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 Shirley 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 Suffolk County 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 house on Johns Neck Road. A house on Seymour Drive. Both in Shirley, bought and paid for by us.
Shirley is roughly 26,360 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11967, and the housing stock is mostly ranch, cape cod, hi-ranch. Around William Floyd Parkway and the Smith Point Bridge, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Mastic-Shirley stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have been buying across Suffolk County for 15+ years. We know what the William Floyd Union Free School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
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 Shirley 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 Shirley closings both ways and neither one is unusual.
What you do not pay when you sell a storm-damaged house
These are the costs of putting a storm-damaged house on the market through an agent. None of them apply when you sell to us.
- Agent commission
- $27,500 at 5% of the Shirley median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $11,000 on a $549,990 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- The work it needs to show well, out of your pocket first none
- Cleanout and removal
- Charged by the truckload, and done before the first showing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities while you spend 88 to 103 days finding a buyer and waiting for their loan none
Why storm-damaged Shirley 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 Shirley 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 Shirley house have an open permit. Is that a dealbreaker?
No. Open permits from storm damage repairs are routine on the houses we buy, and we resolve them after closing.
The damage is from a storm years ago and was never finished. Do you still want it?
We buy Suffolk County houses in exactly that state regularly. A storm repair that stalled years ago is a cost to finish, not a reason to walk away.
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.