A Cash Buyer for Policyholders Who’d Rather Sell Than Rebuild

Home › Partners › Public Adjusters & Insurance · Updated October 25, 2026

After every major Florida hurricane, public adjusters, insurance agents and independent adjusters hear the same thing from a portion of their clients: “I don’t want to fix it. I want out.” Maybe it’s a retiree in Punta Gorda who flooded during Ian and again during Helene. Maybe it’s an out-of-state owner of a Fort Myers Beach cottage that’s now a shell, facing a substantial-damage determination. Maybe it’s a small business owner whose motel on the water lost its ground floor and whose lender is getting nervous.

You can’t solve that part of their problem — your job is the claim. But knowing that a reputable cash buyer exists, one who understands how claims, mortgage loss drafts, FEMA floodplain rules and as-is sales fit together, can help you answer that question honestly when it comes up. That’s where Libera Capital Group fits.

We buy houses and improved commercial property throughout Florida for cash. Southwest Florida is our home market, so we’ve been in the middle of the post-Ian, post-Helene and post-Milton recovery, evaluating damaged properties in every condition. This page explains how we work alongside insurance professionals, what policyholders should understand about selling with an open claim, and where the lines are — legally and ethically.

Why insurance professionals point clients to Libera Capital Group

Which policyholders are good candidates for an as-is sale?

Most of your clients will repair, and they should if that’s what they want. An as-is sale tends to fit a specific group of people:

• Owners facing a substantial-damage determination in a flood zone, where the “repair” is really an elevation or a rebuild.
• Underinsured owners whose flood coverage or dwelling limits won’t cover a full restoration at current Florida construction costs.
• Seasonal and out-of-state owners who can’t manage contractors and permits remotely, especially in barrier-island communities like Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach.
• Elderly owners and estates — including families settling a parent’s estate where the house flooded before or after the death. See our guide to inherited and probate property.
• Repeat-loss owners who flooded in 2022 and again in 2024 and don’t want to bet on the next season.
• Landlords who’ve lost rental income and would rather redeploy capital than rebuild. Our tired landlord page covers that path.
• Owners in mortgage distress whose claim payments are tied up in a lender’s loss-draft process while payments and insurance premiums continue. See our foreclosure guide.

We also buy fire-damaged property and homes with major non-storm damage — see major repairs and fire damage.

How do insurance claims interact with the sale of a damaged property?

This is the question every policyholder asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on the policy, the claim’s status, the mortgage, and Florida law — so the policyholder should get advice from a Florida attorney, and from you within the scope of your role, before signing a contract. What follows is a general overview of how these transactions commonly work, not legal advice.

The claim usually belongs to the person who owned the property at the time of loss

An insurance policy is a contract between the insurer and the named insured. When damage occurs while the policyholder owns the property, the right to pursue the claim generally arises at that moment. Selling the property afterward doesn’t automatically transfer that right to the buyer. Many sellers therefore continue pursuing their claims after closing, and the sale price reflects the property’s damaged condition.

Three common approaches

1. Settle, then sell. The claim is resolved and paid first. The owner sells as-is and keeps the proceeds (subject to the mortgage lender’s interest). This is the simplest structure and avoids most complications.
2. Sell with the claim still open. The owner sells and continues pursuing the claim afterward. The buyer prices the property as damaged. The owner may need ongoing cooperation, such as access for a re-inspection or appraisal, so the contract may address post-closing access.
3. Address claim proceeds within the transaction. In some cases, parties consider arrangements in which some or all claim proceeds relate to the purchase. Florida significantly restricted post-loss assignments of benefits in recent insurance reforms, and policies may contain their own anti-assignment language. Any arrangement involving claim rights or proceeds must be reviewed by the policyholder’s Florida attorney. We won’t propose one without counsel involved.

Mortgagees, loss drafts and payoff

Dwelling payments are typically made jointly to the insured and the mortgage lender named in the mortgagee clause. Lenders often deposit those funds into a loss-draft account and release them in stages as repairs are verified. When the property is sold, the mortgage is paid off at closing from sale proceeds. What happens to held loss-draft funds and to future claim payments then depends on the lender’s procedures and the loan documents. The closing title company, the lender’s loss-draft department and the policyholder’s counsel coordinate this. We’ve closed through that sequence repeatedly and can help everyone identify the questions to ask early.

Disclosure

Florida sellers must disclose known facts that materially affect a residential property’s value and aren’t readily observable. Claim history, flood history, mold and substantial-damage determinations fall in that category. For our purposes, disclosure is also practical: it lets us price accurately so the offer doesn’t change after inspection. We’ll typically ask for adjuster reports, photographs, the estimate and any building department correspondence — with the client’s permission.

Timing considerations

• Proof of loss and inspection access. If the carrier needs to re-inspect after closing, access must be arranged with the new owner. We can agree to reasonable post-closing access in the contract.
• Appraisal and mediation. If the claim is headed to appraisal or Florida’s DFS-administered mediation program, the policyholder may want the damaged property available to be inspected. That might favor closing after the process concludes.
• Demolition. We won’t demolish or materially alter a property in a way that compromises an open claim without coordinating first.

The FEMA 50% rule, elevation and ICC coverage

For buildings in Special Flood Hazard Areas, local floodplain ordinances adopted under the National Flood Insurance Program require that a substantially damaged building — one where restoration costs equal or exceed 50% of the structure’s pre-damage market value — be brought into compliance with current floodplain requirements. In practice that usually means elevating the lowest floor to the required level above Base Flood Elevation, or demolishing and rebuilding. Coastal V-zone properties face stricter foundation and breakaway-wall requirements.

Policyholders with NFIP flood coverage may be eligible for Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage, which can provide up to $30,000 toward elevation, demolition, relocation or floodproofing of a substantially damaged structure, subject to the policy’s terms and deadlines. ICC benefits relate to the policyholder’s compliance work, so if the owner sells instead of complying, whether any ICC benefit remains available is a question for the flood carrier and counsel. FEMA’s ICC guidance is a useful starting point for clients.

When a client’s realistic choice is between a $30,000 ICC benefit and a full elevation or rebuild that costs many times that, an as-is sale deserves a place in the conversation. We buy substantially damaged homes and take on the compliance path ourselves. Our hurricane and flood damage guide walks policyholders through the details in plain English.

Commercial insureds: business interruption, tenants and lenders

Commercial losses bring more layers. A damaged retail center, office building, waterfront motel or RV park may have business interruption coverage, tenants with casualty-termination rights, ordinance-or-law coverage questions, and lenders with insurance proceeds requirements. Some owners decide to sell rather than spend a year rebuilding and re-leasing.

• Business interruption generally compensates the insured for lost income during the period of restoration. How a sale affects that period is a policy and legal question for counsel.
• Ordinance or law coverage may help pay for code-required upgrades. If the owner sells, the interplay with a sale needs careful review.
• Tenant leases may allow termination or rent abatement after casualty. We can buy with tenants in place, or after leases are resolved.
• Lenders typically control insurance proceeds on commercial loans. A sale that retires the loan can simplify the situation for everyone.

We buy damaged hotels and motels, mobile home and RV parks, retail centers and other commercial property statewide. See commercial property we buy for the full picture.

Comparing a policyholder’s options after a major loss

Here’s a simple side-by-side you can share with a client who’s weighing whether to rebuild, sell after repairs or sell as-is. Ranges are typical, not promises, and every claim is different.

For a broader view of how sellers compare a cash sale with a listing, see our cash offer vs. listing page.

What we’ve learned in Southwest Florida’s recovery

Our home region took Ian’s landfall near Cayo Costa in September 2022, Helene’s surge in September 2024 and Milton’s landfall near Siesta Key in October 2024. A few lessons are worth sharing with any insurance professional working these markets:

• Wind and water disputes are slow. In Cape Coral and Punta Gorda, canal homes often had both roof damage and surge flooding. Clients waiting on that dispute sometimes prefer to sell and let the claim run its course separately.
• Repeat losses change minds. Owners on Fort Myers Beach, in Englewood and along the Sarasota coast who repaired after Ian and flooded again in 2024 are more open to selling than they were the first time.
• Mobile homes rarely pencil. Wind-damaged mobile and manufactured homes in Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties often aren’t economical to repair, and an as-is sale (where the home is on owned land) is a practical exit.
• Condo owners face stacked costs. Unit owners in Naples and Marco Island may face storm-related assessments on top of post-Surfside milestone inspection and reserve requirements.

How do you raise the idea of selling with a storm-damaged client?

You’re often the first professional a policyholder trusts after a disaster, and they’ll ask you questions well outside the four corners of the policy. A few approaches insurance professionals tell us work well, without crossing into advice you aren’t positioned to give:

Let the client lead

Many clients will bring it up themselves: “Should I even fix this?” That’s the moment to mention that some owners in their position sell as-is, that it’s one option among several, and that they should talk with family, their attorney and, if relevant, a financial advisor before deciding.

Separate the claim from the property decision

Clients sometimes assume that selling means abandoning the claim, or that they can’t sell until the claim is paid. Neither is necessarily true. Encourage them to think of the claim and the property as two related but distinct decisions, and to confirm the details with counsel.

Encourage more than one opinion

A client considering a sale should compare at least a couple of paths: a cash offer, a conversation with a licensed real estate agent about listing the property as-is or after repairs, and a realistic contractor estimate. We’re comfortable being compared. Our agent partner page explains how we work with listing agents, too.

Watch for bad actors

After every storm, unsolicited “buyers” and contractors flood affected neighborhoods. Remind clients to deal only with buyers who close through licensed Florida title companies, never pay upfront fees to sell, and never sign over a deed or claim rights without legal review. That advice protects them whether or not they ever call us.

Compliance, ethics and referrals

Insurance professionals operate under strict rules, and so do we. A few principles guide how we work with you:

• No referral payments to unlicensed parties. Florida’s real estate license law generally restricts paying compensation to people who aren’t licensed for referring buyers or sellers in a real estate transaction, and your own licensing rules may impose additional limits. We don’t offer referral fees, kickbacks or anything of value in exchange for steering clients. Consult your own counsel about what’s permissible in your role.
• Public adjuster rules. Florida regulates public adjusters through the Department of Financial Services, including fee caps (with a lower cap for claims arising from a declared state of emergency), contract requirements and solicitation restrictions. Nothing about our relationship should touch your fee or your contract with the insured.
• Client choice. The best way to refer is simply to tell a client that an as-is buyer exists, give them our number, and let them decide. We’ll never represent ourselves as affiliated with you, the carrier or any government program.
• Counsel for claim-related terms. If a client wants any sale terms to involve claim rights or proceeds, we’ll insist that their Florida attorney be involved.

How the process works for your client

1. Your client (or you, with permission) contacts us. Share the address, the date and type of loss, and the claim’s general status.
2. We evaluate the property. We review flood zone, elevation, damage and title, and walk the property or work from photos and reports.
3. We deliver a written as-is offer. Typically within 24–48 hours of having what we need, with no obligation.
4. Close when it makes sense. A Florida title company coordinates the mortgage payoff and closing on a date that works around claim milestones. See how it works.

Refer a property

With your client’s permission, send us the property details below — or simply share our number with them. We’ll take it from there respectfully.

Related resources

• All partner programs
• For lenders and servicers
• For real estate agents
• For probate attorneys
• All seller situations
• Sell my house fast

Frequently Asked Questions from public adjusters and insurance professionals