With Florida recovering from recent hurricanes, are snowbirds still eager to spend time here?
Matt Fortin, reporter for NBC10 Boston, and Ashley Gurbal Kritzer, real estate editor for the Tampa Bay Business Journal, discussed the storms’ effects on snowbirds with Matthew Peddie on “The Florida Roundup.”
Kritzer noted the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton on residential and rental properties in the Tampa Bay region.
“It is a really nuanced, complex situation, and far more nuanced than anything in the national media would have us believe,” Kritzer said. “Those of us on the ground in the Tampa Bay area know that it's in some cases, street by street, house by house, in terms of what saw damage during the two hurricanes this past fall.”
When it comes to snowbirds, Kritzer added the storms will affect where people will live and how much they will have to pay.
“It depends on how much financial means they have to come down and rent a new place or repair the property they had. So I think we are going to see, I think we'll see people making decisions that vary based on their own personal financial situations.”
Wealthier people, however, may have more opportunities to make inroads in Florida following the hurricanes.
“This is an unfortunate way to phrase this, but it really is the bottom line, that ultimately, some of the damage we saw from these storms is going to benefit people of great wealth, right? If you have the ability to rebuild, or if you have the ability to purchase a property that was destroyed, you can buy what's essentially now a lot, a piece of land, and build a home that's a little more resilient, built up off the ground, built for hurricane wind speed,” Kritzer said.
She continued: “And I think that if you're not of great wealth and affluence, I think that your calculus is a little different. Maybe you try to sell the property for a lot value and get what you can from insurance and be made whole that way.”
"And it's becoming more and more of a hassle for people up here, just dealing with these properties being hit by the storms, especially managing them from afar, can be a major headache …" Matt FortinMatt Fortin
When it comes to the economy, Kritzer said snowbirds are critical for businesses in coastal areas in the Tampa Bay region.
“There are businesses in and around our beaches that absolutely depend on that snowbird traffic and the season. Bars, restaurants, hotels. It can be kind of slow here in the summer when it's very warm and frankly, not very pleasant to be in Florida. And to make up for those slow periods, those businesses really depend on that boom they see during the traditional snowbird season.”
What snowbirds are saying
Up north, Fortin said the strong storms have had an impact on winter residents.
“… there are so many people in this region who, for really generations, have gone to Florida, especially that west coast of Florida, to spend their winters. And it's becoming more and more of a hassle for people up here, just dealing with these properties being hit by the storms, especially managing them from afar, can be a major headache …”
Fortin continued: “Florida has long been seen as a more cost-effective way to spend your retirement, because people up north are able to sell their homes, and in a lot of cases, buy these houses down south with cash. And in that case, they don't always need to get flood insurance because it's not backed by a mortgage, and that causes major headaches for people, because for people who aren't from the southern states, they don't really always know what they're getting into.”
Fortin believes snowbirds will keep coming to Florida in the future.
“One different dynamic that may come from all of this weather is that people may opt to rent and not buy,” Fortin said. “So they may go down there for shorter bouts of time, for like a month or so, and just kind of Airbnb so that they're not having to own the property and have the burden of that, but those rates I'm hearing may be higher because the property owner is going to be incurring those rising costs.”
Kritzer echoed those sentiments.
“… all the insurance costs are being passed on to renters, whether you're a long-term renter or just here for an Airbnb. But I think that's already happening.”
This story was compiled off interviews conducted by Matthew Peddie for “The Florida Roundup.”
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