Big investors snatch up dozens of hurricane-damaged homes for sale

Investors buying hurricane-damaged homes

FOX 13's Evyn Moon reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - As the Bay Area continues to recover from the devastation of this year’s historic hurricane season, many homeowners are choosing not to rebuild but to sell their damaged homes "as is."

A growing number of these properties are being snapped up by large investors.

A row of hurricane-damaged homes for sale in Pinellas County.

"A lot of them are looking at homes around our area, waterfront homes, that are now $800,000 and under," said Albert Jasuwan from JAS Builders. "The main thing investors are focusing on is lifting homes and rebuilding them."

In St. Petersburg’s Shore Acres neighborhood, this trend is especially noticeable.

WATCH: Homes destroyed in Shore Acres neighborhood

"Of the 40 homes sold since the hurricane, 38 were bought by investors," said Kevin Batdorf, a realtor and the Shore Acres Civic Association president. "My biggest concern is that investors are going in and, as we say in the business, slapping lipstick on a pig to resell them."

"The biggest concern is for (the) person who buys it from the investor because they won’t be aware of how bad the damage was and may not be able to get insurance."

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A gutted Shore Acres home after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

However, a local real estate expert, Allie Paige, assures her clients that this trend could be good.

"The good thing about investors buying is that they're going to fix it up, and they already know what the regulations are," Paige said. "They are not going to make a mistake because that's just going to hit their bottom line."

Paige said investors have a higher chance of successfully navigating the home rebuilding or renovating process because they can draw on industry experience.

READ: St. Pete Rep proposes re-interpreting FEMA’s 50% rule

"You can trust what they're doing; they probably have more experience than likely and are going to get it done the right way," Paige said. "Instead of somebody coming in and maybe making a few mistakes, because then that affects your property values."

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