Riverstone price is increasing (Houston, Austin: construction, deed, cabinets)

[mikeyyc]

Originally Posted by swopoe

I am thinking about that last paragraph of yours. I just bought flood insurance yesterday. $450 like you said. I also live in a section of Riverstone that flooded but my house did not. Yes, I do have piece of mind that if we flood I have the financial coverage I would need. But I don't feel completely good. What if I want to sell my house? I didn't flood but neighbors in my section did. That will affect my property values and perceptions of my house. Who will want to buy here? Also, even with financial protection from the insurance, my husband and I don't feel completely physically safe. What if the neighborhood floods again? We were evacuated by boat. We don't ever want to go through that again. We love our neighborhood, but do we sleep completely well at night. Nope.

Agreed, but as I mentioned previously, people are goldfish. They won't remember six months from now. They certainly won't remember as there becomes more and more development.


What I remember is laying awake after we were evacuated, checking the Brazos river gauge every hour to see if I was going to be ok, or financially devastated. No I didn't like the other stressors, yes I'm worried about future values, but based on sales that have been happening as recently as this month, there's little to no impact, at least in Sienna, but the financial stress would do me in if I went through it again.

[ftbend06]

Originally Posted by SugLandDAd

What happened in Sugar Land wasn’t a 500 year rain event.



While the highest rainfall amounts in the Houston area were indeed record setting, the amount of rain Sugar Land received during Hurricane Harvey was about 36 inches, and wasn’t unprecedented.



During Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, before Riverstone was built, there were areas of Houston received similar amounts of rainfall. It wasn’t unpredictable, it had already happened.


Rain Gauge totals from Allison (look at appendix A)


https://www.weather.gov/media/public...ts/allison.pdf


Rain Gauge totals from Harvey



https://communityimpact.com/houston/...-storm-harvey/


http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc1.html

Based on the amount of rain that fell over multiple days yes it was definitely a >500 year flood overall including in Ft Bend County. Believe it or not it is not based on what did or did not happen in the past. Whether it's a 100 or 500 year event is based on the likelihood of it happening. Unfortunately there are places and incidences of 500 year floods multiples times in a short period of time (i.e., <500 years). Sounds like it should be wrong but it's technically true.

[dasaab]

Would you guys consider buying a flooded house in RS after it was all repaired and a new construction? RS said they will be making adjustments in place for this to not happen again, not even if the house flooded, just street. Would you guys consider buying knowing this will not happen again? I mean, in a way it's good it happened, now they know how to fix it and prevent it from happening again. Right?

[swopoe]

Originally Posted by dasaab

Would you guys consider buying a flooded house in RS after it was all repaired and a new construction? RS said they will be making adjustments in place for this to not happen again, not even if the house flooded, just street. Would you guys consider buying knowing this will not happen again? I mean, in a way it's good it happened, now they know how to fix it and prevent it from happening again. Right?

Where did you hear that Riverstone is making adjustments? That I would like to know.

[dasaab]

Originally Posted by swopoe

Where did you hear that Riverstone is making adjustments? That I would like to know.

Builders

[swopoe]

Originally Posted by dasaab

Builders

Really? I live here in a neighborhood that flooded (my house did not flood) and I would love confirmation of that. What builders? What section do you want to buy in?

[dasaab]

You can check with perry homes. They are doing assessments right now to fix the problem.

[Astoriahoney]

Riverstone is so gross especially in comparison to The Avalon Village or Palm Royale.

[TotallyTexasBound]

Before buying I'd recommend viewing the videos on Youtube from the recent Riverstone LID meeting - they discuss doing an After-Action-Report to determine the root cause of the flooding and determining if there is anything that can be done to ensure it doesn't happen in the future. From what I gathered from watching the videos (there are 5 hours in total - a lot of questions and it got heated at times, but you only need to watch the first hour or two), there was more water coming through Steep Bank Creek than the pumps could handle and it didn't sound like it was feasible to install more pumps.

A few things to consider before buying
- The vast majority of Riverstone didn't flood and the area that did flood is probably one of the least desirable sections of Riverstone (farthest location from highways, Missouri City, ETJ, not the best builders)
- This was a 500-year event, meaning there is a 0.2% chance it to happening in any given year, and given that the area is outside of the 100-year floodplain buyers should be able to get flood insurance (and at less than $500 per year, I don't know why anyone living inside a levee would not get insurance)
- The developers / LID may make some changes that reduce the flood potential in the future. However, I wouldn't trust anything the builders say - you must do your own due diligence
- Home prices in the area will suffer now and into the future - people without insurance may downgrade the amenities in their home (cabinets, appliances) or have shoddy work done, resulting in lower comps when those homes hit the market
- LID taxes may increase - if home prices fall, taxes will have to increase to pay the debt service on the bonds, and any repairs to the levee or pumps may require additional bond issuances to resolve if material.
- This area will continue to be flood prone, in spite of the actions of the LID & Developer. It is in a subsidence zone, meaning that it will continue to sink and the protection now provided by the levee will weaken. Additionally, further development upstream, both in Steep Bank Creek and the Brazos River will increase runoff and reduce the capacity of those waterways.

I would buy down there if the price is right as it is a beautiful neighborhood with great amenities. However, at current prices there are much nicer neighborhoods in Sugar Land (albeit older) which have lower taxes, better quality homes and significantly lower flood risk.

[Houston321]

[i]- The developers / LID may make some changes that reduce the flood potential in the future. However, I wouldn't trust anything the builders say - they'll lie to their own mother to sell a home.

Pretty offensive quote there. Many of us that sell new homes are fathers and mothers who also live in the same neighborhoods you do. Builders are customers to the developers...the developers "develop" the land, the builders buy the land from the developers. Most everything you need to know is in the deed restrictions, builder guidelines, and contract paperwork, but most buyers like you never read them. Most successful builders work on referrals, meaning we take care of our customers to ensure they buy from us again, and again, and recommend us to their friends and family.