Investment companies and astute full-time flippers are jumping on a trend Tim Sojka of See Tim Sell, LLC, said he has seen first-hand take root in the Katy area. Instead of buying and flipping or buying and holding a flooded home, Sojka said more people are purchasing flooded homes, flipping them and renting them out.

“I am calling it a delayed flip,” Sojka said. “You buy it, you create rental income, so you rent it for three to four years, and then you sell it.”

Sojka said this trend has caught on because despite the fact that flooded homes have sold easily for him, the memory of Hurricane Harvey is still strong in many people’s minds, and the market is still in the process of bouncing back.

“I think you are going to see neighborhoods that were once owner-occupied neighborhoods for three to five years become rental neighborhoods because they flooded,” Sojka said.

Sojka said the trend has been both accidental and purposeful.

“There are absolutely companies coming in and doing it on purpose,” Sojka said. “But there’s also the people that are buying a flip property and realizing they can’t make what they want on it so they are renting it. So, I think it’s on purpose and accidental. And I think all of this additional inventory is going to flush out in five to seven years.”