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Re: real estate agents, I would not believe anything they say that they cannot produce & show a piece of proof for. (Sorry real estate agents, but the weakest link of ya's colors it bad for all of ya's. And I have real estate agents in my family...heh heh)
We are looking for homes in an area that is known to flood in winter storms. I know this because I started looking back on news reports online for the area and specifically Googled "flooding" and the name of the town. Revealed a LOT. Which then caused me to seek out flood maps (I believe one gentleman provided a link for that fema site earlier in the thread). Very revealing. Also look up dam sites that have the potential to break or are ancient, upriver.
Wouldn't trust a word a home seller tells you either! Had a seller of a home we were interested in lie like a dog about the flooding, as well as internet connectivity. How do I know this? I ran into the new owner who DID buy the house and everything we were skeptical of, came true!
In short....do as much sleuthing as you can on your own. Also look up all public records on the property you are interested in online and via the City Clerk, using the parcel #. Should show a record of permits pulled to work on the house (if honest contractors worked on the house for any major repairs for previous flood or other damage).
Sounds like you have plenty of evidence to walk away from this deal due to non-disclosure and get your deposit BACK!
Good luck.
Last edited by carolochs; 08-13-2016 at 02:36 PM..
This information should've been disclosed to you. If you are asking if you can back out of the deal over this. Yes, you can.
This couple should talk to their lawyer. By the way the OPs home zip code is 98 feet above sea level. Hey OP if you are reading this, go back to the property and make sure that the land all around your intended house is not higher than yours.
It's not about placing blame. Obviously, someone screwed up. No one here is doing anyone any favors. Everyone is getting paid. It would just be nice if someone would come out and take responsibility. This is people's lives we're talking about.
Correction: nobody is getting paid...unless you go through with the deal knowing that the house is in a flood zone.
I live and work in Washington State, and we have many rivers that can flood in winter. Beyond that, we focus on farm and horse properties, so we often find ourselves looking in rural parts and river valleys.
My normal first stop in investigating a property that a client is interested in, is to see if it's near a creek or river and check out the flood maps. On our MLS, the flood maps are one click away on the mls.... They're not the most accurate, but they will let you know if there is flooding close enough to worry about.
I'm curious, your post 10 says you were shown the seller's flood policy. When? If you and your realtor have had conversations about flooding and you know there is a flood policy then it would seem to me both you and your realtor had at least some disclosure that there is a flood zone here. What were those conversations? Where is the river in relation to your property?
If this is a problem you don't want to live with, I don't blame you, but the most important thing is not figuring out whether the seller or lender or realtor or God is most responsible, it's getting yourself out of the contract before it closes. Are you still within contingency periods? Call your realtor. Read your contract. Good luck finding something else.
I have learned- never take anyone's word for anything, esp a NY realtor- check it out for yourself. Your realtor was well aware this home is or at least could be in the flood zone, but knew that info would deter you. You have to do your own homework, always, but most first time homeowners are not aware of this. You will totally be able to get out of this contract, especially if you have it in writing- your realtor telling you the home did not need flood insurance. If you asked him to check with selling agent and he said he did- he should be reported. Get a new agent.
The house in Lindenwood, Queens. There are two agents involved. The sellers decided to give us the $500. This is the norm in NYC.
We got a copy of the sellers flood policy and they knew they were in a mandatory flood zone. They're paying a lot less because they've had the policy for 11 years. We can be grandfathered in, but we'll get the price they're paying which is $1200 for 1 year. It goes up to almost $3K after that.
You can go to FEMA's website and put in the address to see if you're in a flood zone and what zone you're in.
I'd just like to know who should be taking the blame on this. I'm sure the bank doesn't just drop this on you right before setting a closing date.
How about the issue with the interest rate ?
As Falconhead said.
Also, the loan would have been locked in a month to two months before the closing. Since it closed already and you are still working on your closing date it looks like that loan was gotten some time ago. They change quickly.
I don't get why he told me not to tell her that advice came from him. Isn't he responsible to get me the best deal possible ? Or is that just for the price of the home ?
I asked him about the flood zone affecting the price of the home and it appreciating in the future. He said he doesn't think so but again, realtors work on commission.
Out here being in a flood plain negatively affects property value with a few exceptions. Because FEMA is billions in debt they will have to raise flood rates until they are solvent. There is no guarantee that the $3k you were quoted for the jump will stay that way. Flood insurance increases were supposed to happen over a few years to slow increase the rate.
I would call your state FEMA person and find out if that $3k is the cap for your base flood elevation or not.
I live and work in Washington State, and we have many rivers that can flood in winter. Beyond that, we focus on farm and horse properties, so we often find ourselves looking in rural parts and river valleys.
My normal first stop in investigating a property that a client is interested in, is to see if it's near a creek or river and check out the flood maps. On our MLS, the flood maps are one click away on the mls.... They're not the most accurate, but they will let you know if there is flooding close enough to worry about.
I'm curious, your post 10 says you were shown the seller's flood policy. When? If you and your realtor have had conversations about flooding and you know there is a flood policy then it would seem to me both you and your realtor had at least some disclosure that there is a flood zone here. What were those conversations? Where is the river in relation to your property?
If this is a problem you don't want to live with, I don't blame you, but the most important thing is not figuring out whether the seller or lender or realtor or God is most responsible, it's getting yourself out of the contract before it closes. Are you still within contingency periods? Call your realtor. Read your contract. Good luck finding something else.
We got a copy of their policy on Thursday. We found out on Wednesday that we needed flood insurance from the bank.
Are banks always suppose to provide a good faith estimate ? What information do banks gather to make a GFE ? Is the flood insurance something that would of came up ?
Out here being in a flood plain negatively affects property value with a few exceptions. Because FEMA is billions in debt they will have to raise flood rates until they are solvent. There is no guarantee that the $3k you were quoted for the jump will stay that way. Flood insurance increases were supposed to happen over a few years to slow increase the rate.
I would call your state FEMA person and find out if that $3k is the cap for your base flood elevation or not.
While I was researching I read about that. It's also something we're worried about in the future.
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