cool your home.

In the last storm, I filled up ziploc containers with water and froze them into ice blocks.  I put those in the chest freezer.  Then at night I would transfer them into my garage freezer which is a top/bottom configuration.  As cold falls and heat rises, it kept everything below it in the refrigerator cool enough to avoid spoilage.

just remember - during a hurricane, midnight snacks should not come from the fridge so you can save the cold...

Great post - Its amazing how everyone forgets about the diffuculties of buying insurance while there is a hurricane brewing.  Great post

Jeff, Thank you .. You can never be to careful

David, thats is some great additions.  Great idea about the block ice.  I am lucky my sister and my parents both installed the massive generators that can power the whole house.. (Including the A/C) :-)  I know where I will be..

Jackie, I plan on it.  Thank you for your comment

Rebecca,  Thank you.. It is true most people really don't think about it untill its to late.

Matthew -- How timely-- We got our "No Binders issued" notice yesterday afternoon as Hurrican Flossie nears our Islands.  No binderrs until after the storm passes.  Great advice.  Aloha

Bruce,  Glad you have your binder.  I wish you well.. Hopefully the storm will turn and miss you.

Thanks for the heads up!  I have a closing in two weeks.  Just got the call yesterday from the Closing Agent to secure insurance.

Matthew-

I live in Ca and we don't have hurricanes, everything else but these.....your advice is good for Earthquakes too, but mostly I read this because my "sign man" lives there, and I remember trying to get an order during Hurricane Season....

So, may I add that the rest of us need patience if our vendor is affected by a Hurricane :)  I learned this one a few years ago. Thank you....I had no idea how long your season was.

Monica,   Congratulations.  Great heads up for your closing agent.

Kathy,  This is very true.. Patience is very important to have during this.

*To the Moderator who featured me .. Thank you..

Very informative (and accurate), Matthew.  Former Biloxi, MS resident here - unfortunately, I experienced Katrina firsthand!

Matthew, check out this cool site.
Relieve a little stress every now and then.

http://www.florida-state-miami.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=62

Matt,

This is great information! Some of these things I did not know, we don't get them like you but we have had a few to remember. Congrats on your well deserved feature! :)

Matthew.... some great tips, especially the pre-paying of the insurance just in case. As you stated, if a hurricane appears, they could be in big trouble.

Gareth, After going through Hurricane Andrew I know how you must of felt.  Thank you for your comment

Pete,  Very cool link thank you

Suzanne, Thank you.. I was very happy to be featured. 

Jeff,  True.  I know a couple of years ago when South Florida had 3 in 18 months you get to know real well what to do..

This happened to me on the first house I ever bought in FL, insurance was a nightmare (still is!).  I hope you didn't jinx anything by writing this post!  :)  Great information.

Great info and from a Nole'............. what more could a person ask for!

Matthew- great information on things to know in the hurricane season.  Have you niticed how all the news channels are going bonkers at the mere mention of a tropical depression thousands of miles away?  I guess I should be thankful they are leaving us a lone for awhile.

Sara, I hope not.. thank you for your comment

Rob, Thank you.. F L O R I D A S T A TE, Florida State Florida State..:-)

Beth, In a strange way I am happy because they stopped talking about the mortgage industry..

Timely advice and well written..Also good that it's read and taken prior to the hurricane.

For the deals I have done in Florida, especially during the fun rides of 2004-2005 (I am licensed in FL and sold real estate there for three years before I moved to MN), I have found that pre-paying for insurance doesn't really help. Insurance companies don't write the policy until the home closes. Even though a buyer might pre-pay, if a hurricane comes through the week of closing, the insurance company is still going to want an inspection or verification that the home is alright, before they issue the final policy. If they didn't, then people could close on homes with damage, and then call the insurance company for a claim.

Judi, Thank you.  Better safe than sorry

Jennifer,  As I stated "If a hurricane does hit any where be prepared to delay your closings.  The lenders will issue a new condition prior to closing.  They will want the property re-certified from your property appraiser"

However, If you do pay for the insurance (yes they do this all the time)  and  you have a binder.  As long as the storm does not make land fall you will still be able to close.  Once the Box is issued you can not have a binder done. 

Very good post. We need to be prepared before the threat of a Hurricane. People wait til the last minute just cause themselves undue stress. Katerina

Congratulations on your feature. Let's talk tomorrow about the update. Katerina

Good information. This is all such good advice. Often people "think" about doing all these things, but then it becomes too late and something happens, and they "wish" they had.

Oh my gosh I would have never thought of any of this.... it makes sense but - never would have occured to me.  thank you for sharing

Katerina,  True be prepared.  Thank you for your comment

Bob & Carolin, Thank you.  I know in the last couple of years it becomes more difficult to close if your not ready

Thesa, Thank you..Living in South Florida you learn to be prepared..:-)

Great list, Matt!  We have our fair share of storms here, but nothing like y'all in Florida have to deal with.  I wouldn't have thought about pre-paying for the insurance, but it makes sense.  I'll definitely keep that in mind :)

Hey Matthew, good points.. i've seen the closing issues related to storms being 'in the box' from the appraising side of the business. and yes, always charging to go back out for the 442 (final inspection). I dont know of any appraiser that doesn't.

Just a thought,. if i was buying and there was a storm in the box, why would i want to close? I would rely on the 'cant get insurance until the storm passes' to make sure i'm not closing on something that is possibly going get slammed within a week.  wait til the storm passes, get the 442, do another walkthrough and then close if all is well.   no?..

well, gotta got buy some ravioli today.. just in case 'Dean' makes a move northward.    later Miami kid..

Hi Matthew - I'm originally from Florida, but have never sold real estate there.  I didn't know most of the real estate related tips you gave - if I ever do decide to get my license there, this would certainly be good info to have.

I've never heard anyone in my family refer to 'the box'.  What does that mean - the projected travel path of one of the hurricanes?  We don't really deal with bad weather conditions up here, a blizzard every now and then, but nothing that really affects insurance and closings much.  Although we have had some strange flooding events over the last couple of years and I'm sure that had an impact on real estate in those immediate areas, now that I think about it.   I did have some closings earlier this year where the lender required the appraiser to go back out a couple days before closing to reinspect the property to make sure it hadn't been part of the flooded area.

I have tons of family in central Florida - some FSU die-hard fans and some Gator fans.  Both yell equally as loud for their respective teams.

Ann

Jim & Maria, Glad I could help.  Thank you for your comment

Nick, I have some appraisers that have not charged in the past however, it is additional work and maybe your appraisel cost was less at the beging than the appraisers that I have used.  Everything is realtive and nothing in life is free.  I am the one who usually ends up paying for it anyway. 

If the hurricane is a weak storm and it planning on hitting 200 miles away who cares?  I would still close as long as I was covered. 

Ann, The "Box" is similiar to the "Cone" for the projected path of the storm.  However,  The box can go up to 5 days out and the storm could be in many places.  It really gets on your nerves.  Thank you for your comment

Hi Matt, you couldn't have timed this post better huh? One thing I did in the 04 canes (when we here in Daytona got hit by 3 in a row) was to buy cases of the 20 oz bottled water and put them in the freezer.  That helped to keep both fridge and freezer cold durning our power outage the 2nd go round and we had fresh cold water.

Thank you very much for sharing, everyone needs to be aware of this in Hawaii.

Lysa, Great idea with the water....Thank you

Shane, I hope everyone was safe with this latest scare

Matthew - CONGRATS on the feature, sorry I'm so late to get here!  You mentioned alot of things I would never think of!  Great information!  We only get the occasional tornado here!

Kim, Thank you.  At least with a Hurricane you have time to prepare..:-)  Thank you for your comment

I actually know, or should I say, have met, Realtors who still don't know to apprise their customers of this, and some financial people forget as well on some of these 60-day closings.  Thanks for the reminder.

Rebecca,  Thank you for the compliment on your blog.

Patsy,  My pleasure. With the height of the storm season now here we really need to stay on top of this.