'Vultures' Prowl Hurricane-Ravaged Real Estate Market

"[The vultures] are flocking. They are the cash-wielding investors on the prowl for damaged property. Preying on the potentially fragile psyche of owners, they're making low-ball offers of cash.

This felled-tree phenomenon has hit many of the pricey older established neighborhoods hardest because they have — or had — the huge mossy oaks and other shade trees that can be such a comfort to homeowners during Florida's blazing hot summers. But now a visit to these areas often reveals trees poking down through a roof here and there, or resting on cars that were left outside in driveways during the storms. Escaping the worst of such scenes are the newer subdivisions, often built on former cow pastures or citrus groves, that are heavily landscaped close to the ground but haven't much of a natural skyline except for a few stubborn and relatively stubby palms."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan