SAN DIEGO — When some people have lost everything in last week's flood, others are seeing it as an opportunity to capitalize on the disaster. Neighbors in Southcrest and Mountain View have been approached by house flippers going door-to-door with lowball cash offers for their homes.
“No, it’s not right, man. Respect us. We lost a lot of stuff,” said Gerardo Hernandez, who encountered two men on Beta Street Tuesday, the day after the flood, looking to buy homes for cash.
“I told him, ‘What? What are you guys doing here? Don’t you see what we just went through and you guys are already offering to buy homes?’”
Hernandez told CBS 8 that apparently the two men made a lowball offer to his neighbor.
“$100,000, that’s what they were offering her and it’s worth more than that. They were offering $100,000 to neighbors,” said Hernandez. “It’s not right, it’s not right what they were doing Tuesday after the flood. They were out here in the morning, couldn’t believe it.”
Neighbors told CBS 8 that home prices in the area range from $600,000 to $700,000 dollars, a far cry from some of the offers being made. Many feel it’s an insensitive tactic, if not outright predatory.
“If I had the authority, I would stop them. I would kick them out of the neighborhood,” said Ramon De La Mora, who lives nearby. “It is way too soon. It seems to me like it’s abuse because if I didn’t have insurance and they came and offered me something, I might take it.”
President of the San Diego Association of Realtors, Spencer Lugash, wants to warn people to avoid making rash decisions to sell their homes.
“People who want to flip homes, it’s not an inherently bad thing. That provides a lot of benefit to people who need a quick sale or want quick cash,” said Lugash. “But of course, we never want people taking advantage of any type of situation, whether it’s a natural disaster like these floods or somebody who may be suffering from a foreclosure issue.”
Meanwhile, neighbors on 42nd Street in Mountain View also find these kinds of homebuying tactics by flippers to be distasteful this soon after a flood disaster.
“At least let the dust settle a little bit before you come try to take advantage,” said Martin Aguilar, who has lived on 42nd Street for two years.
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