Developer · Fort Myers Beach, FL · Member since 2018 · 383 posts · 195 votes
Helping LA Communities Rebuild After Wildfires
When Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers Beach in 2022, it changed our lives forever. The road to recovery is long, messy, and full of setbacks—but it also taught us something important: with the right support and determination, rebuilding isn’t just possible—it can create stronger, more resilient communities.
Now, as wildfires tear through LA, I want to share the lessons we learned to help others rebuild with hope and purpose.
Here’s what made a difference for us: 🔹 Mortgage Relief – Many lenders offer disaster relief options like payment pauses or loan modifications. But you have to ask proactively, and be mindful of how long you stay in forbearance to avoid long-term credit issues. 🔹 Insurance Challenges – Even when insurance pays, it rarely covers the actual cost to completely rebuild. The process will be slow, but with patience and smart planning, you can move forward step by step. 🔹 Property Tax Relief – If your property is severely damaged, you may qualify for reassessment and potential tax refunds. It’s worth reaching out to your local tax office to explore options. These small wins add up when you’re trying to rebuild. 🔹 Partnering with Trusted Local Experts – Engaging experienced and reliable builders, architects, contractors, and surveyors is essential for a safe, efficient, and successful rebuilding process.
Recovery isn’t just about getting back to where you were—it’s about creating something better. Visit RestoreFMB.com for practical resources and tools that can be replicated in other communities to help LA through this process.
No one rebuilds alone. Shout out to permit professionals like Roy Hasson (just a friend in LA specializing in navigating permit process - this is not a business play we do not work together), who are dedicated to helping others and will likely develop similar resources to support their communities through the rebuilding process.
If you’re working on rebuilding efforts or have questions, feel free to connect with me—I’d love to collaborate. Together, we can help communities not just recover, but thrive. 💪
When Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers Beach in 2022, it changed our lives forever. The road to recovery is long, messy, and full of setbacks—but it also taught us something important: with the right support and determination, rebuilding isn’t just possible—it can create stronger, more resilient communities.
Now, as wildfires tear through LA, I want to share the lessons we learned to help others rebuild with hope and purpose.
Here’s what made a difference for us: 🔹 Mortgage Relief – Many lenders offer disaster relief options like payment pauses or loan modifications. But you have to ask proactively, and be mindful of how long you stay in forbearance to avoid long-term credit issues. 🔹 Insurance Challenges – Even when insurance pays, it rarely covers the actual cost to completely rebuild. The process will be slow, but with patience and smart planning, you can move forward step by step. 🔹 Property Tax Relief – If your property is severely damaged, you may qualify for reassessment and potential tax refunds. It’s worth reaching out to your local tax office to explore options. These small wins add up when you’re trying to rebuild. 🔹 Partnering with Trusted Local Experts – Engaging experienced and reliable builders, architects, contractors, and surveyors is essential for a safe, efficient, and successful rebuilding process.
Recovery isn’t just about getting back to where you were—it’s about creating something better. Visit RestoreFMB.com for practical resources and tools that can be replicated in other communities to help LA through this process.
No one rebuilds alone. Shout out to permit professionals like Roy Hasson (just a friend in LA specializing in navigating permit process - this is not a business play we do not work together), who are dedicated to helping others and will likely develop similar resources to support their communities through the rebuilding process.
If you’re working on rebuilding efforts or have questions, feel free to connect with me—I’d love to collaborate. Together, we can help communities not just recover, but thrive. 💪
what's this have to do with new construction and development?
When Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers Beach in 2022, it changed our lives forever. The road to recovery is long, messy, and full of setbacks—but it also taught us something important: with the right support and determination, rebuilding isn’t just possible—it can create stronger, more resilient communities.
Now, as wildfires tear through LA, I want to share the lessons we learned to help others rebuild with hope and purpose.
Here’s what made a difference for us: 🔹 Mortgage Relief – Many lenders offer disaster relief options like payment pauses or loan modifications. But you have to ask proactively, and be mindful of how long you stay in forbearance to avoid long-term credit issues. 🔹 Insurance Challenges – Even when insurance pays, it rarely covers the actual cost to completely rebuild. The process will be slow, but with patience and smart planning, you can move forward step by step. 🔹 Property Tax Relief – If your property is severely damaged, you may qualify for reassessment and potential tax refunds. It’s worth reaching out to your local tax office to explore options. These small wins add up when you’re trying to rebuild. 🔹 Partnering with Trusted Local Experts – Engaging experienced and reliable builders, architects, contractors, and surveyors is essential for a safe, efficient, and successful rebuilding process.
Recovery isn’t just about getting back to where you were—it’s about creating something better. Visit RestoreFMB.com for practical resources and tools that can be replicated in other communities to help LA through this process.
No one rebuilds alone. Shout out to permit professionals like Roy Hasson (just a friend in LA specializing in navigating permit process - this is not a business play we do not work together), who are dedicated to helping others and will likely develop similar resources to support their communities through the rebuilding process.
If you’re working on rebuilding efforts or have questions, feel free to connect with me—I’d love to collaborate. Together, we can help communities not just recover, but thrive. 💪
what's this have to do with new construction and development?
Each person who lost their property will need to rebuild their home. Having developed a majority of my career in CA the regulations and red tape for construction and development are intense.
For a lot of people they will ve so overwhelmed and in shock that they just want to walk away. However, there are ways to leverage SBA loans so they can buy a new primary and then look at their current property as an investment property and secure a DSCR loan to redevelop and rebuild. There's no reason to go through a disaster (I'm mid recovery myself) and not get the financial upside by becoming the developer and selling a finished product versus raw land.
If you have to completely rebuild, it’s a two year process at minimum. That’s if you are on top of everything don’t have to fight insurance for a full payout, have an architect you immediately start working with drafting plans and pulling permits, secure a construction loan, and hire a contractor who prioritizes your construction. (many contractors are going to bite off more than they can chew and communication will be key).
Realistically in California, it’s probably a 3 to 5 year process. Ideally the elected leaders can try to streamline the process like we did in FL by prioritizing the rebuilding permits & waiving permit fees. Ideally LADWP will prioritize the infrastructure repairs and new service requests to these properties as getting power service in LA can be 6-24 months without project prioritization.
There are codes that allow for more density or at min ADUs on SFH lots now. So the added cashflow to property owners it they are willing to become the developer and increase density that tactic could help more owners stay than could otherwise afford to stay.
Even with full coverage insurance you will not receive enough money to actually rebuild your home to today's building codes. Your mortgage company gets paid off first and then it's up to the homeowner to secure a construction loan to rebuild.
Another factor is that insurance coverage is only for the actual building cost to rebuild the structure. Many people have a mortgage on a property where the land value is much greater than the home (aka near the water) and insurance is not able to pay off your entire outstanding mortgage. Putting people in a position where they would need to sell or come up with an alternative strategy to pay off the mortgage balance prior to rebuilding.
Example 1: Buy property for 1.4M. Mortgage is for 1.1M. Insurance coverage for the structure covers up to 650K if a full payout is given. Delta after insurance payout = -450,000 still owed to the mortgage company after the insurance payout.
Example 2: Same scenario but FLOOD being the reason the structure was destroyed. In FL flood is typically the main cause along the coast. All flood policies have a max payout of 250K. Now your delta after insurance payout = -1.075M still owed to the mortgage company after the insurance payout.
My guess is that with the recent fire policy changes in CA there are likely caps on the fire payouts and many homeowners will be in the situation of example 2. There will also be many homeowners who have had the properties in the family through generations and own free and clear but now still need to obtain a construction loan to rebuild.
Typically, homeowners who lost everything are going to be in shock and not going to be in that mental headspace right away. However, if friends/family/community members can get them there, that’s going to give them the best possible financial outcome in a horrible situation.
If they are willing to become the developer and do want to move back after rebuilding, they can sell the property that they bought to live in temporarily for 3 to 5 years and most likely it went up in value and helps offset the new build costs of their current lot.
This is great info! I'm a land broker in Orange County, one hour from where the fires hit. I'm excited to see so many of my peers in tech, prefab construction, government policy, architecture, et al come together to try to help those who need it!
This is great info! I'm a land broker in Orange County, one hour from where the fires hit. I'm excited to see so many of my peers in tech, prefab construction, government policy, architecture, et al come together to try to help those who need it!
@Bryant Brislin it was the modular construction that was awesome to see on our end in FL. It took new construction costs from $800-2500 down to $325 / SF and instead of 2 years it can be done in 8-12 months (design, permits, fabrication, shipping, and erection) depending on how much homeowners customized the standard plans.
I have a feeling we'll see a LOT more progress like this out in LA!
