Life in the Sunshine State is beautiful from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean and all the farm/ranch land in between.Florida also has that time of year called Hurricane Season.
(Venice Beach just after sunset on June 1, 2021 --17 seconds of relaxation-awwww)
The weather experts at NOAA predict another active hurricane season this year. Oh goody. I suppose you could say Floridians need to “summer-ize” their homes rather than “winterize”. Here are few ideas to consider, a “Hurricane Summer-y” of sorts. You do know it is a long season from June 1 through November 30.
1) Have a Hurricane Box. (I learned to have this when I lived in west Texas, only there it was a tornado box. In Texas you had minutes to get to safety not days to ponder, “What do we do?”). In the Hurricane Box have flash lights & batteries, lantern(s), hand wipes (we all should have plenty of hand sanitizer this year!) , sealable baggies, matches, a lighter, BUG REPELLENT, first aid kit, bleach, soap, pot & frying pan, camp coffee pot (oh yes I will have my coffee in the morning!), plastic plates, utensils, sharp knife, a CAN OPENER, towels and wash clothes! Make sure you have propane for your grill. (we try to use as few single use items because the storm will create enough trash!)
2) Food and water (prepare for a week without power)- Ray and I stock up on some non-perishable basics like; canned proteins such as tuna, black beans, nuts, canned soups, rice, oh and chips and salsa (my comfort food). Since we plan ahead we won’t be stuck with buying up whatever is left on the store shelves. IF we have a named storm coming our way, all Ray and I have to do is toss our spices (and tequila) into the Hurricane Box, and we are set. The foods are all items we can rotate into our meal plans after hurricane season is over. Also, have bottled water on hand now, have it set aside for “if we need it”. They say have a gallon of water per day per person. You can also make ice in abundance now for “if we need it”. Don’t forget water for your pets, too.
3) Important documents- Have scanned copies of your insurance declaration pages, take pictures or videos of your house and have them on a flash drive. Put it in your Hurricane Box, or upload them to your favorite cloud.
4) If you will be out of town during hurricane season, have a name and number handy of a person who will put up your shutters for you.
5) Oh speaking of shutters—know where you stashed those little wingnuts.
6) If you live in an HOA community, double check the time frame of when you can put up and take down your shutters.
7) Do you need plywood for your windows? Buying now would be better than waiting until there is a named storm a-brewing.
8) Plan to pull your lanai furniture inside, including potted plants if you will be gone for an extended period of time during hurricane season. In those strong winds anything left freestanding can get caught up in the powerful wind and do serious damage.
Whether you plan to ride out the storm at home or evacuate, just have some sort of plan.
Here are county links to hurricane information:
(Each county presents the information a little different. Why not get a little crazy and check all three! )
Basically a link to what I just said :)
Hopefully, hurricane season will not be as active as NOAA is saying. Afterall, predictions are not always correct. Such as the real estate market, no one predicted in the middle of a global pandemic the housing market would whip itself into a cat 5 hurricane like frenzy. What’s happening in this “cat-5” real estate market…
Inventory is still low. Most price points have 2 weeks of inventory (for reference, a balanced market is 6 months of inventory).The only way to fix the problem is for more homes to come on the market. Our latest listing had 16 written offers in 48 hours and is scheduled to close in June. The listing before that one had 6 written offers all over list price. A cash offer $30k over list price with a 3 week closing won the bidding. When Ray and I have a listing hit the market, it is all consuming and intense. Good thing for our Sellers and Buyers we are full-time and full-service REALTORS because, nothing less is acceptable in this market.
If you are interested in finding out what price your home could fetch give us a call. We will do a market analysis for you. You know us, no obligation, just good information for you to know. But, by listing your house you could be part of the low inventory solution. Just sayin’
Here is a quick look at the single family home market in the three counties Ray and I primarily serve. I used the criteria of at least 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, and a POOL, price range $250-$600,000.
Sarasota County: ONLY 75 homes on the market in the county. Pending sales 275! Average days on the market before going under contract NINE! SOLD in the last 60 days : 416 with an average of 101.3% of list price!
Manatee County: ONLY 47 homes on the market in the county. Pending sales: 211! Average days before on the market before going under contract EIGHT! SOLD in the last 60 days: 279 with an average of 101.4% of list price!
Charlotte County: there are 67 homes on the market. Pending sales: 277! Average days on the market before going under contract 15 days. SOLD in the last 60 days 367!!! with an average of 100.8 % of list price.
(data gathered first week of June)
Links to good information:
When will the market cool down?
Across the county- the same low inventory story
What do paint, toilet paper, and wood have in common?