Considering buying a home in an AE Flood Zone (HOA, insurance)

[Danielle0587]

I am considering buying a home that was recently flooded in a 100 year flood, and in an AE Flood Zone is this a bad idea? Or is resale going to be ok in the future once the stigma has worn off?


Home has never been flooded until the May floods. Home is move in ready and in our initial offer we got them to leave ALL appliances which are new, including the washer/dryer & they are paying closing. There was only 2 inches of water in the actual house the rest obviously was in the crawl space but was all renovated. We are concerned that we will not be able to sell it in the future as it has been on the market for about 2 months and we are the first and only offer. Any advice is helpful!!

This is the link to the property. (sorry don't know how to imbed)

2136]2136 RIVERWAY DRIVE, Old Hickory TN 37138, MLS #1267839, Weichert.com

[mlp206]

If a home is in the flood plane it will require flood insurance ( your lender will require it ) it is expensive and can be a turn off for potential buyers. If it continues to flood during heavy rain the possible problems will be structural and mold. Have you had a home inspection done? If not please do..I can't stress this enough. This will reveal any hidden problems the home may have due to water intrusion. It is likely that the home will continue to have water intrusion although not to the severity we had last May..but then we never thought that would happen either..best of luck to you.

[Kevin south of Nashville]

It’s a tough call on the potential for a stigmatized property. Right now, if it flooded, it’s stigmatized.

My feeling is that this may continue to be the case for a few more years. The week after the 2010 May flood, I spoke with a panel of agents in Ohio that had seen similar flooding a decade earlier. The most surprising information that they shared? The property values in areas that had flooded were indistinguishable from similar properties that did not receive damage just 4 or 5 years later. It somehow doesn’t seem logical to me one year later in Nashville, but that’s what happened in their market.

If you have similar choices without flood damage (which I know is harder than many people believe in such a competitive price range), I’d still go in that direction, but if you feel there is strong value for the money and you’ll be there several years…

[Danielle0587]

Originally Posted by mlp206

If a home is in the flood plane it will require flood insurance ( your lender will require it ) it is expensive and can be a turn off for potential buyers. If it continues to flood during heavy rain the possible problems will be structural and mold. Have you had a home inspection done? If not please do..I can't stress this enough. This will reveal any hidden problems the home may have due to water intrusion. It is likely that the home will continue to have water intrusion although not to the severity we had last May..but then we never thought that would happen either..best of luck to you.

Yea the turn off of flood insurance could be a big factor for potential buyers like u said ....The HOA requires that everybody in the neighborhood have flood insurance. I got a quote from my insurance company and without having them install flood vents my premium would be much higher than if I were to have the current owners install them. We have put the offer on hold right now so no home inspection yet but it is definitely #1 on our list! We visited the property after a few days of rain and there wasn't any standing water that we could see so I think that is a good sign as far as mold etc.....Thanks!!

[Danielle0587]

Originally Posted by Kevin south of Nashville

It’s a tough call on the potential for a stigmatized property. Right now, if it flooded, it’s stigmatized.

My feeling is that this may continue to be the case for a few more years. The week after the 2010 May flood, I spoke with a panel of agents in Ohio that had seen similar flooding a decade earlier. The most surprising information that they shared? The property values in areas that had flooded were indistinguishable from similar properties that did not receive damage just 4 or 5 years later. It somehow doesn’t seem logical to me one year later in Nashville, but that’s what happened in their market.

If you have similar choices without flood damage (which I know is harder than many people believe in such a competitive price range), I’d still go in that direction, but if you feel there is strong value for the money and you’ll be there several years…

Wow that's crazy about that Ohio property values! I had never heard of that and I have been doing some research on the effect it might have so that's something interesting to hear!......Unfortunately all of our choices besides one other property that we just looked at, which is much smaller but NOT in a flood zone, have all been sold or we have been outbid on them but, yea if we are to come across other options I think the consistency is that we should go for those regardless of how much we like this one.

[BirdieBelle]

If you look at it on the map, it is on a riverbend. That is the only thing that makes me nervous. A 100-year flood plain is different than a thousand-year flood plain, too.

We live on a flood plain and are required to buy flood insurance. But somehow we didn't flood last May. Flood insurance IS expensive, and being in a flood plain limits what additional construction you can do to the house. It is a dealbreaker for many home buyers for a reason.

I would think long and hard about it. And have a really excellent inspector, not to try and get a brand-new house out of it but just to check that any water damage was taken care of.

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by Danielle0587

I am considering buying a home that was recently flooded in a 100 year flood, and in an AE Flood Zone is this a bad idea? Or is resale going to be ok in the future once the stigma has worn off?


Home has never been flooded until the May floods. Home is move in ready and in our initial offer we got them to leave ALL appliances which are new, including the washer/dryer & they are paying closing. There was only 2 inches of water in the actual house the rest obviously was in the crawl space but was all renovated. We are concerned that we will not be able to sell it in the future as it has been on the market for about 2 months and we are the first and only offer. Any advice is helpful!!

This is the link to the property. (sorry don't know how to imbed)

2136]2136 RIVERWAY DRIVE, Old Hickory TN 37138, MLS #1267839, Weichert.com

[DonCorleone]

The only advice I'll offer is are you the kind of person that is prone to worry? Personally, I am. And if I lived in a 100 year flood plain and a few days of hard rain (a la May 1, 2010) came along, I'd be extremely nervous every time. That's just me. I prefer not to live in an area where I'm going to worry about things like that. But if you are not a worry-wort, and get all the necessary insurance, inspections, etc, then that's a different story.