Would you buy flood insurance if your house did not flood this summer? (Houston: mortgage, how much)

[mengembara]

Hello friends,

We (Fiancee and I) recently moved to a small acreage property, with a home, in NW Houston.

Our home did not flood at all through the heavy rains from May 2016 onwards. Areas of the acreage did accumulate water, but the house was dry.

However, this does not mean that we are immune to flooding. So, we are considering whether to buy flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program?

According to the NFIP, our address is at a moderate to low risk of flooding.

Our premium would be $450 a year, and fortunately, we do have some disposable income.

The home structure on our property is valued about $250k.

Should we consider flood insurance? Or is it a not worth it, especially if we made it fine through the rains this year?

I am sure many of you have lived in the Houston area longer than us, some of you may have experience with flood and or flood insurance.

We are relatively new to home ownership, so we appreciate your wisdom.

Thank you,
mengembara

[WRM20]

I would always get flood insurance. We live in one of the least likely to flood places in town, and have flood insurance. Most homes that flooded were not in a flood plain, if the numerous articles are to be believed.

[Cabot]

How many people in Louisiana didn't have flood insurance because they had never flooded before? My house has never flooded but I will always have flood insurance on it. You just never know in Houston.

[ilikeme]

My house has never flooded and I am in a very low risk area, but still have flood insurance just in case.

[mengembara]

Thank you friends.

It seems like flood insurance is a good idea. I have a follow up question, and will post it in the morning.

Thank you,
mengembara

[Oildog]

It's cheap risk reduction

[oespinoza83]

Our family purchased two years ago and if anything it is a good peace of mind for only $450. Like Oildog said, cheap risk reduction.

[turf3]

Use your own judgement. How does the drainage look? Is the house built low? Is it in a creek bottom? Drive and walk around the area and see if it looks like it could flood.

If you decide to get flood insurance, read very carefully the policy including all the various exclusions. I have never had flood insurance (because I don't buy low built houses in creek bottoms), but if you have significant risk and a very low premium, I would smell a potential rat. If you have a very low premium it would indicate you also have a very low risk. If you have a high risk, your premium should be high.

[hendersj31]

Flood Insurance is managed by the government. If you are not in a flood zone it is a fixed rate (low) based on how much you want to cover. Not sure what smelling a rat has to do with flood insurance.

Originally Posted by turf3

Use your own judgement. How does the drainage look? Is the house built low? Is it in a creek bottom? Drive and walk around the area and see if it looks like it could flood.

If you decide to get flood insurance, read very carefully the policy including all the various exclusions. I have never had flood insurance (because I don't buy low built houses in creek bottoms), but if you have significant risk and a very low premium, I would smell a potential rat. If you have a very low premium it would indicate you also have a very low risk. If you have a high risk, your premium should be high.

[77030]

When we had a mortgage on our house, we were required to have flood insurance as we live in a flood plain. We paid the mortgage off many years ago, and have since dropped the flood insurance. Our house has been here since the 1940's, and has never had water in it. Also, our house is clearly a tear down, and our property would be worth more if the house was gone. No reason to insure it. If it floods, we'll just sell the lot and move on.