An Ignoble Experiment: Florida Hurricane Update

Dear Investor,

A lot of people have been reaching out to see how our friends at Southern Impression Homes, who have helped build rental portfolios for members of our community fared through the recent hurricanes.

To start, our hearts go out to anyone that was affected by the recent hurricane activity. It can be a devastating situation that no one should have to experience.

SI Homes Hurricane

With that said, we are pleased to report that Southern Impression Homes along with WCI members' rental properties (which include areas in Jacksonville, Palm Coast, Ocala, Citrus Springs, Inverness, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Lehigh Acres, Englewood) came through the storms without any significant damage!

By way of disclosure, we have an advertising relationship with Southern Impression Homes, meaning we get paid for making this introduction and sharing this content. As always with these types of deals, consider this an introduction and not a recommendation. Every deal is unique and the responsibility to vet any and every deal you invest in still lies with you. The content and calculations in this email were provided by Southern Impression Homes.

Yes, there is always some luck involved; however, there are also some good fundamentals and guard rails to understand.

Jim Sheils, Partner at Southern Impression said this firsthand knowledge:

"Oceanfront properties (and any property close to oceanfront/waterfront) are some of the most desirable and valuable properties in the world. They also hold the highest risk for hurricane damage (which we just saw play out in recent hurricanes). My family and I live only 200 feet off the ocean on a small barrier island near St. Augustine. It is only ten houses wide from ocean to intercoastal.

Personally, we really love the simple lifestyle and in over 40 years, my wife, a Florida native, has only had to evacuate our local area twice in her life.

So we decided to take the risk, live this lifestyle, and stay well insured. With most other rental properties however, we purposely build more inland away from the beach and water and we stick to new construction.

Another point of safety from hurricanes, I always encourage people to find out the elevation of any individual property they want to potentially own.

Our personal residence and a vacation rental we own next door are on this small barrier island next to the ocean. They are newer builds and sit about fourteen feet above sea level. In comparison, a few smaller beach homes down the street from us were built in the 1960s and only sit at about 3 feet above sea level. As a result these homes have flooded twice over the years while we have remained high and dry. These homes are about 1/3 the size of our house, yet they pay 400% more in insurance premiums.

The only hurricane damage I personally experienced was five years ago, and not from flooding or normal hurricane wind gusts. The damage was actually from a rare "waterspout." This is a tornado that forms on the ocean during hurricanes. Again, another risk of living directly on or close to the ocean. Although this specific situation is much more rare. While we did experience a good amount of damage on our personal residence and vacation rental next door, our other rental properties further inland were totally fine. The larger portfolio of new construction rentals we manage for our investors were also fine."

These are great lessons and insights to help you better understand how to weather storms (literally).

Waterfront property has great value and desirability yet much higher risk - consider buying a few miles inland which lowers risk and insurance premiums. Not to mention land costs and building costs slightly inland yield better returns. Combine that with new construction properties built 2004 or newer. These homes are required to be built on much higher ground and with stronger structural designs. This can also help you better weather a storm in better condition, avoid flooding and keep your insurance premiums lower. Insurance companies are more willing to insure these types of properties and at MUCH better pricing.

While NOTHING can fully eliminate risk in these types of situations, the hope is these points made above help the white coat community mitigate risk in the future, the same as it has for ourselves and other investors!

Getting beyond short term concerns, there are some very interesting things occurring for select real estate markets in Florida. If understood and timed right, it could be a great springboard for many investors wanting to own rental property with less headaches and more cash-flow.

Please join Jim Sheils and his insurance expert Chris Salameh on November 21st at 3 PM Pacific/6 PM Eastern as they do a live Q&A and share insights to the following hot topics:

Three undeniable statistics reshaping Florida Real Estate in 2025
The one secret you need to know to get the best property insurance on your investment property
Interest Rates: When will the big reductions really happen and what to do beforehand

Click here to register for the Q&A.

Additionally, for a limited time, you can receive a free copy of:
The Passive Income Playbook: Leverage Build-To-Rent Real Estate To Buy Back Your Time And Create A Legendary Family Life delivered right to your doorstep by sending your mailing address to caitlin.shier@sihomesfl.com.

To learn more about how Southern Impression Homes can help you achieve financial freedom through real estate, visit www.southernimpressionhomes.com or schedule a no-obligation consultation with one of their investment experts today.