Hurricanes are a fact of life when you live in a southern Mississippi county on the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters say that 2009 can yield a higher than normal activity for hurricanes due to higher water temperatures and may include up to 14 named storms.

So what does this mean to you and why am I writing about it on a real estate blog? As a real estate owner or investor, it is not uncommon to have insurance which is not quite high enough to cover damages from hurricanes. This was a big problem in the aftermath of Katrina in 2005 and there are still people who are in court with their insurance companies.

As real estate investors, we typically under-insure our properties as a means of increasing cash-flow or preventing negative cash flow. As we approach hurricane season in 2009, it may be a good idea to take a look at your insurance policies and make sure that you are covered well enough in the case that something does hit us. We saw little activity from hurricanes on the Mississippi Coast in 2008 but there were some low-lying areas which were effected by rising storm waters.

Talk to your insurance agent and make sure you are covered where you need to be. Obviously, we would kill ourselves trying to make sure everything is covered but some small precautions can save lots of money in the long run and as real estate investors on the Mississippi Coast we need to reevaluate our positions at a minimum of every few years.