In 2011, the Alabama State Legislature established the Strengthen Alabama Homes Act. The Strengthen Alabama Homes (SAH) program provides grants (when funds are available) to Alabama residents for residential wind mitigation on existing, owner occupied, single family homes. Funding for this program comes from the insurance industry in Alabama and is not funded from the state's general budget, nor is it tied to a federally funded program. Many of you are probably aware of this program that provides a grant up to $10,000 towards the cost of mitigation or roof replacement to bring the property to FORTIFIED or Silver Standard.  

A client of mine recently contacted me to tell me that he is going through the SAH program, and the new FORTIFIED roof is being installed this month. The SAH program is paying his contractor $10,000 towards the cost of the roof replacement. The thought occurred to me that I should have been telling my client(s) that this program is available to Alabama homeowners, but instead, my client was the one to tell me that he was pursuing it . . . I had never mentioned anything about it to him. Shame on me . . . this is an extremely beneficial program to Alabama homeowners, and I even personally took advantage of the program in 2017 which reduced the cost of my roof replacement by the $10,000 grant. It is such a significant benefit that the information about the program should be provided to all home buyers (and sellers for that matter).

Going through the SAH website myself, there is a ton of information to share:

1. What is SAH? 
   https://strengthenalabamahomes.com/

(Note: STEPS OF THE STRENGTHEN ALABAMA HOMES GRANT PROGRAM are included in the above page under the Application Process tab.)

2. Frequently Asked Questions PDF:  
   https://strengthenalabamahomes.com/Content/Pdfs/SAHFAQs.pdf
3. SAH Qualified and Trained Contractors:  
   https://strengthenalabamahomes.com/Home/Contractors
4. Fortified Home Evaluators:
   https://strengthenalabamahomes.com/Home/Evaluators
   
   Even just providing the Frequently Asked Questionspdf summary to your clients is enough information to get them started or at least let your clients know about the program. Thinking it through, this program could be the solution for roof due diligence hurdles. If a buyer and seller do not agree on roofing inspection issues, perhaps knowledge of the program could get a buyer off the fence to move forward. Or, it could be a benefit to a seller that wants to enhance their home's sale potential. It is a great advantage for either party.
   
   A new study from the University of Alabama shows that FORTIFIED™ homes sell for nearly 7% more than non-FORTIFIED™ homes. The report showing all the statistics is found here: https://aciir.culverhouse.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2021/01/Fortified-Homes-Economic-Impact.pdf.

Not only does a FORTIFIED roof increase the sales price of a home, but the homeowner also receives a significant insurance discount on the wind/hail portion.

We should always be providing items of value to our clients and customers so we can continue to be their "go to" person for all things real estate. For properties that need help with a roof, I can't think of anything more valuable than sharing this information (the FAQ at least) with your clients.  I wonder how many roofs have been replaced in our area without taking advantage of this program. It will cost you nothing to save your clients $10,000, and you will probably reap more than that amount in loyalty and referrals.