Have family in Houston. Right now they are OK (water up to yard but not in house) and hoping it will not come in.

I've been trying to get them to move out of Houston for years but the wife won't budge. I was thinking this disaster would maybe be a good primer to get him to convince her there are better places to live. But putting aside that argument; can he even sell his house now?

I was thinking that with all the flooding all over the city, what is this going to do to the real estate market in Houston? Will houses that stayed dry suddenly shoot up in value? Will those that flooded (even if they never flooded before) suddenly lose 10, 20, 40% of their value because they've been underwater? His in-laws have lived in the same home since 1969 and before Harvey, never had water in their home. Now they have 2-feet of water in the house.

Any thoughts?

I think lower prices (dry) will go quick and over asking - cash. Nothing's going to fund for a while, I imagine. Those without insurance and funds to repair, depending on area, will likely sit and deteriorate judging by a friends experience. Others will be picked up and flipped.

My best guesses.

Yeah, I think the market is going to be rather squirrely for a year or so. Devastation like this could lead to a mini-exodus, or it could drive demand for "dry" homes. Once things calm down and the water recedes, I'd be interested in hearing some real estate agents' opinions.

It will also put a halt to federal backed mortgages until FEMA recertifies the area. It is the federal government so until someone above them pushes it will be a while.

Once the event is over, the funding will be able to start relatively quick in theory but in reality ALL properties that have already been appraised will have to be certified to have not received damage (including all refinances). This will take time and is largely done by appraisers. This will tie up appraisers for weeks, delay funding on existing deals (assuming the deals move forward) and back log new appraisals so they will take much longer maybe even up to a month.

It will snarl the pipeline for sure, but Fannie/Freddie will try to get back to lending asap on unaffected homes.

Anything dry and on the market or almost ready to market, I would hold for a few months. There is going to be a huge demand for people needing housing. Everyone that is moving in or in the process of buying a flooded house will have a very limited selection and it will take months if not a year to get everything situated. Even then, many flooded properties may be gone forever. The Houston market is going to soar for what is left.

If you guys have capital, I would buy everything that is dry as soon as possible.

I'm wondering the same thing. I am in the middle of a relocation back to Houston and was planning on viewing houses this weekend. I'm not willing to pay over market price or buy a damaged home so looks like I'm at least 6 months from buying.

I am from New Orleans and was shocked to see home prices skyrocket after Katrina for even flooded homes. It is VERY expensive to live there now. Makes no sense.

I think it's going to cause major problems. It's going to take years to rectify the flooding issues, IMO. The neighborhoods/street that were totaled are going to nosedive in value. A bunch of houses are going to sit vacant and in disrepair, either waiting for foreclosure or to be demoed which will just further discourage new development. Add in that flood insurance is assuredly going up it will be even more cost prohibitive.

If the oil market were still booming I could see a fairly quick rebound but I think you'll see a lot of people just pack up and leave. Plenty of affordable housing in DFW/San Antonio where you don't have to worry about this stuff.

AggieAces06 said:

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I'm curious what this is going to do to new construction prices. We were planing on building in College Station within the next year, but now we are worried that construction prices might climb due to resources and labor being tied up in Houston.

Anyone have any insight on what happened after Ike or Rita?

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This seems like a certainty. I called a couple reputable contractors in Dallas today and several of them were in Houston already!

Well I spoke to soon and jinxed my family. Water came in last night. They have a 6+" of water in the front part of the house. He is downstream from Addicks and I think the water flow going past him is finally backing up. Sucks.....

AggieAces06 said:

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I'm curious what this is going to do to new construction prices. We were planing on building in College Station within the next year, but now we are worried that construction prices might climb due to resources and labor being tied up in Houston.

Anyone have any insight on what happened after Ike or Rita?

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I remember what it did to folks in TX when Katrina hit. Many TX laborers went to the hit areas because they were being paid a lot more than here and in cash. Even businesses like tree trimming were effected.

The contractors who stayed had a really hard time keeping people around. You started to get people who would have to pay more to get workers and that led to higher prices. It would take a lot longer to get the job done. Also, it was very difficult to get the workers to come finish the job.

I would advise to hire a reputable company with a long track record. It will cost more, but it will be worth it. You will see a lot of people starting up a new business and or doing it on the side, but it can be risky.

I've already heard from a handful of Meyerland residents who are done. Just going to walk away at this point. It's a great neighborhood but the flooding is killing them.

There will definitely be an opportunity to scoop up lots for development in the future.

I have a house on the market right now that stayed dry throughout Harvey. My heart says to keep the price the same because I don't want to come across as taking advantage of a disaster. My head is wondering if I should raise the price being a newer home in a good neighborhood with great schools and being in a neighborhood where some homes did flood, but mine did not.

Forgive me for thinking this way in the midst of such agony.

What neighborhood?

The Commons on Lake Houston - Huffman.

It would be interesting to see how appraisals work in neighborhoods where you have lots of flooding. I'm not an appraiser but if you have diminished value for the majority of a neighborhood, wouldn't it be hard for homes to appraise over recent market value? Is there some sort of protocol for that?

my parents went through a flood in salado,values dropped like a new dell computer. (For homes that flooded)

Diggity said:

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It would be interesting to see how appraisals work in neighborhoods where you have lots of flooding. I'm not an appraiser but if you have diminished value for the majority of a neighborhood, wouldn't it be hard for homes to appraise over recent market value? Is there some sort of protocol for that?

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Whoever wants it will come to the table with the cash to cover the appraisal shortage. There are going to be tons of buyers with virtually no inventory.

But are there going to be a ton of displaced buyers that are still sorting out their old homes and are still liquid enough to pay cash for the new?

I see certain area getting high dollar for non flooded homes.

The Commons on Lake Houston likely isn't one of them...unfortunately for this situation. Reason being is the people displaced in the area are not wanting/able to spend 400-600k.


Rental market is about to get unreal in the burbs.

CinchAG97 said:

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I have a house on the market right now that stayed dry throughout Harvey. My heart says to keep the price the same because I don't want to come across as taking advantage of a disaster. My head is wondering if I should raise the price being a newer home in a good neighborhood with great schools and being in a neighborhood where some homes did flood, but mine did not.

Forgive me for thinking this way in the midst of such agony.

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Same basic situation here, have a currently empty house for sale in New Territory / Sugar Land that looks like it may avoid being flooded -- based on the most recent projection of the Brazos cresting just below the height of the levee surrounding the neighborhood.

If we flood within the next 48 hrs we are screwed, if we stay dry we aren't sure exactly how to react if interest/demand that has been negligible all summer suddenly heats up.

We have some friends in the Katy/Cinco area that got flooded out and will likely be needing a place to stay, potentially for several months. We've offered our place to them for as long as they need it, so this may be a moot issue for us in the near-term if they take us up on our offer.

Lots of truth to that, but there will be an increased market for his home. One, the supply just dropped. Two, there will be a decent number of people who will not buy or rebuild in a flooded area/home.

Might be able to pick up some rentals for cheap with minimal damage and great cash flow potential.

Update to my post above.

We have not had a showing at our New Territory house for over a month now. Someone just booked a walk-thru for Saturday, even though the Brazos is still rising and there is no guarantee the levee won't be breached -- supposed to peak mid-day Friday.

If we do get lucky and avoid flooding, we are still likely to be under a mandatory evacuation order until some time next week when the flooding risk is greatly diminished and more area roads become dry.

So here is an initial data point on what might be happening in the market to properties that (might) survive...

Quote:

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We have some friends in the Katy/Cinco area that got flooded out and will likely be needing a place to stay, potentially for several months. We've offered our place to them for as long as they need it, so this may be a moot issue for us in the near-term if they take us up on our offer.

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Nice, Canagian.

We are 600 miles away and feel absolutely helpless, but want to do whatever we can to contribute to those affected.

As sad as this sounds, I am hoping when we update our listing to include that we did not flood during the 2015, 2016 floods and now Harvey, hopefully we get a few offers. Our house is in Westbury 1. On the market for 60 days with no offers.

You should. That is already a very common comment in Meyerland listings. I just worry that Westbury is getting lumped in with Meyerland as far as the flooding stigma. That's the only reason I can see that prices have gotten so soft over here.

Satellite of Love said:

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On the market for 60 days with no offers.

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We just hit 120 days. We are a 2 minute walk from a AAAA rated elementary school (one of only 3 in Ft Bend), but that hasn't seemed to help. We blame Chip and JoJo Gaines -- they have convinced everyone that open floor plans are the only way to go, and that's not what our house offers.

We were scheduled to close tomorrow in 77055 and got pushed back to next Tuesday.

Buyer requested a post-storm inspection.

We did not flood.