Ocean County, New Jersey – November 14, 2026 – A Sandy RREM house near Seaside Heights that had stood half-elevated and empty for seven years sold for $175,000 cash to Pallas Growth LLC, ending a three-year wait on New Jersey’s Blue Acres buyout list. Pallas Growth, a buyer of storm-damaged and as-is houses in New Jersey and 12 other states, published the sale as a case study on pallasgrowth.com.
Hurricane Sandy flooded the 1960s ranch-style home severely. The state’s Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program, known as RREM, provided $85,000 toward elevation and repairs, but the money ran out partway through the project. The house received a new foundation and a partial elevation, but the interior was never completed. It remained vacant and unfinished for seven years while the owner continued paying property taxes and insurance.
Pallas Growth offered $175,000 for the shell as it stood. The company worked with a New Jersey real estate attorney on the RREM deed restriction question, and the property had already cleared its restriction period. The sale closed about two to three weeks after an inspection of roughly 10 business days, rather than after what could have been another two to three years of waiting for a Blue Acres buyout.
Key figures from the case study
- $85,000 in RREM funds, spent before the work was finished
- 7 years vacant and unfinished
- 3 years on the Blue Acres waitlist with no movement
- $175,000 cash for the partially completed shell
- About 2 to 3 weeks from inspection to closing
“This owner did everything the program asked and still ended up with a half-finished house and no way out. Seven years is too long for any family to carry that. We looked at the shell, did the legal homework on the deed restriction and paid cash. Buying the houses other buyers walk away from is what we are built to do,” said Zachary Silva, Founder & Market Analyst at Pallas Growth.
Blue Acres, a voluntary state program, buys flood-prone homes at pre-storm market value, but the Pallas Growth guide notes that the process typically takes 12 to 24 months or longer and has eligibility rules. National Flood Insurance Program building coverage caps at $250,000, which often falls short of a full coastal rebuild. Homes in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas can still be sold, although the pool of financed buyers shrinks. Owners who received an RREM grant are advised to have an attorney review any deed restriction before selling.
The full case study is published at https://pallasgrowth.com/blog/sell-storm-damaged-house-new-jersey/.
About Pallas Growth
Pallas Growth buys storm-damaged, unfinished and as-is houses in New Jersey and 12 other states. Sellers do not have to finish repairs or settle an insurance claim first, receive a written cash offer within 24 hours and pay no fees or closing costs. The company is led by Zachary Silva and Alex Silva, whose real estate investing career spans more than 20 years. Visit https://pallasgrowth.com.
Media Contact
Company Name: Pallas Growth LLC
Contact Person: Zachary Silva
Email: Send Email
Phone: (629) 209-7978
Country: United States
Website: https://pallasgrowth.com
Press Release Distributed by ABNewswire.com
To view the original version on ABNewswire visit: Sandy RREM house left half-elevated for seven years sells for $175,000 cash after three years on the Blue Acres waitlist
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