Sinkhole repaired homes in Spring Hill

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by PriusH8r

Also keep in mind that many "sinkhole" homes were not sinkholes, but just normal settling and it was an opportunity for people to abuse the system.....and the insurance companies were stupid enough to allow it.

Let me tell you something. These "sinkhole" homes that were not really sinkhole homes, but something to milk insurance companies never were repaired. So if there was a repair - their were something more serious than "normal settling".

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

Let me tell you something. These "sinkhole" homes that were not really sinkhole homes, but something to milk insurance companies never were repaired. So if there was a repair - their were something more serious than "normal settling".

Some got paid out X dollars and used only Y dollars for rip off grout repairs. There were and still are rip off sinkhole repair companies. The grout that disappears over the years.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

Let me tell you something. These "sinkhole" homes that were not really sinkhole homes, but something to milk insurance companies never were repaired. So if there was a repair - their were something more serious than "normal settling".

This is true. Many homeowners who filed a sinkhole claim took the money and did not repair their home. Our old neighbor filed a claim, won a substantial amount, and then used the money to build himself a nice cabin in NC and is now living there. His home is still unrepaired and now sits empty. He did say he was going to try and sell it, and he probably will … for about 20 or 30K, plummetting the values of the surrounding homes as a consequence. And people WILL buy the house that cheaply … they'll buy it, not repair it, and rent it out. So our neighbor will make out just fine. So will the many others who have followed his lead. And the rest of the homeowners in the neighborhood? Well, they're all paying the price of the loss of home value in the area as well as being surrounded by renters … many of whom are low lifes. It really stinks, especially for those of us who did not abuse the system.

My husband and I took the "high road." We had a sinkhole - a real one, not just settlement issues. We woke up to the sound of tiles popping right off the floor and our windows cracking off the walls. It was terrifying - we thought we were going to end up on the news with our house 40 feet in the ground! We filed a claim, and received about 150K to fix the house. We spent every penny fixing the house. It has at least 40 truckloads of grout beneath it, plus a bunch of chemical grouting. We also had a bunch of interior repairs done - all the tile had to go and the cracks in the walls needed fixing. Later we discovered that although our home was solid as a rock, we could not sell it for even half of what we originally paid for it - no one wanted a sinkhole home, even when it was repaired well! So now we are stuck with the house. Thankfully, we have an excellent tennant in it who is renting it from us. That is what enabled us to finally get the heck out of Spring Hill.

Part of me wishes we would have done like my neighbor so many others, because now we are saddled with a home we will probably never sell for any kind of profit while the others are sitting pretty with new houses or with a fat check in the bank.

Thankfully insurance companies wised up and are no longer forking over the kind of large settlements that destroyed so much of the housing value in Hernando County.

[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by housingcrashsurvivor

Stupidity or their complicity in the crime so as to profit by raising rates?

So not only might have the insurance companies wound up in better financial position into their future at the continuing expense of homeowners paying higher premiums due to insurance companies by paying out to the bogus claims of con artists; but also, the con artists didn't just steal from the insurance companies (with their permission) but they did so at the expense of neighboring homeowners whose home values degraded due to the con.

The big flow towards sink hole claims came about when HOI rates started to climb. Then the "sinkhole repair" companies started to advertise. Anyone could call anyone of them and get a report back that there is a sinkhole on the property that needs repair. Claim.

Insurance companies caught on and made it harder for people to pocket the money from a sink hole claim settlement. The claims started to slow down. Then they dropped comprehensive coverage from their standard policies. It became an expensive option. Sink hole claims went down further. Some people kept that comprehensive coverage and made claims against it but there has been no where the amount it used to be when the whole scam started off.

Those who pocketed the money from the settlement never had the 'sink hole' repaired.
They paid off mortgages instead. They didnt care about their neighbors. They got theirs.

[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

Let me tell you something. These "sinkhole" homes that were not really sinkhole homes, but something to milk insurance companies never were repaired. So if there was a repair - their were something more serious than "normal settling".

You are correct

[Spring Hillian]

The people who where here for a long time paid peanuts for the houses. When $150k (or more) was waived in font of their faces they jumped right on it. They got their purchase price back in spades and could not care less about anything else.

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

This is true. Many homeowners who filed a sinkhole claim took the money and did not repair their home. Our old neighbor filed a claim, won a substantial amount, and then used the money to build himself a nice cabin in NC and is now living there. His home is still unrepaired and now sits empty. He did say he was going to try and sell it, and he probably will … for about 20 or 30K, plummetting the values of the surrounding homes as a consequence. And people WILL buy the house that cheaply … they'll buy it, not repair it, and rent it out. So our neighbor will make out just fine. So will the many others who have followed his lead. And the rest of the homeowners in the neighborhood? Well, they're all paying the price of the loss of home value in the area as well as being surrounded by renters … many of whom are low lifes. It really stinks, especially for those of us who did not abuse the system.

My husband and I took the "high road." We had a sinkhole - a real one, not just settlement issues. We woke up to the sound of tiles popping right off the floor and our windows cracking off the walls. It was terrifying - we thought we were going to end up on the news with our house 40 feet in the ground! We filed a claim, and received about 150K to fix the house. We spent every penny fixing the house. It has at least 40 truckloads of grout beneath it, plus a bunch of chemical grouting. We also had a bunch of interior repairs done - all the tile had to go and the cracks in the walls needed fixing. Later we discovered that although our home was solid as a rock, we could not sell it for even half of what we originally paid for it - no one wanted a sinkhole home, even when it was repaired well! So now we are stuck with the house. Thankfully, we have an excellent tennant in it who is renting it from us. That is what enabled us to finally get the heck out of Spring Hill.

Part of me wishes we would have done like my neighbor so many others, because now we are saddled with a home we will probably never sell for any kind of profit while the others are sitting pretty with new houses or with a fat check in the bank.

Thankfully insurance companies wised up and are no longer forking over the kind of large settlements that destroyed so much of the housing value in Hernando County.

[nanny13]

Thank you everyone for your words of advice. By the tone of most replies, I feel that my gut instinct to stay away from this home just may win out.