Houston Speculators Make a Fast Buck From Storm’s Misery
- 6 years ago
Houston Speculators Make a Fast Buck From Storm’s Misery
Mr. Pelletiere is one of the many speculators driving a new — and somewhat confounding — economy in neighborhoods across post-Harvey Houston, one
that is especially notable in Canyon Gate, a subdivision built in the 1990s where rice fields once stretched to the horizon.
“I’m the guy who put up the bandit signs around town,” Mr. Pelletiere said one morning in February in his own flooded home, where he
and his family were living on the second floor as contractors slowly repaired the first.
He said that, like most of his neighbors, he had no idea
that he was living inside a reservoir until the hurricane unleashed nearly 50 inches of rain and the reservoir — just as its designers intended — flooded the land all around him.
Mr. Pelletiere said that his ambition was to rival pioneering operators in the space, like
Big State Home Buyers, one of Houston’s largest buyers of storm-damaged properties.
In a place like that, we’re like the first responders, critical to getting the economy moving again, equipped to take on the risk.”
Ms. Leaney, who tore down all the bandit signs around Canyon Gate, remains one of the neighborhood’s biggest boosters.
“Some people say the investors are horrible, preying on vulnerable people, but that’s not my view,” said Ms. Leaney, emphasizing
that buyers of flooded homes were paying the association’s dues, badly needed for the upkeep of playgrounds, picnic areas, swimming facilities and attendants at the front gate.
Mr. Pelletiere is one of the many speculators driving a new — and somewhat confounding — economy in neighborhoods across post-Harvey Houston, one
that is especially notable in Canyon Gate, a subdivision built in the 1990s where rice fields once stretched to the horizon.
“I’m the guy who put up the bandit signs around town,” Mr. Pelletiere said one morning in February in his own flooded home, where he
and his family were living on the second floor as contractors slowly repaired the first.
He said that, like most of his neighbors, he had no idea
that he was living inside a reservoir until the hurricane unleashed nearly 50 inches of rain and the reservoir — just as its designers intended — flooded the land all around him.
Mr. Pelletiere said that his ambition was to rival pioneering operators in the space, like
Big State Home Buyers, one of Houston’s largest buyers of storm-damaged properties.
In a place like that, we’re like the first responders, critical to getting the economy moving again, equipped to take on the risk.”
Ms. Leaney, who tore down all the bandit signs around Canyon Gate, remains one of the neighborhood’s biggest boosters.
“Some people say the investors are horrible, preying on vulnerable people, but that’s not my view,” said Ms. Leaney, emphasizing
that buyers of flooded homes were paying the association’s dues, badly needed for the upkeep of playgrounds, picnic areas, swimming facilities and attendants at the front gate.