House Fire? How to Make The Most From A Bad Situation

House fire. Two words that strike a lot of fear into homeowners’ hearts. The unfortunate reality about life is that accidents can happen to anyone and they do not discriminate. House fires are one of those unfortunate realities. Even with the best precautions and carefulness, they can happen without warning.

The damage they can leave behind can be devastating but even in this seemingly worst of situations, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Making the most out of a house fire seems hard to imagine but here are some ways you can see how it is possible.

Selling a Fire Damaged Home

Repairing and renovating a fire-damaged home is a huge undertaking. Sometimes the smoke and fire do irreparable harm to the home to the point where sinking money into the repairs just is not worth it. Selling a fire-damaged home is actually not as difficult as it once used to be. This website, and services similar to it, offer to buy fire damaged homes because they know it can be tough for a homeowner to sell on the market. You might get some prospective buyers who realize they can get a deal on buying damaged property, but it is easiest to sell to these companies who will give cash offers for seemingly impossible to sell homes.

Insurance Claims

As with nearly every homeowner, you likely have some form of insurance. While it cannot replace some of the sentimental value of things lost in the fire, your insurance company might be able to salvage a lot of your goods which can help your finances. Paying out of pocket to restore your electronics, your furniture, and anything else that was lost would cost a fortune, which is why the insurance company is there to make the process much easier on your finances. 

Crowdfunding / Charity Drive

If you do not have an insurance policy that covers everything or is still feeling the financial pinch of the fire damage, then crowdfunding/charity drive might be an option to consider. There are many people out there that still want to do the right thing even for complete strangers. Starting a crowdfunding donation online to help raise money for your home repair or restoration is a way to help garner financial support. In more conventional ways, you can hold a charity drive to get donations from people you know in person. Car wash, bake sale, etc. are simple ways to get some money to help make the process of getting your life back in order a little easier.

Community Resources

Sometimes there are community services to help people after a traumatic or damaging experience to their life like a house fire. These services can help provide you with temporary housing assistance so you have somewhere to live and get your things in order. These community resources are there to help but unfortunately, not many people know about them. They range from charitable organizations, local government programs, and other community organized chapters dedicated to helping provide relief. They can offer housing, food, clothing, financial assistance, counselling, and many other very vital services that will help make the transitional period easier.

Reach Out to Friends and Family

Similar to charity drives or crowdfunding, you should reach out to your friends and family for help in this tough time. They will likely reach out to you first but it never hurts to reach out to as many as possible for any help you can get. Our friends and family are there to support us in even the toughest times and they just want to see us succeed, which comes in handy when something serious actually does happen. In this case, you are going to need some help and they can help out in various ways. Like the community resources, they can provide sleeping arrangements, food, transportation, financial support, etc and beyond that, they can offer things like emotional support and even volunteer to help repair your home. You never know the true value of friendship and family until something serious happens so it is important to reach out for help when needed.

House fires are a potentially traumatic event that we do not put much thought into because most people assume it can never happen to them. The reality is that accidents do happen and they can happen to anyone. Although you can do a lot to prevent it, if it does, unfortunately, happen to you, there is a lot you and others do to help yourself out of a bad situation. These options listed are among the things to consider after a house fire happens to you.