Flood zone "A" is the area most likely to flood. If the house was built inside Zone "A", give this information to your insurance agent and ask for a flood quote before making your offer. You'll likely need an elevation certificate from a land surveyor to determine the rate.

Take into consideration that if the house is in Zone "A", it may be harder to sell one day. Find out if the house ever flooded. Ask further questions and proceed cautiously.

Thu Jul 24 2008, 06:34

Hi Bill,
Just wanted to add that after tonights storms you may want to check the basement of that house again to see how well it's dealing with Water.- Good luck. Karen

Wed Jul 23 2008, 18:58

Hi Bill,

Being in a flood zone will effect your insurance premiums. You will be required to obtain floor insurance on top of the home insurance which is mandatory. As mentioned by the Florida realtors, you always have the chance of flooding in the house which may incure extra expenses. If you are realy interested in the house I would bring an expert in drainage to look at it as part of your inspection and let them give you their honest opinion about how bad is the problem of flooding in that perticular home. As far as negotiations you should ask your realtor to prepare a comperative market analysis for the house and then factor the flood zone into it. The fact the house is in a flood zone does not necessarily means its beeing flooded everytime you have a storm. The previous owners may have taken care of the flooding issues by adding sump pumps or regraiding, putting retaining walls or other means. Each home is different and your best bet in making the decision is to speak with an expert in that field. I believe going to the extra expense of hiring a professional first may pay off in the future.

Lots of luck to you and if you need any further assistanct in locating such experts you may contact me or my partner Sharon via our email SharonandKaren@prunewjersey.com

Karen Abramson

Wed Jul 23 2008, 18:56

Call your insurance company, theyre the one who will be jacking up the premiums..

like the did us in Louisiana!

Wed Jul 23 2008, 18:13

Florida is also a state that is impacted by flood zones. The primary consideration is the immediate and potential future insurance costs and of course the possible partial or complete destruction of your property as a result of flood damage. For many years, the federal flood insurance program administered by FEMA made flood insurance reasonably affordable for homes in flood zones because the risk was spread nationwide. Now, however, there have been recent modifications to the way these flood insurance policies work. If you have a loss that is partially or wholly paid by FEMA, then there is a steep increase in the insurance rates charged for that particular property depending on the amount paid out for a claim. The idea is to force the properties that have more frequent losses to pay more for continuing to live in the same flood prone area. Some flood zones are considered more flood prone than others, usually expressed by the number of years expected between floods, for example "a hundred year flood plain."

FEMA is in the process of re-evaluating some areas and their expected risk. For example, newer building codes require homes built there to be built higher than the original lot elevation while older homes may have been built on the original lot elevation. In these cases, the current flood rating may be erroneous. In Florida there are many subdivisions that feature a small "lake" which is actually a retention pond for water runoff in that community. The land that was dug up for the lake is then used to elevate the building slab a number of feet higher. The retention pond also allows fertilizer-laden rain water to collect in the pond and gradually seep down in a purer form into the water table rather than run off directly into the environmentally sensitive Intracoastal waterway lagoon.

Wed Jul 23 2008, 17:33