Will People Be Less Apt to Help With the Rebuilding after the LA Fires

[barkley]

Have you ever read anything about Centralia, Pennsylvania? It was featured in National Geographic.

I thought of that when this issue came up locally. I don't know what's going to happen but it will be interesting b/c the abandoned landfill is on state owned land and was supposed to be highly regulated as far as what was put into it back in the day. the way all 'the powers that be' are tiptoeing around how to extinguish it and the involvement of the specific health and safety agencies lead most to believe that the regulations were not followed and could lead to lawsuits from impacted adjacent property owners.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I have friends who live near the Eaton fire. They are safe and their neighbourhood has not been in an evacuation zone. They had the 80mph Santa winds and theres a lot of trees down and debris in their neighbourhood. They have been volunteering at San Gabriel Valley Humane Society which is is a private, non-profit shelter who provide animal control services, low-cost clinic services and animal adoption services. They were not directly impacted by the fires other than clean up efforts from extreme winds. They are fully operational, open for adoptions, and coordinating with other local shelters to deal with the devastating fires. They are accepting any and all donations for pets.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I've read a bunch of stories, including in the Wall Street Journal about people who bought in these areas decades ago, and while I'm sure most of them are likely considered "wealthy" by many Americans, a lot of them have a large portion of their net worth tied up in these homes that have appreciated astronomically over the years.

I would imagine many will get some assistance in the short term with food and some clothing, but the hardest (and longest) part of this tragedy is ahead of them. I would imagine that many of them are underinsured with respect to rebuilding a new home. And I think that they would also be in for a big increase in property taxes if they are reassessed.

I was wondering how it works if your home is burned down and you decide to take the insurance payout and move? I would imagine that a lot of these folks are going to end up in that boat unfortunately.

 

[xdan0920]

I was wondering how it works if your home is burned down and you decide to take the insurance payout and move? I would imagine that a lot of these folks are going to end up in that boat unfortunately.

....

 

[xdan0920]

If I read correctly, her campaign raised almost 60 million dollars for Hawaii. She could have sat back and did nothing, but she chose to utilize her celebrity status for the greater good.

Maui fires were a blueprint. Wonder where that money eventually landed.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was wondering how it works if your home is burned down and you decide to take the insurance payout and move? I would imagine that a lot of these folks are going to end up in that boat unfortunately.

If you don't rebuild on the same plot of land the norm is to provide you with ACV (actual cash value) of the home and I've seen some policies where people have taken that (be it due to a fire, a tornado, etc). Homes are typically insured at Replacement Cost Value and if you aren't replacing it on the same plot of land you don't get that if that is how the insurance company is filed with the state's Department of Insurance. That is also common on things like repairs for example roofs, an insurance company will typically give you ACV for the roof repairs and then disperse the remainder of what would have been the replacement cost value once you show the work has been completed.

Depending on the state, home type, insurance product, etc you can insure your home for under the replacement cost value up to a certain point (I think the limit I saw was up to 80% for the insurance company I worked for) which would make you underinsured by the insurance company's viewpoint. It was a common enough tactic I saw agents do in order to lower an insured's policy premium but often I would caution to have the agent tell the insured this means they are not going to get replacement cost value for the home as that typically requires you to be insured at least 100% of what the insurance company values the Dwelling at. Some would add additional coverage such as 25%-50% of the Dwelling on top of it if they felt the insurance company was undervaluing the replacement cost.

Underinsured with respects to how layman people tend to think about it is your home isn't adequately insured for the changing of the times. It's typically recommended you review your coverage with your agent every renewal (at the very least every couple of years). In addition, when you do remodels, additions, finishing of unfinished areas, etc that all impacts how much your home can cost to rebuild.

For me personally we keep an inflation guard on our policies which will bump up the coverage regardless of what's going on to keep up with inflation. A few years back our insurance company raised our Dwelling coverage from $690K to $813K (not wholly due to the inflation guard though), I can't sell my home for that much but I can believe it would cost a pretty penny to replace it. Presently it's at $833K.

 

[citruscurtis]

A spokesman in Phoenix is asking residents to volunteer their empty homes... here in Yuma 15 miles East of the Urban core is a massive community that averages 4 empty dwellings per "California block"...if there is a problem then federal government needs to declare eminent domain and Open up these abandoned dwellings

 

[Minnie1222]

I was wondering how it works if your home is burned down and you decide to take the insurance payout and move? I would imagine that a lot of these folks are going to end up in that boat unfortunately.

One of our houses had a roof damage and the insurance offered a payout that was about 5% of the total cost. FIVE. We had to hire a public adjuster (private insurance professionals who work with the policy holders) to fight with the insurance company. We were very fortunate to have the funds to fix the damage during the battle. I think it took 4 years to get the reimbursement.

 

[easyas123]

A spokesman in Phoenix is asking residents to volunteer their empty homes... here in Yuma 15 miles East of the Urban core is a massive community that averages 4 empty dwellings per "California block"...if there is a problem then federal government needs to declare eminent domain and Open up these abandoned dwellings

Empty & Abandoned are two very different things, and I can not imagine this happening.

This spokesman in Phoenix - on what entities behalf does he speak for encouraging volunteers to offer up their empty homes?

 

[citruscurtis]

Empty & Abandoned are two very different things, and I can not imagine this happening.

This spokesman in Phoenix - on what entities behalf does he speak for encouraging volunteers to offer up their empty homes?

Didn't catch the information on who he was but it was a lengthy conversation ... Phoenix did a great job hosting the game and team footed the bill

 

[citruscurtis]

The problem with abandoned properties here in Yuma is the tax laws. A process that is years long before auction block. But the federal government can come and claim those homes now ... eminent domain is a dangerous tool...as 50 business here in Yuma found out...10 days to move off the property ... federal government needs the land

 

[marthachick]

We live in the foothills of North Carolina. We still have people on our mountains living in tents with single digit temperatures or less and snow/ice. Our folks have not received the help they were promised. Most of our area citizens are sending our money there. Not that the LA people don’t need help. We are helping home folks first.

 

[LKing]

Many people were living in homes from the 1950's and 1960's that were passed down and were probably not insured even close to what it will cost to rebuild. A house a parent or grandparent paid 100K for will likely cost 10x that to rebuild.

I don't know how familiar you are with the area.

The Altadena home my friends lost was built in 1931.

In 1960, my parents paid $13K for their 1600 sq ft home (5500 sq ft lot) in a Los Angeles suburb. It is worth $1.5M today.

 

[barkley]

I don't know how familiar you are with the area.

The Altadena home my friends lost was built in 1931.

In 1960, my parents paid $13K for their 1600 sq ft home in a Los Angeles suburb. It is worth $1.5M today.

growing up in northern California we visited family in southern California multiple times a year during my childhood in the 60's and 70's. they lived in a variety of areas but I still remember the particular styles of the neighborhoods and homes (mostly older and built at least 20 years prior, no more than maybe 1200 sq feet at most). I am just FLOORED when I watch the most recent seasons of house flipping shows filmed in those communities, the prices these houses in now deplorable condition go for is GUTTING. the prices after the flippers throw the bare bones of renovations and repairs into is mind blowing.

 

[Pink Partridge]

We live in the foothills of North Carolina. We still have people on our mountains living in tents with single digit temperatures or less and snow/ice. Our folks have not received the help they were promised. Most of our area citizens are sending our money there. Not that the LA people don’t need help. We are helping home folks first.

I understand. It is very sad that there are still displaced people in NC.

 

[Minnie1222]

Not that the LA people don’t need help. We are helping home folks first.

You can donate to the locals and spare a few dollars for California.

 

[cabanafrau]

You can donate to the locals and spare a few dollars for California.

How is it that you are privy to someone else's wallet? For that matter how do you speak with authority about what someone else can or should do?

I see no problem with somebody willing to give and choosing to support locally where people are clearly in need and have been for a pretty significant period of time, with needs that may be ongoing for an indeterminate amount of time going forward. No doubt there are a lot of people who were moved to give in the wake of the hurricane and did so to the best of their ability, with some probably sacrificing to do so. They may be looking at this disaster with horror and compassion and simply not have the excess to give.

 

[Minnie1222]

How is it that you are privy to someone else's wallet? For that matter how do you speak with authority about what someone else can or should do?

I see no problem with somebody willing to give and choosing to support locally where people are clearly in need and have been for a pretty significant period of time, with needs that may be ongoing for an indeterminate amount of time going forward. No doubt there are a lot of people who were moved to give in the wake of the hurricane and did so to the best of their ability, with some probably sacrificing to do so. They may be looking at this disaster with horror and compassion and simply not have the excess to give.

It doesn't have to be an additional financial strain. If someone were willing to give $10, they can still gift $9 to their charity and spare $1 for California. It was only a suggestion for the people who wanted to give, not for the people who had no intentions of giving but simply used the disaster as a platform to highlight other issues.

 

[cabanafrau]

It doesn't have to be an additional financial strain. If someone were willing to give $10, they can still gift $9 to their charity and spare $1 for California. It was only a suggestion for the people who wanted to give, not for the people who had no intentions of giving but simply used the disaster as a platform to highlight other issues.

If someone already gave what they could for the hurricane or another area of need (there's never a shortage of need unfortunately) they may not have the means to give more, especially if what they had to give was $10.

The fires are absolutely a big area of critical need. But unfortunately for some people they may have already allocated what they can give elsewhere. Whether or not you agree with their choice or see it differently is neither here nor there. Bottom line is people in need are people in need, no matter which crisis is top of the flag pole in the media on a given day. No doubt every hand reaching out with help is appreciated by the person on the receiving end.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Homes are insured not the land they are on

I don't know how familiar you are with the area.

The Altadena home my friends lost was built in 1931.

In 1960, my parents paid $13K for their 1600 sq ft home (5500 sq ft lot) in a Los Angeles suburb. It is worth $1.5M today.

I am so sorry that your friends lost their home. It is heartbreaking.

DH's cousin has a home in Santa Monica which survived. She has lived in that home for decades.

Her parents had a home on the border of BH's that she had to sell about 10 years ago after they passed. He was in the movie industry on the same lot as Walt, though the house was modest. I would never ask what it was sold for, but I suspect it was substantial.

I hope people who lost homes had adequate and up to date insurance on their homes. It will be a long road to recovery.