Flood Zone Tips on Your Deals

Have you ever worked on a deal and then in the middle found out it's in a flood zone and requires insurance?  Or maybe the maps have been changed in your area by FEMA and now you need it.  Here's some tips:

First, make sure it really is.  Flood determination shows up in 3 different places on a transaction.  The Appraisal, The Survey, and the lender-ordered flood certificate ("flood cert").  The one that counts is the flood cert.

You can sometimes appeal through either the flood cert company or FEMA with a survey and elevation certificate and sometimes get your determination changed... 

Tim and I have been successful in the past getting the flood waived for some of our clients.  My house is in a flood zone even though at the height of the water after the 3 hurricanes we were still several feet high and dry.  Oh well!

One other tip...if your house is deemed in a flood zone when the lender does a flood cert, be sure to hire a surveyor to do an elevation certificate (if you're in the middle of a purchase, they'll only charge you an extra $75-100 while they're already there anyway, if you have to send them back out, they usually charge more!)

The elevation will show how high you are, and your insurance company will charge different rates based on elevation.  You don't have to have an elevation done, but your insurance company will assume the worst and charge you in the highest category.

Once you get the flood "waived" and you're now NOT in a flood zone, you may still want to buy flood insurance anyways, but it will be really cheap now.  Tim's Grandma had lived in her house for over 50 years and never had a problem, but Ivan had 3 feet of water IN her house, so you never know!