Flooded homes from Hurricane Ian are now hitting the real estate market in Central Florida. It's a trend realtors are expecting to see more of in the coming months. 

Local realtor Jennifer Grasso shared that for many local homeowners, this is proving to be too much to come back from. Leading them to list their homes at steep discounts. 

“People can’t necessarily afford to have all of these repairs done, even if they have homeowner’s insurance. You know there is still deductibles so this can be very difficult for people. As well as it could be their main residence and they have to relocate, and maybe they don’t have a ton of money to put down, and rent is really hight right now,” said Grasso.

Because of high interest rates, Grasso believes the people who will take advantage of these homes hitting the market are investors looking to flip the properties in order to make a profit. However, she said buyers need to do their homework. 

“I would never suggest purchasing a home without a home inspection so they really need to do the math on what the comps are in the neighborhood and how much the repairs are going to cost, because it can be very expensive to fix a home that is flooded. We are talking dry wall, floors, insulation, and you really have to do your math on that,” said Grasso. 

Grasso said it is also important to take high interest rates into account, and what the cost of insuring the property will be, before ending up in over your head. ​

Grasso shared what sellers can do to make this process easier. It’s getting their home pre-inspected so potential buyers can have a better idea of what they are dealing with.