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As of today, Wells Fargo customers are receiving their Flood Certification Notices.
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90 Comments on FEMA Reshapes The Landscape of Our Business...
Rob, yes they did amend it then. They actually do this every few years. The surveyor is the one that evidently did the Elevation Certificate! When a surveyor proves that your home is enough above water level then the map will still change for the good. Better check with the City Planning office and double check to see if it's back in the flood plain. All is new now. Good luck! If you need a great insurance quote use the link above to Gary. He can help. Good luck.
Judy, you are very lucky they didn't back out! Many people do not know it yet. As the lenders begin to hear from FEMA they will be notifying the borrower. Good for you getting it closed anyway.
Michael, yes you had better check. I think a great many people are going into shock.
Beverly, so true. I guess what bothers me is that our government is wasting so much money left and right on issues that are not even our business. Yet when it comes to supporting our people it's up to us...
Deb: We have always had regulations in place as far as the 100 and 500 year flood plains have been concerned. The lenders... both conventional, and FHA,VA require flood certifications, as we all know, to make sure the home being purchased (and financed) is not in the flood plain. All FEMA has done... is re-measure exactly where the revised flood plains are.
All the the torrential rains and flooding that has happened over the past year has changed things. And the government... FEMA, Obama, etc... really has not done anything to make things worse. FEMA is just following a law/regulation that has been in place.
If anything... many of the cuts to water conservation programs that have been made by the conservative congress, and conservative state Governors like Rick Perry in Texas... has made things worse. You cannot cut programs designed to conserve and control water, and prevent flooding... in the name of reducing spending, and then complain when those cuts add to the horrible flooding that has taken place over the past year.
My point here... it ain't FEMA that's the bad guy. Mother Nature... and soil and water conservation and control programs being cut... bears much of the responsibility.
A major part of our job as Realtors is to act in our fiduciary capacity relative to our clients. If the property they buy is now IN the new boundaries of the flood zone... they need to know.
Hi Karen Anne, I can't disagree with a single word you said! I totally agree with our Fiduciary responsibility to our clients thus the informational post. This all came about due to a client of mine. We discovered a new requirement of flood zone insurance on her property that had previously never been considered in a zone at all. She is now in the worst zone possible overnight!
I have learned all of this due to the help she needs in selling her home. I do hope you don't think I was bashing FEMA and I sure don't want to get into politics here! Been there and done that and it won't work!
Thank you for your insight. It is going to continue to affect our homeowners on a level we cannot understand yet. It is imperative to get the information out there!
Comment number 2 is also imperative. Title companies are being surprised these days around here. They tell me they are in shock at all the changes. We will adapt and the people whose properties that are affected will in fact find they are losing value to many. It's a tough situation but we all have to be aware!
Deb:
I agree with Ask Jane, #44. Your photo is great, it makes you seem approachable and charming. We are talking about social media here. The rules are different. Sorry to break the chain of FEMA comments, but I had to put my 2 cents in.
As Joetta #40 pointed out above...why are they not told this before closing?
Any property owner in a flood zone must secure a minimum flood policy benefit so the premiums are not costly. The chances of a flood damage is very remote and anybody that insures their property for more than the cost of replacing their structure is being unrealistic in my opinion. that's why they call it a 100-500 year flood.
I was unfortunately in a flood zone for over 30 years and just secured the minimum amount policy. Fortunately, we didn't experience any flooding but over 30 years of premiums were paid regardless. Now I don't pay for flood insurance and I'm keeping that premium payment in my wallet.
Deb,
My acreage is on the south side of Houston, between Sims Bayou and Clear Creek waterways. It is the highest land in the area, has never flooded but as surrounding areas have, that presents its own problems. All the wildlife, including snakes head for our place in a flood. Yep, as you could have guessed, I just got zoned into the 100 year plain. Hurricane Ike dropped a huge tree and totaled the house and we didn't rebuild. I will have to have it surveyed for an elevation certificate when I sell it.
Yikes, that sounds like quite the big issue for your area and buyers and sellers. Ouch. -Kasey
Deb, Great blog, full of info and very colorful. A big problem here in Florida!
Great Post!
This topic collapsed a transaction for me YESTERDAY! A redrawn map put a sellers house right in the path of a 100 year flood zone. When their sale collapsed [they wrote and got accepted [contingent to close], an offer on my listing] it all collapsed - smack down!
Drop the price? Pay the premium for the buyers for 5 years at 500.00 / year? NOOOOOOOOOO, nothing will make the buyers on the first home, change their mind - they walked - domino collapses and we march on......
We all love a challenge but what do you do on this one? How do you save these transactions today?
As with health care this is a way to increase the flow of money by forcing low risk home owners to buy insurance they probably won't ever file a claim against.
Deb, here at beautiful Lake of the Ozarks we are having a heck of a time with the flood plane maps. So far, our office has only had one property which was actually in the flood zone and that was 3' of a 78' waterfront property. It's a mess, but what do you do!
Deb,
I re-blogged your post because I felt it may be relevant in parts of North Carolina. When the reblogging took place on my site, it was all jumbled up. Here is my site: www.dougpattersonblog.com I don't know if others see it jumbled up with words running into and over each other.
Well enough of that...
I thank you for this information. I was not aware of this as I imagine most colleagues are not. I've always depended on an insurance friend of mine to check flood zones for my clients, becuase I guess I'm too dense to know where to get accurate information....and when I have found a site, it's usually not there later when I go back to it. I always attributed that to "government"...but it's probably me.
So! Thank YOU! for this information!
Our family is heading back down to our North Carolina beaches, where we always go, beach front, right on the Atlantic. I'm wondering if next year that home we usually rent, will be affordable?!
Spring Creek... Chiloquin, OR. The last study was in 1984 and stopped about 1000 feet short of where Spring Creek flows into the Williamson. To clarify, it was the Williamson River that is inside the study. At the point where it ends, it is NOT a flood zone. Because there hasn't been a study on Spring Creek, although there isn't an ice cube's chance in Hell that it would ever flood (it's a spring... ), homes on it are now considered in flood Zone A.
Yes, we learned this the hard way when a previously never-need-flood-insurance area suddenly was needing a $5300/yr policy. Needless to say, we lost that deal.
The seller is now in the final stages of acquiring the LOMA... Letter Of Map Amendment. We might still be able to bring that buyer back...
If you are anywhere near water of any kind, it's well worth the $10-$20 for a flood certificate when you list the property.
Deb-Your information was timely and the comments added has certainly fleshed this subject out for me. Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this subject.