Florida's Hurricane Season

One of the biggest pains being a real estate investor in Florida is getting prepared for Hurricane Season. Due to the amount of work, we wait to the last minute before placing the hurricane shutters onto our rental property's windows.

As a result of waiting, problems are going to arise like:

Going to Home Depot.
Gathering Supplies, if available like:
- Make sure you buy gloves PLEASE. I can't count the times we have been hurt just because we don't have gloves on.
- Sun Block, Hats, Sunglasses, etc. Florida SUN is brutal. I find that the weather is beautiful just before the storm arrives. Sort of like "The calm before the storm."
- Buy Wasp spray! As you are installing shutters on the second floor of your investment property you will find out why you need the spray! The EASY way or the HARD way.
- A SPEED tool that allows you to secure the screws or wing nuts onto the shutter. You will thank me later!
- Ladders of various sizes. Buy at least one that adjusts to 40 feet made out of fiberglass, NOT ALUMINUM. Why? Hint: High tension electrical cables.
- Chain Saw and gas for cutting tree branches away from the property and for use after the storm.
Waiting in long checkout lines.
Loading tools and supplies onto your vehicle. Like getting your ladders onto the truck.
Driving to the property! OK for local properties but what if the asset is in another county? At one point I had several properties in Sarasota, Broward, Miami Beach and Miami-Dade.
Traffic – People getting out of the storm's path.
Finding HELP! Try installing these shutters alone! Now try it on 15 other properties. See what I mean.

You are going to work harder than you ever did before. You' ll be so tired that you want the storm to blow away your portfolio of rental properties so you won't have to ever do this again.

At last the second, the storm veer's and never arrives.

You see how crazy it can get?

Oh, by the way, if for some reason you didn't get the shutters up on time and there is damage as a result of the storm, the insurance company will not pay. Just thought I would mention that!

FEMA Hurricane Preparedness Widget

One of the reason I was inspired to write this post, I found a little widget from FEMA that provides you information about getting prepared for the hurricane season or any other disaster. I have installed this widget on all my sites to help my readers make informed decisions. See the widget sample below.

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