In a Flood Plain? Damaged by Sandy? These Home Buyers Aren't Fazed.

Winners of the Sandy-damaged property auctioned on Staten Island lined up afterward to sign paperwork and put down a cashier's check for $25,000.

This week, 115 Sandy-damaged homes went up for auction on Staten Island and Long Island. Hundreds of people turned out to bid on below market rate properties in flood zones.

The homes and tracts of land were purchased by the state through the NY Rising Acquisition-for-Redevelopment Program at pre-Sandy value in an effort to make Sandy-damaged neighborhoods more resilient. Buyers of the homes at auction are required to raise them to comply with FEMA's post-Sandy flood guidelines.

At the Hilton Garden Inn on Staten Island on Tuesday, more than 350 people showed up to bid on 61 properties. The crowd was a mix of developers with experience at auctions, and rookies looking for a bargain. Anyone with a $25,000 cashier’s check could bid.

More than 350 people attended an auction in Staten Island to bid on 61 Sandy-damaged homes being sold at discounted rates.

Albert Payah, 47, who runs a small furniture business on Staten Island, hoped to score a deal on a small bungalow that he can either rent, or renovate and sell. But when he saw the long line to get into the auction, he regretted taking the day off of work.

“I'm not happy seeing this. The enthusiasm just went down,” he said, surveying the crowd. “Especially when I see the Chinese people, they're going to overbid. That I know. They're known to pay top dollar for real estate.”

Standing with a group of half-a-dozen fellow Chinese developers, Danny Ling, 37, from Staten Island just shook his head and laughed. He had his own concerns. “The Russian guys have money,” he said.

Some of those who showed up, such as Thomas Cunsolo, 55, knew the impact of Sandy first-hand. His home in Midland Beach was so damaged that he's been living in a cramped apartment ever since.

“I'm looking to get a bigger piece of property than I had so I could build back,” he said. “The bigger the property you could build back safer.”

The event was run by an experienced auction house. But many of the bidders, unfamiliar with the rules, stalled the proceedings several times by over bidding, or not paying attention to which properties were already taken.

“This is not a game folks,” the auctioneer scolded at one point.

For each round, the highest bidder got to choose up to 5 properties. Once taken, they were removed from a board.

The highest bid went for $575,000 to a Homeland Security Officer who's expecting his fourth child soon. He chose one of the two Brooklyn properties in Howard Beach.

More than 350 people attended an auction in Staten Island to bid on 61 Sandy-damaged homes being sold at discounted rates.S

The bidding went fast, and within a hour-and-a-half all the properties were snatched up. The lowest bid was $35,000.

As for Payah, Ling, and Cunsolo, they all left empty-handed.

The state bought all 61 properties for $18.1 million. The total bids at the end of the auction added up to $9.9 million.

More than 350 people attended an auction in Staten Island to bid on 61 Sandy-damaged homes being sold at discounted rates.S

After the auction, the winners lined up to sign paperwork and hand over their $25,000 cashier’s checks.

Angela Tenteromano Nickel, a registered nurse from Great Kills, won a 2-family home on Wiman Avenue, also in Great Kills. She’ll pay $160,000 for the beige clapboard house with peeling paint and a rotting shed in the back. That's half of its pre-Sandy value.

“I came for two reasons: to make some money, and to better the community,” she said.

She doesn’t want to see her neighborhood pocked with empty homes. Plus, she’d like to have a nice place to rent to two of her older children, at a reasonable rate.

As for the threat of another storm, she called Sandy a “fluke,” but admitted, “it worries the shit out of me.”

A Sandy-damaged 2-family home in Great Kills, Staten Island, bought at auction for half of it's pre-storm value. Next door, neighbors are lifting their home to meet new flood guidelines.

Across the street from Nickel’s new home is where Ursla Rosa, 62, has lived for more than 25 years. She’s glad that seven homes on her street sold at auction.

“I think it's a good idea,” she said. “They update houses and remodel and the block will look better, the way it was before.”

But Eric Goldstein with the Natural Resources Defense Council is worried the auction program fails to account for long-term resilience.

“There's a concern that what's being sold here may be fool's gold,” he said.

There's a scientific consensus that flood zones will face more frequent and intense storms. While the state is turning some of the lowest lying neighborhoods in Staten Island into open space, Goldstein questioned why the government is encouraging people to rebuild in any flood zones.

“Even if a home is elevated that doesn't mean the car that's in the driveway or the senior citizen walking in the street is protected,” Goldstein said. “There are all types of costs to government agencies for essential services during storms and rescue.”

Proceeds from the auctions will go toward affordable and public housing.