ROGERS, Ark. — It's one thing to make repairs to your home, but what about making repairs to your home that you were planning to sell? Many residents are facing this reality as severe storms swept through Benton County and damaged and destroyed hundreds of homes on May 26.
"They're not going to be able to sell until they get those repairs done," said Jeremy Cupp, Executive Broker for Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette in Rogers. "You're gonna see a lot of transactions get terminated."
Cupp said he has a few clients working through this right now, but everyone's situation is different.
"I've got a client who was in the in the heavy path and we're having to postpone closing. So a lot of folks are having to do that or terminate closing altogether," Cupp said. "We're going to get with the insurance company this weekend. And we're going to find out what they're going to do and make sure the seller says no matter what they're taking care of all the repairs, to make sure it was as if it was before the storm."
Cupp says that if you have a damaged house on the market, make sure to check with insurance and ask others for advice who have been through a similar situation.
"Most buyers are going to want to wait until the repairs have been completed or you negotiate something prior to closing that the repairs get completed after closing, or that they get a credit to cover some of the repairs. It just depends on the extents of the damages," Cupp explained.
And on the other hand, some are without homes they were planning to sell completely.
"There are some that aren't going to be able to close it all because they're completely destroyed," Cupp said. "It could be months before they find out what they can do with their property."
There's no doubt Northwest Arkansas is growing rapidly, and people are looking for houses, but storm damage may leave the area with a few less options now.
"It was difficult before this storm, it just got I feel like a little more difficult," said George Brace, Managing Broker for Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette. "We don't have a lot of inventory here; we still have thousands of people moving in. And it's hard to catch up with that."
Brace said the next few weeks will be challenging, but their realtors are ready.
"We're going to look real closely at how that affects our inventory in the next few weeks about houses for sale and what's going to have to come off the market for a few months or maybe a year," Brace said. "But boy, it's going to be tough for the next several weeks I think."
They've been going to damaged neighborhoods and encouraging residents to apply for Relators Relief Foundation grant which aims to provide funds to financial housing assistance to the public after disasters.
"You're just dealing with what everybody's going through, taking in applications, and hearing their story. And some of them are pretty rough and they're in the headspace where they can't think very well either," Cupp said. "Luckily, we've got a community here that has been so amazing. And neighbors have been taking care of neighbors."
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