FEMA And The New Flood Zone Creates Havoc In Real Estate

Realtors Beware! You may find yourself coming up against the same brick wall I did this week. You see, we had answered a prayer for one of my clients that is elderly and wants to move up North to join her family. We celebrated because the Buyer and Seller were so very happy...listen to this one now.

I actually had an accepted offer on her home within 45 days of listing and they were thrilled!

Everything was in place and the Buyer and her agent were scheduling the Inspections and all was right with the world.  Right that is till we received a notice from the LENDER'S BROKER that floored us all.

His news..."After submitting the paperwork to FEMA, it seems the house is in the 100 year flood zone".

HUH? I sold the home to the elderly couple in 2005 and the survey did not show anything about being in any flood zone. We scrambled....the survey showed nothing....I called the city. Bad news for many of us.

FEMA has completely reset the current 100 year FLOOD ZONE and is readjusting in August of this year.

Not just here....but for the entire NATION!

All NEW LOANS AND POSSIBLY EXISTING LOANS WILL REQUIRE A NEW AND UPGRADED FLOOD INSURANCE.

The Mtg. Broker called back and said, "I have never seen ANYTHING LIKE THIS~the quote on her flood insurance came in at $20.000 PER YEAR! Now, don't worry....I don't believe this any more than you do but the simple fact is that homes that have never been in a flood zone are now being shown to be in a zone that could be flooded 5 to 6 feet under?????

The lay of the land is changing that much?

Old map showed that the home didn't show up in the flood zone. NOW TAKE A LOOK AT THIS!

 

Not only are my elderly couple in trouble but sooooo many other people have now been encompassed within the FEMA flood zone.

QUESTIONS:

1.   Can they really do this?

2.   Is it really that they didn't do their jobs right in the first place?

3.   Can they really charge $20,649.00 per year required by a Lender?

4.   How can ANYONE pay this let alone our elders that are on a fixed income?

5.   Could the elevation certificate we had done really be wrong with the surveyor swearing it's not?

6.   I understand that IKE and other disasters have hit. But...is the government just trying to foreclose?

7.   The deal was blown out of the water so to speak...how do I protect my clients?

8.   Could the quote from the insurance company be correct? I have it in writing!

9.   Why am I in this business?

10.  Should I be the one to alert the other people in this neighborhood?

11.  And, should I recommend they leave the home and simply rent it or still try and sell it?

12.  Have any of you come across this yet?

Oh, and some trivia....the 100 year flood plain is defined this way...not that it would flood every 100 years but that there is 1% chance per year that it MIGHT FLOOD. ONE PERCENT! $20,000.??????

Brooks Prime Properties specializes in LakeFront Properties...woops?  How many people in our USA are going to be affected that we don't even know about yet?

I'm worried. Advice Please~~

Deb 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooks Prime Properties

Specializing in Lake Properties

Lake Livingston Texas

936-295-0005