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John Makely / NBC News
The Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, where more than 100 homes burned when Superstorm Sandy hit.
Scroll to bottom of story to see a 360 degree panorama of the fire zone.
BREEZY POINT, N.Y. -- This private community, which has fended off previous existential threats, is now facing its “greatest historical challenge” as a result of Superstorm Sandy, with some residents questioning whether they can afford to rebuild and others wondering if the resurrected beachside community will bear any resemblance to its bucolic former self.
A halting first step on what figures to be a long road back took place Thursday evening, when the Breezy Point Cooperative Inc. Board held its first post-Sandy shareholders meeting at a Catholic high school in Brooklyn.
More than 1,000 residents of the community founded by Irish immigrants around the turn of the 20th century packed the meeting, which was closed to the media and members of the general public.
According to residents who attended, the board discussed applications for emergency Small Business Administration loans, the status of efforts to restore various utilities, demolitions and a disaster recovery fund, planned infrastructure improvements and other topics.
But some of those interviewed as they left said that their biggest concerns weren’t addressed.
“In the long run, it seems like things are going to take a lot of time,” said Rob Moran, a 38-year-old construction worker who attended with his wife, Carinne Bach. “A lot of questions are still up in the air right now.”
Bob Esposito, a former police officer whose home sustained water damage, said he was pleased to hear about infrastructure improvements, but wished the board had at least touched on the bigger issues that are weighing on residents’ minds.
“They were prepared to give a lot of information out, which we all needed to hear, but I think they are very reluctant on answering the hard-core questions,” he said.
Sandy smacked into the village on the southeastern tip of the city’s Rockaway peninsula the night of Oct. 29, unleashing floodwaters that surged through the bungalows and bigger, newer homes, tearing some of the former off their foundations. The flooding also may have sparked a fire that burned down more than 100 of the 2,800 homes in Breezy Point.
John Makely / NBC News
Heavily damaged homes along Oceanside Drive in Breezy Point, N.Y.
The tight-knit community, home to many generations of numerous families, is only beginning to grapple with the wide-ranging consequences. Debris is slowly being cleared and power restored, but the water system is still shut down and demolition of the roughly 200 homes that sustained the worst damage -- including what remains of those in the fire zone -- has yet to begin.
Breezy Point, which was largely self-sufficient before the storm, is receiving assistance from the city as it attempts to jump-start its recovery. But officials and residents acknowledge that they have only begun to regroup.
Cooperative board Chairman Joseph Lynch declined an interview request from NBC News to discuss the current situation, but in an online statement to shareholders posted Nov. 16 he wrote, “This storm and its destruction have presented our Cooperative its greatest historical challenge, which will take time to overcome.”
In a later message posted just before Thanksgiving, he said that “the economic challenge for some in this regard will be a true test and hardship,” before ending on an optimistic note:
“In spite of this very serious setback I am confident that our Cooperative will also continue to grow, evolve, and prosper as it has over the past fifty-two years,” he said. “We also have no other choice.”
But other community members, including at least one co-op board member, are less sanguine about the prospects of the largely middle-class neighborhood, home to many firefighters, police officers and sanitation workers.
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid it may cause some people to leave the community,” said Marty Ingram, fire chief of the Point Breeze volunteer firefighters and a member of the co-op board, though stressing that he was speaking only for himself. “I hope it doesn’t. But it’s going to have an impact.”
Ingram said the community would pull together and he believed would offer some “quiet” financial aid to help people who can’t otherwise afford to rebuild.
Mary Elizabeth Smith, a lifelong resident and author of “A History of Breezy Point,” noted that the community, which started out as more of a summer getaway spot for working-class families and slowly morphed into a charming residential enclave with intimate sand lanes running between homes, has proven remarkably resilient over the years.
Courtesy of Mary Quinn
Mary Quinn, now 59, stands with her parents and older brothers as a little girl in Breezy Point in front of their bungalow, which was the typical type of housing in the community's earlier days. Quinn's family moved to the community full time in the early 1960s. She rebuilt the house in 1994.
The Breezy Point Cooperative was created in 1960 when residents learned that the 800-acres on which their homes stood had been quietly sold to a developer interested in building seaside high-rises. A group of homeowners went door-to-door collecting $500 from each family to raise an initial $75,000 defense fund, she said, and the group was ultimately able to buy back 400 acres for $12 million.
The co-op has been an oasis of economic stability in the decades since, paying off its communal mortgage years ago. That prosperity was in part due to the board’s initial ban on mortgage loans -- a requirement that was eventually relaxed to allow buyers to put 50 percent down on a home and finance the remainder. As a result, Ingram said that not a single Breezy Point home was foreclosed on during the housing crisis that erupted in 2008.
Smith said the credit belongs “to our ancestors … (who) really took a major chance, put up money in a belief in something that did not occur anywhere else in the United States: a community of houses that owned the land underneath them.”
The city briefly considered making Breezy Point a public park in 1962, but protests from residents and the developer scotched that effort. Then, after the National Park Service took title to land to the west and east after the same developer ran into financial problems, the cooperative went to federal court to battle with its new neighbor over ownership of newly formed sand flats, winning the rights to the land in 1982.
“A lot of people who live there today have no idea of the battles that were fought to get this property,” said Smith, 62, who was about 9 when the fight began to save Breezy Point, “and that’s why people really don’t want to leave the place. I’m certainly one of them.”
Moran and Bach are among the residents hoping they can rebuild their bungalow, which may have to be demolished.
The home, which was built by Bach’s deceased father, was inundated by a couple of feet of raw sewage and water, has a slight tilt and apparently some problems with the foundation. Though city inspectors indicated in two initial inspections that they should be able to rebuild, the couple fears it needs more than a repair and they may have to start anew.
John Makely / NBC News
Rob Moran, 38, cleans out the flooded basement of his home in Breezy Point, N.Y., on Dec. 1, 2012. Moran and his wife Carinne Bach, 38, are asking building inspectors to re-assess their home, which they fear may not be safe to live in.
With a Dec. 31 deadline set to apply for a free demolition provided by the city, they had hoped to learn at Thursday’s co-op board meeting how the building codes might change as a result of Sandy’s incursion, especially whether rebuilt homes might need to be elevated to lessen the likelihood of future flooding. But they left empty-handed.
“We got a little information, but I’m sure not quite as much as everybody had hoped,” said Bach, 38, a dance and fitness instructor who is several months pregnant. “I don’t think it’s for a lack of trying. I just think there’s so much red tape and so much unknown.”
“As far as where we’re to go from here, there’s not a clear road map,” she added.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hinted on Thursday that building code changes should be expected for waterfront areas, noting that “we can’t just rebuild what was there and hope for the best.”
John Makely / NBC News
A FEMA inspector works amid the burned homes in Breezy Point.
“As you can see, the yardstick has changed -- and so must we,” he added. “FEMA is currently in the process of updating their (flood) maps -- and those maps will guide us in setting new construction requirements.”
If new, more-stringent building requirements are put in place, many fear the expense will drive out some longtime residents, particularly the elderly and families that have kept summer or part-time homes -- about 40 percent of the residences -- there for decades.
Laurie Cerra is struggling to keep the small green bungalow that had been in her family for about 85 years. She swept the floors, filled garbage bags and struggled to hold back tears last week as volunteers used crowbars to rip down the walls. The home received a red card -- meaning it was unsafe to enter -- from inspectors, but she was doing the work in a bid to save the damaged foundation.
“I’m trying to separate myself from this, I really am. I spent every summer here … growing up. I’m really hoping I can repair the foundation,” said Cerra, 54, a dietitian from Greenfield Township, Pa.
But because she can’t get coverage from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which doesn’t provide emergency aid on second homes, and has not heard from her homeowners' insurance for wind damage coverage in three weeks, she can’t afford to rebuild in the short term.
John Makely / NBC News
Laurie Cerra, a registered dietitian from Pennsylvania, stands in the living room of her Breezy Point, N.Y., home on Dec. 1, 2012, as volunteers help her remove debris. Cerra is hoping she can save the damaged foundation and rebuild the home, which has been in her family for about 85 years.
“Maybe in, I don’t know, three or four years, if I get (the) foundation, then I can do it myself. I can try and do sheetrock myself,” she said. “At this point, no, it’s just going to be out of my savings account to rebuild.”
The co-op board is implicitly acknowledging the financial threat. In a statement posted online on Saturday, it said Breezy Point homeowners can now borrow, over the next two years, up to 80 percent of their home’s appraised value, or up to $500,000, to repair or replace their properties.
It also waived one part of the “carrying charges” -- monthly fees that include garbage collection, road and building maintenance, property tax and security services -- for the owners of about 300 homes that were destroyed or significantly damaged.
Lynch, the co-op board chairman, had upset some residents by reminding them that it is “really important” that shareholders continue to pay the fees “as our corporation will face real financial challenges and pressure in the immediate future.”
Lifelong resident Kim Dillon was among those who felt the tone was wrong so soon after the disaster.
“Our lives are in disarray and I don’t think their first contact with us should have been … ‘we’re still expecting maintenance fees’ when there’s people that don’t have houses,” said Dillon, 43, whose family is one of two that have moved back onto their block, even though there is still no running water.
But Dillon said her neighbors, who were like family, would be back, though she acknowledged her hometown would change as a result of the devastation.
“It’s going to be sad to see the bungalows gone, because that was like old Breezy Point,” she said, referring to the area known as “the wedge,” where the six-alarm fire burned so hot that stormy night. “I don’t think there’s going to be many -- if any -- left.”
Follow this link to view the panoramic of Breezy Point full-screen.
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Tens of thousands of volunteers from across the nation are needed on this one. It looks worse than Katrina. Nothing seems salvageable. It's very daunting.
What if all the TV shows for home improvement, cooking (kitchen ware, etc.) volunteered as well as shows with set designers. Even better put up an official website for the rebuilding of Breezy Point. A map of the U.S. where people click on their state, then a lot with a house comes up. The algorithm can put the lot needing the most first and so on so that each visitor gets a different lot to help.
Anyone will be able to donate something, a house plant or more to their lot. The lot also shows the progress of what has been completed. Volunteers can choose to have their name attached or remain anonymous.
It'll take lots and lots of people adding something big and small to help rebuild this family community of first responders. These responders gain so much experience that their expertise is usually called upon throughout our country so that makes them out first responders as well.
Ater Katrina they rebuilt homes in the flood plain, behind the levy's... Setting the American tax payer up for another financial disaster, and putting peoples lives in danger... Homes should never be built directly behind levy's at a level below the water line. The practice is ignorant and dangerous.
Now Sandy victim's want to do the same thing... Are we destined to repeat terrible mistakes made in the past over again, just because the Government is afraid to say, NO! You cannot rebuild your home in a 30 year flood plain, people will die if you do. It may not be tomorrow, but it will happen.
Its common sense which people do not have here. Unless you have an special engineered home that can withstand a category 5 then its crazy to put up a house buildt with matchsticks. So where are the brightest minds in this country to start the project. Frankly there a lot of unpopulated space in the middle of this country that people could be living on.
Jackie -
It's easier than you think to build a house that will withstand cat 5 hurricanes and even tornadoes. The thing is that many older homes have not been built to that standard - and the people living in them do not have the resources to build to the new standards or to relocate.
I strongly recommend each of you in Breezy Point give Mr. Obama a call and ask for help. After all, your part of the country voted for him over Obama by around 2:1. I am sure he will be glad to help you out.
Well well well I thought that this was all taken care of from the lord almighty himself. By his own words, the president himself stated only days after the deluge that all has been take care of and all are back to normal...... Hmmm So if that is already done, why is there thosands of people Still in the streets????????????? I pity those of you that believes this pompous ass and what he keeps shoveling out. This bastard will say anything to get what he wants. ANYTHING, and do anything also.
I think the link title to this article would be better if it said "Should" Breezy point be re-built. As Long Isl is just glacier spit from back in the day and the damage it incurs along the coast is an endless cycle which will just repeat time after time....... Plow it under, plan trees and let nature do what it does. The folly of controlling nature should be realized and appreciated.
Another pain in the terrorists who attacked us on 9.11.01 and a boost of moral for those affected by the hurricane.
New York, New York by Frank Sinatra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlJl1LfDP4
"Let's get it done baby"
Don't worry Obama will tax you evil 1%'s. Forward !
'Don't remember anyone wanting to bail out Alabama, and Georgia and Arkansas, and Oklahoma, etc. from the devastation of tornadoes. Breezy point ain't squat campared to the total devastation of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham areas. I guess it's just more trendy!
Pack it up. Any money set aside for rebuilding should be spent on helping people relocate. Plow it all under and let nature take it back.
the better question is"Should it?" I have some news for those that think this is a problem that's going to be solved by throwing a lot of (generally, someone else's) money at it; YOU CAN'T BEAT MOTHER NATURE!
Give this land back to the People as a natural seashore, compensate those poor unfortunates that weren't smart enough to not build in a flood zone, and call it a day.
We have spent trillions on the "war on poverty" over the past 65 years and have helped every other diaster victim in the past 75 years so why should we now turn our backs on the one people who almost never ask for handouts,the taxpayer.FEMA should bring in trailers.The Federal government should pass a law, temerarily allowing these floks to remove all debri and reconstruct their properties and give them a two year federal and state tax break.Hell,the federal government has sponsered several generations of hundreds of thousands families who have been on welfare.It is no different than paying rent for these waste of skin people than it is for the current people in need.At least the current bunch are taxpayers and are not asking for anything for free.No,they are considered above middle class because they live near water.Obama is going to let them sink in the waste created by this storm and do nothing to help.
Sure are a lot of "shoulds" in your post.....what are waste of skin people? Obama going to let them sink in the waste created? Oh, you have have inside information, right?
Where are all the left winf libturds who started protesting about the "delayed" federal response three days after Katrina hit?Obama promised you would be helped and now you can't even get FEMA to show up.Where are the NY Times articles,the Newsweek articles showing the outrage from vertually no federal response?Come on ,lefties,lets march,protest the admininstrations lies and obfuscations! Oh that's right,protests and marching are for the other party.Where's Code Pink and their constant protest of the war in Afghanistan when Bush was preisdent?At least in a couple of days,Bush had FEMA on site handing out voucher for free money to people who didn't even own property and to people who didn't even live in NO at the time Katrina hit.I was in Louisiana last year.I was in a town in LA about 150 miles from New Orleans and there were still so many Katrina "victims" in motels the price for room was as high as the prices were one year after Katrina.The motels(there aren't many) are loaded with rifraf that cannot be evicted and who are still recieving money for being dislocated.But ,as someone else noticed in this thread,the people who need help now, are white,so they can expect nothing or no help from this administration.
It's great to see you so upset! You've got a lot of suffering left to do, boy!
You're gonna jump like a fish on a hook for the next four years, bitching and moaning like this every day, huh? Cool!!!
Let's see a show of hands... how many of you voted for obama?
Ya, that's a lot. So do like those in that other destroyed city (Detroit) did and tell obama you want your bacon now!. Oh, well, not 'right now' ...he's golfing, but maybe you can catch hime before he goes to Hawaii. But anyway rest assured that he's always thinking of you.
it will never be the same. this property can revenue more taxes if you get rid of the moderate income homes and build richy rich condos , G8 planned urban renewal
If they do build then they need to get the best engineers to build homes on stilts that are earthquake resistance and can withstand a category 5 hurricane. But putting matchsticks up for homes is not the answer.
I think its time for people to think about coming inland and establsihing a life because if the oceans continues to rise and tropical storm could do a lot of damage. I don't think its wise to be close to any shore. As for New York why does everyone need to be crammed up on each other anyway. With all the affordable technology people can live anywhere and work. Not only will New York will continue to have floods but all this fracking is going to cause more earthquakes on the eastern side. Its common sense just don't keep building in the same spot and expect a different outcome.
The good thing is ,four years isn't really that long, to rebuild your life and expect some help from your goverment.The bad news is you elected him and now have to wait for 4 years to get any substantive assistence.Happy voting!
Keep suffering, loser!
Every time I start to get tired of gloating and rubbing it in, another one of you comes along and makes it fun again!
Four more years, loser, then you can gripe about Hillary. Eat your heart out. Take some grapefruit juice for that ulcer. Have your stroke now, why wait four years? ;-)
Dear Friends:
I call unto all accountants and financial planners and those that have helped state, federal and county and cities put together tax allowances, rebates, tax credits and tax credits for investors to assist in this vast clean up and progress into the future. It will happen, but the quicker the better? Colleges, Scholars?
As an example continue the tax credits and improve those for disaster relief area for those with windows, doors, roofs, siding, sun rooms, electrical, flooring, railings, outside rooms and carpeting, cabinets and any others. Are there rebates manufacturers we need them and so too Sandy and all other areas of relief. Loans? Awareness of the allowable above the maximum loan amounts for solar and alternative heating or energy efficient. Corporations across the USA can the utilities sell from one city or state to another citizens products of the above and finance them and deliver and arrange for safe installation? How about products for the disabled and handicapped? Some are you know? Any way to freeze values from loss for a time period and be sure that the appraisal for loans takes in consideration of the improvements when completed.
How about new construction loans or the 1031 exchange these and tax laws for those able to afford buying a few and fixing them up. Some one like the income level of Bill Gates?
FHA programs for construction loans that allow someone to include the cost of staying in a hotel in the loan amount during construction. Are these allowed when dealing with insurance?
How about investors allowed to invest and take depreciation? Is this allowed or absorbing the loss in any way, where they need a tax write off?
Can Congress and State personnel be creative? Take out the old, tear down the old and bring in the new. It will get better. Now is the time to donate where you can and please no excess from the food banks during the Holidays they have so many to feed. So many to help!
A reminder that many charities of the Roman Catholic Church have food banks, provide medical treatment and many other social services as well as those of the government and other religious faiths. But the times are economically challenged and America has met these challenges many times during our history as a nation. But we need your help! The Catholic Church is first in religion not just these other entities.
Amen.
Ideas please send them to the government representatives and remind them that election again is now less than two years away. Also talk about them in all languages. Thank you.
Our tax dollars at work. Donations are Tax deductable as well. They still are right in the USA? Amen.
Communities on the ocean only a few feet above sea level will eventually flood. It is only a matter of time. Those who choose to live in flood prone areas need to understand the risk and buy flood insurance in addition to their regular insurance policies.
Our government should stop ALL foreign aid and reallocate the resources to those slammed by Hurricane Sandy. This should not be done as handout because if you choose to live on the water, it's your responsibility to figure out how to rebuild. The gov't. should provide low interest loans of 1.5 to 2 percent to help those rebuild. There has to be new codes, such as in Florida which will allow homes to withstand Cat 4-5 hurricanes. If this cannot be done because of close proximity to the water, then you simply do not rebuild. No one knows for sure if another hurricane is around the corner, so building it properly is the only way to go.
I believe that low interest loans are already part of what the federal government provides as part of disaster relief.
Thanks for the info, I did not realize this.
Lesson #1. If you own a home. No matter if that home is located near water or not. You should be required to get flood insurance. Regular homeowners insurance does not cover floods. A flood can even be you overflowed your bathtub. A flood can be your roof blew off during a storm and it poured rain into your attic bleeding through and damaging your possessions. It really makes me wonder when people post their flood damaged home on Facebook and having a fit because their homeowners insurance will only cover wind damage. They are having a fit because they say they are "fully insured". Really? Have you read your homeowners policy? Did you ever know exactly what was and what wasn't covered? Lesson #2. If you own a home. If you live near water. You can expect at some point to get a storm that will: a) Blow you house down; b) Flood. Lesson #3. Refer to previous lessons. I feel really bad for these people. But, it does seem that these catastrophic once in a century storms are coming every year!! There does come a point where personal responsibility kicks in. I don't mind helping. I'm not going to miss the $10.00 donation. I pray everyday that these people will be made whole again. But, for Pete's sake take some proactive steps so that when it does happen, and it will happen. You are really fully covered.
It must be wonderful living near the ocean, but like all things good it comes with a price. Sandy happened, it will happen again, and maybe it is time to think about enjoying the ocean from a safe distance's drive, not from your yard. If you choose to build there, then you should have lots of money set aside to rebuild.
I agree wholeheartedly.
People were forewarned. Hurricanes are unpredictable especially when there is a high pressure area coming from Iceland that kept it going northward instead of turning like it usually does. Put quite simply, Hurricane Sandy had nowhere to go. I feel for the people over there but the U.S. Government can't stop a hurricane from slamming into the U.S.. Even if you did leave as ordered, DID YOU TURN YOUR LIGHTS AND GAS OFF BEFORE LEAVING? Someone didn't, like a stupid idiot. Blame that person. Not the President or FEMA. The other aspect too. Insurance companies are sitting on their haunches not the government.
Fire was started by a downed transformer falling on a home, LIPA did not shut off power grid. National Grid did not shut off gas service. Stop Blaming the Victims! FEMA administers all flood insurance policies. It took 35 days for an inspector just to show-up. Where has President Obama been, wait he flew over a month ago, and held a press conference. His reaction is a disgrace. Nobody can stop a hurricane, but how about a better response in the aftermath from FEMA , this is the reason they exist, right! Thank God for all the volunteers who came in and helped. Breezy Point will be back, better than ever. BTW, I am well insured(have bills to prove it), flood, homeowner, comprehensive automobile and it still a very difficult rebuilding process.
Don't want to hear about it anymore - we all have problems and yes, some of us have problems even worse than these people and guess what - obama or anybody else up there in washington ain't gonna do crap to help out. I'm tired of everybody else's problems - I want my problems to go away.
Have you tried alcohol, drugs or suicide?
god: please don't tell me you answer phones at the help hot lines.
Thats a real pathetic reply. People all over the world are deaing with their own problems, and you come up with this? We all have problems, M, so stay strong.
No, Rational, I'm just making suggestions.
You've heard of free will, right? Whenever someone's on the edge, Satan, the angels and I always start a betting pool to see which way they'll go, winner takes all. I've won a hell of a lot of money betting on suicide over the years.
Think about it though. What if a really depressed person was just kind of reaching out, whether through a hotline or newsvine, and you came up with that suggestion. Think of the bad karma if someone took it as an inspired answer to an internal quandary.
Then they should stay off Newsvine.
Anyone who would be "inspired" by such a thing doesn't need me, or anyone else, to help them. People are responsible for their own actions, and I'm not going to feel guilty for speaking my mind, even if it's tasteless.
He doesn't want to hear about it... poor boy! He's tired of it... poor boy! Yet he's here taking the time to bitch about it. That's his choice, too.
And its your choice to make the person feel like they don't count.
God you keep being an @!$%# and you'll get drummed out of the obama ass suckers club!
god-less: I think your full of crap because I've never seen pools or websites where you bet on people committing suicide. In order to win a lot of money over the years, which you claim,there has to be a pretty big sized list of candidates, and they must commit suicide in a particular time frame or you would lose. You do have a right to promote your tasteless nonsense though.
I don't want to sound crass or anything but when "Mother Nature" decides to hit whomever and wherever, there is nothing that any Government agency can do to change the fact that damage will be done, people will lose their lives, and the damage that is done is nobodys fault except "Mother Nature". No amount of planning can change what will be done.
I live in SouthEast Georgia and because we live in a "low" area we are required to have flood insurance just in case. "Mother Nature" does not know the color of your skin, religeon, ethnicity. sexual orientation or anything else. Parts of New Orleans are BELOW sea level! WTF! S@*T happens!!!
Pull up the boot straps and get to work or get the hell out. "That which does not kill you will only make you stronger!"
I would love to live in this location, but only if I could afford it. I might have a vacation home here with my primary residence a little safer inland. About the closest I can come is a home near the river, and even that area, not mine, but some homes, got flooded in a once in a lifetime event. There was no federal response.
It looks to me FEMA surpassed George Bush's expectations. How's that photo opp working out for you ?
My president said to go on line and ask for help.
And you voted for him again. Stay warm
Love,
San Diego
78 and sunny
My best guess is that you are in your Mothers basement in Iowa and can't grasp the reality or severity of the issue!
Get a clue........please!
Strong rumor of insurance fraud in B.P. Remember, a lot of residents were police or fire. It's said that many did not have flood insurance, so they burnt their houses down, so that homeowners insurance would cover fire damage. These are clever people who know the system, so proving fraud will be difficult. And, Bloomberg might even want it covered up if true...so that the residents can still appear as victims.
chargeon22--you know, after I got divorced in '88, I bought a charming old victorian home in my home town, paid $65K for it, with $25K of that amount as the down payment.
I did all the right things, had a lot of 'systems work' done on it over the years, and ALSO, on recommendation of my Insurance agent, had it insured for $125K.
In 2003, it caught fire due to an electrical problem that had been hidden in a basement wall, and the two rroms (1st. and second floor) on the back of the house were GUTTED, and smoke and fire damage to the rest of the interior, made even worse by the fire fighters by the water, left me with a house with totally intact foundation and outer walls, and the same valuable 'lot', and the $125K in insurance money was NOT enough to pay to fix it even to LIVEABLE, much less to its former glory. Because it was NOT a total loss, so the full $125K could not be paid.
I paid off the remaining mortgage, and sold it to a guy who specialized in rebuilding old Victorians, for peanuts, and moved away.
The people in this neighborhood need to do the same. Cut their losses, and MOVE ON.
And they guy who bought MY house? has already plowed $150K into it, and it isn't CLOSE to done, and jokingly calls it the money pit. I sincerely hope he can finish it, as it was a cool old house. But sometimes, the best thing is to RAZE and move on.