Buying Harvey-Flooded Homes a 'Monstrous Opportunity'

Perhaps Canyon Gate, a Houston subdivision ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, should not have been built. Some speculate that current rebuilding efforts and land speculation may be profitable, but could set the stage for more damage from the next disaster. 

James Smith, a Marine veteran and real estate agent whose stock-in-trade is flooded homes, has been on the receiving end of negative responses, as have many speculators in Houston. Nick Pelletiere, a Canyon Gate resident who has been buying and selling flooded homes and turning a surprising profit, has been part of the new market force driving the area's economy, reports The New York Times. Says Pelletiere, “A nice recession-proof hedge against real estate: People are always dying. Those who are alive need to buy or sell their homes. For me it comes down to the numbers of whether a deal is feasible.”

Many parts of the city were hit hard by the hurricane, but Canyon Gate has the extraordinary distinction of being built within the confines of a reservoir specifically designed by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect central Houston from calamitous flooding. Nearly every one of the 721 homes there is destined to flood again, yet the local trade in storm-damaged real estate is flourishing.

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