Almost everything in life is affected by the weather. Real estate is also affected by it. For example, I choose to live in Georgia because I enjoy the warm climate. James prefers to live in Denver because he enjoys the snowy slopes in winter. People in Seattle get rain all the time where in Arizona, not so much.
Areas With Extreme Weather
In places where the weather is severe, the materials used in housing are different from places that don’t face the same conditions. This will affect the price of housing and would most certainly raise prices. Let’s look at some other ways weather can influence the cost of owning real estate. Living in Georgia where the summer temps can cook an egg on the street, it requires us to use our air conditioners to remain comfortable. I have seen bills adding up to $300 or more in some cases. On the other hand in cold regions, the cost of natural gas and propane are raised very high. Extreme conditions cause us to maintain paint jobs and roofs as well as quality doors and windows to protect our investment.
Weather also impacts our everyday lives in other ways too. We build our schedules around the climate. The restaurants we eat in do their menus based on the weather as it allows certain items only during a short period. Think about how the cost of insurance is based on how much storm damage an area gets. Are you in an area that floods? Are there wildfires common in the area. There are so many things that weather has a real effect on the prices and conditions.
Have you noticed when there is a spike in grocery prices? You can usually pinpoint that to a weather condition somewhere that caused the price increase. Farmers as well as investors in commodities have analysts who perform long range weather forecasts so they can plan how to best take advantage of the good months and prepare for the bad ones. This has an effect on grains, beans, corn and such. Knowing if there is going to be too much or too little rain will have an impact on our daily costs.
Rainy Weather
Getting back to real estate, if the weather in an area generally has a lot of rain, I will insist on spending the money for a good gutter system. I need the water to be directed away from the foundation by at least 4 feet to prevent water-damage. I will also want a good quality asphalt shingle roof for protection. If I buy in an area that gets a lot of snow, I would spring for a metal roof and an extremely high quality exterior paint for the house. I would want it to stand up to harsh conditions.
I have been doing a seminar all day here in Tulsa where they have just had a bunch of tornadoes in the area with lots of strong thunderstorms. If I was going to buy a property here, I would make sure that it was built with metal studs as opposed to wooden ones. I would spend the extra money to make sure the structure was strong enough to stand up to strong winds. Keep in mind that anytime there is a tornado or an earthquake, the cost of plywood and building materials skyrocket and become scarce in the area. This means they have to bring it from other areas and supply is low and demand is high. So does weather have an impact on real estate? I think it really does. Not only on the cost to purchase it but also to maintain it.
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