According to Helene, your next CMA should better incorporate climate risk

Maybe you should hurry up with these updates, Mausam.

Several real estate markets in the Southeast were severely damaged by Hurricane Helene this past weekend. Asheville, North Carolina, now lies in a damp, rotting ruin and, according to the city, has not experienced a flood event of this magnitude since 1916 Asheville Citizen Timesand Helene's troops unrepentantly drowned that year's 21-foot flood crest.

The industry can no longer afford to believe that certain environmental risks have no impact on their region. Unusual snowstorms are no longer so unusual, forest fires are becoming more intense and the risk of flooding is increasing.

If the Edition of the day If the goal is to create more value for the industry, then everyone should start building into their buyer services presentations the opportunity to thoroughly consider the risks posed to the planet and perhaps stop worrying so much about high interest rates or a commission-phobic salesperson.

TopHap has a few peers in this category, one of which is Land id, which I tested a few weeks ago and is looking to scale by integrating broker websites and other industry marketing partnerships.

The industry's leading data sources, such as ATTOM and Constellation1, provide a wide range of environmental and disaster risk data in their respective extensive service libraries.

Sean Mooney, vice president of product management at ATTOM, said via email that it is critical for agents to stay on top of how weather trends are changing and how those changes impact their respective markets.

“Real estate agents should review climate risk data regularly, ideally monthly or quarterly, to stay informed about local risks,” Mooney said. “It is especially important to stay abreast of changes in insurance requirements and regulations that may impact property insurance costs for customers.”

“It is critical to understand a client’s risk tolerance so that agents can guide them to properties that meet their comfort level with climate risks,” he said.

To reiterate, agents have no reason to avoid questions about climate-related risks to their clients because they lack the resources.

There are more than enough ways to access land data and use it in your daily best practices. Climate risk data should have its own page in your next CMA or buyer services presentation. Integrations into your website via APIs are easier than ever.

Agents in Florida know all too well the importance of storm risk. The Wall Street Journal reported that a number of markets along the Gulf Coast are suffering from rising home insurance costs due to frequent major weather events. Florida's insurance crisis is well known, and Helene's aftermath certainly won't help right the ship.

“About half of Tampa homes listed for sale saw price reductions through Sept. 9, the third-highest share of any major U.S. metro area,” said the Wall Street Journal.

According to an Oct. 1 Bloomberg report, Helene's recovery efforts across the Southeast are expected to total well over $100 billion, making it one of the five most financially violent storm events in history.

Countless houses now have to be replaced or paid for somehow. Commercial buildings need to be cleaned and repaired and their leases need to be renewed. Undoubtedly, tenants and landlords will argue about who should pay for what.

Streets also have to be repaved over months and, in many cases, structurally expanded – all factors that have a direct impact on the health of a region's real estate industry. Reports of flooding and all sorts of other structural problems will cause countless transactions to be delayed for years. In addition to the ongoing property damage, human lives will also be affected long after the mud has dried.

Environmental problems are by no means unique to the Southeast. Phoenix, Arizona has long been concerned with the balance between water supply and growth, an issue that becomes more significant with every foundation that is poured during three consecutive months when the thermometer is above 100 degrees. From its own water shortages to county-wide infernos, California's climate and environmental problems have long been known.

A house is legally considered an “improvement to the property.” This means that the land comes first and, as the saying goes, nothing more is made of it.

The best agents understand this and help their clients ensure that their decision to move goes well with the property. They know more about a home and its surroundings than they do about the average sales price and what kind of pillowcases they are in vogue. It is absolutely important to understand the role that undeveloped and other land plays in determining commission volume. Ignore it at your own risk.

Realtor.com's decision to partner with TopHap is a good decision, and I hope that finding map data partners becomes a new initiative for all brokerages with outdated websites, slack listing pages, and agents looking for ways to satisfy anxious buyers win.

I lived in North Carolina years ago and helped real estate agents with blog content. I submitted an article to a client about preparing for hurricane season. She immediately asked me to remove it from her website.

“I don’t want to scare anyone,” she said.

Email Craig Rowe