On Long Beach Island, Assurance About Insurance

“It was a good year for me, and 2015 was a very good year for the real estate market here,” said Nathan Colmer, the other Platinum Level award winner from The Van Dyk Group. Colmer works from the Long Beach Island office in Beach Haven Terrace and also has business ownership experience in the Beach Haven area.

“Sales were definitely up, and prices were higher, on the whole,” Colmer said of the home sales market on LBI.

“Some of that has to do with the nature of homes being sold. After (Superstorm) Sandy, a lot of them are new construction, and a lot of the other homes are renovated and worth considerably more than their predecessor.”

In this post-superstorm climate, flood insurance “is still very much on everyone’s mind,” Colmer has experienced as another trend.

“I get a lot of questions on that. It’s amazing how much of a lack of understanding there is of flood insurance, even 3½ years after Sandy. There is a lot of misinformation out there.”

Colmer advises potential buyers to “make sure you have your facts.” He said, “As long as somebody does their proper due diligence and investigates, they’ll find that the majority of homes are OK.”

He elaborated, “Many homes, especially after Sandy, have been either built new, which means well above base flood elevation, or they have been raised. Or a lot that were built before Sandy are at or above base flood elevation, even if they are older. For example, a Cape Cod close to the beach may have been built where the ground elevation is high enough.”

Of course, exceptions apply, he tells clients. And he as the real estate agent can direct them toward making an informed decision. “There are a number of homes below base flood elevation also, and it’s important that the buyer and seller are aware of that and take that into account.

“I think that in many ways, it’s the real estate agent’s job to give at least general advice on the elevation of the property and how that will impact their insurance and other factors.”

So, in general, although “people are still concerned about flooding, concerned about flood insurance – I think that’s something we’ll battle for a long time – people are absolutely still buying. Once they understand the ins and outs of insurance and the potential risks for flooding, I think they realize that it’s not quite the specter it’s purported to be.”

Other real estate associates were also honored with awards at the gold, silver and bronze levels of achievement.