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Old 03-21-2007, 12:21 PM
 
713 posts, read 2,659,918 times
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My opinion is to get a house on a bit of a hill not one on flat land. We know people who live in SH for decades and we are in Spring Hill and have not seen any sink holes. However, I have heard of one instance and the city/county payed the homeowners off and they are buying another house there so it can't be that bad. The other instance was rumor for the house is still standing. But both were on flat ground. Build on a heap of hard packed, settled land and you should be okay. The plus is the area gets very little hurricane action but be sure to get storm shutters. Our new house comes equipped with storm shutters.
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Old 03-21-2007, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Oklahoma City
74 posts, read 346,161 times
Reputation: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by House4Sale View Post
My opinion is to get a house on a bit of a hill not one on flat land. We know people who live in SH for decades and we are in Spring Hill and have not seen any sink holes. However, I have heard of one instance and the city/county payed the homeowners off and they are buying another house there so it can't be that bad. The other instance was rumor for the house is still standing. But both were on flat ground. Build on a heap of hard packed, settled land and you should be okay. The plus is the area gets very little hurricane action but be sure to get storm shutters. Our new house comes equipped with storm shutters.
I've also been looking at the Spring Hill area as well as Homasassa and Palm Coast areas. All of my possibilities appear to have higher instances of sink holes. Darn! So do you know if it's standard practice for the city/county to absorb the cost of a sinkhole on private property and is there such a thing as "sink hole" insurance? Thanks....
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Old 03-21-2007, 06:56 PM
 
251 posts, read 882,379 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by House4Sale View Post
My opinion is to get a house on a bit of a hill not one on flat land. We know people who live in SH for decades and we are in Spring Hill and have not seen any sink holes. However, I have heard of one instance and the city/county payed the homeowners off and they are buying another house there so it can't be that bad. The other instance was rumor for the house is still standing. But both were on flat ground. Build on a heap of hard packed, settled land and you should be okay. The plus is the area gets very little hurricane action but be sure to get storm shutters. Our new house comes equipped with storm shutters.
Sinkholes have nothing to do with your house being built on a hill or flat land it has to do with what is under the surface. Also I think it is a rumor that you heard of the county paid the homeowners off for a sinkhole house. I am friends with several of the Hernando County Commissioners and when I called one of them to ask about that she just giggled.
The question and answer below is from the Department of Enviormental Protection's website. You might want to visit it to get all the answers on sinkholes in Florida before you move here.

Is there a safe area of Florida in which to live with no chance of sinkholes? back to top
Technically no. Since the entire state is underlain by carbonate rocks, sinkholes could theoretically form anywhere. However, there are definite regions where sinkhole risk is considerably higher. In general, areas of the state where limestone is close to surface, or areas with deeper limestone but with a conducive configuration of water table elevation, stratigraphy, and aquifer characteristics have increased sinkhole activity. The Florida sinkhole location map (link button) shows the distribution of reported sinkholes statewide, and gives a rough idea where some of the increased risk areas may be located. There are countless more sinks statewide than are shown on this map. The sinkhole type and occurrence map (link) provides additional information on sinkholes statewide.
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Old 03-21-2007, 11:02 PM
 
713 posts, read 2,659,918 times
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Default I'm only repeating what the homeowner told me.

If the land underneath is solid, it won't sink and a home higher on a hill fairs better than one in a swampy lot with recent fill as the fill will level more than land that is established and hard packed and on a hill. I know I'd pick hard, higher lot than wet and recently filled lot. Lot of the lower lots we looked at were very wet and just get filled but are not there for a long time nor hard and firm.
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Old 03-21-2007, 11:07 PM
 
713 posts, read 2,659,918 times
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Default Also, why have sinkhole insurance if it doesn't pay??

I've lived in FL for 20+ years and have friends and aquaintances there too. None of them have sink holes. Perhaps it was her insurance co. and not county/city who paid her but she did get her sink hole property home bought off her or taken off her hands and she was purchasing another home in the area.

Last edited by House4Sale; 03-21-2007 at 11:15 PM.. Reason: Aded to it
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Old 03-22-2007, 08:50 AM
 
Location: NY/ FL
267 posts, read 1,137,424 times
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My sister-in-law had a sinkhole where she lived in Beverly Hills. Her insurance company paid her and then in turn she was able to sell her house as well.

We are moving to Spring Hill - we actually close today. The way I look at it, a sinkhole is a possibility anywhere in Fl. Maybe they do happen more in some places than others. But what am I going to do? Not take a chance on a house that I love in a community that I love just because there have been sink holes in the area? I could quite possibly live in that house for 20 years with nothing happening.
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Old 03-22-2007, 08:56 AM
 
251 posts, read 882,379 times
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These were both Florida Houses, one was in Lake City and the other near Orlando. Yes they can happen anywhere. The Lake City home, is the one with the sinkhole in the front yard, there was another smaller 12 foot sinkhole in the back yard also.
Attached Thumbnails
Spring Hill Info??-sinkhole030205a.jpg   Spring Hill Info??-total-collapse-sinkhole.jpg  
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:46 AM
 
3 posts, read 10,130 times
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Wink Spring hills sink holes.

I am going to Fl. this week to look for a home and really liked some in Spring Hills. After stumbling on this blog I am questioning wether I should stay in Ma. where it is cold in the winter, a bit safer , my homeowners ins. is under $1000 and taxes are under $2000.
"Hernando: Rains bring a dozen sinkholes to Spring Hill"
http://www.sptimes.com/News/07130/Hernando/Rains_bring_a_dozen_s.shtml (broken link)

It amazed me how people living in FLorida who wrote all this about Spring Hill really would want to move to Fl. at all. I noticed quite a few house on the market that have really dropped in price because of stuctural damage. I am assuming a sink hole but they don't put that in the info. You have to ask a realtor for that info. I was never told by the realtor about the sink hole problem and have been working with him a couple months. It makes a peson wonder how much more they will not say for a sale!!

Any advice or input would be grately appreciated. Ronda
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Old 04-29-2007, 08:02 AM
 
Location: Lakeland, FL
523 posts, read 2,821,792 times
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What are you paying for your house? I doubt your taxes will be 2000.
More like 3500 or more. Spring Hill is far out. If you work there , and have family there I would move there. Lots of people bought out there because tampa got to expensive to buy in . But not close enough to interstate for me.
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Old 04-29-2007, 06:47 PM
 
1,080 posts, read 4,571,503 times
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Default Sinkholes

Right now as I type there are exactly 6 active sinkholes in Spring Hill, there's a house on my block with voids under the house 37 to be exact.....yet, they are not sinkholes but voids under the property that can in time become sinkholes, the house was sold to an investor for dirt cheap, rented and the people that rented bought it saying that because the can open their windows it can't be a possible sinkhole house, they never had the ground tested either.

Many years ago, near Horizon Drive a whole house/car everything fell into a huge sinkhole, today you drive by and you see a depressed area that looks like a swail. No one would know that maybe 400 ft down there is a whole house. Last year, a whole block opened up, swallowed front yards and driveways all because a new house on the block was drilling a well. It can happen anywhere, anytime, its a way of life here in good ole Fl.

I'm paying $4,500 a year for homeowners insurance with Citizens, property
taxes are well over $2,000. Another thing to remember is that tacked onto the price of a new house is "impact fees" that are paid to the county for roads, schools, fire/police, all county supplied services, these fees add another $20,000 to the price of a new home.

Also water restrictions are now in place because Hernando Cty is using too much water, because of all the new building of homes, you can water only 1 day a week, before 8 AM or after 6 PM......according to your address number
for new lawns you can water everyday for 60 days then its back to 1 day.
Water is also getting a little expensive, its on a sliding scale and if you have sewers thats added onto your bill.

Hope this helps..........sorry to say but realtors are in business to sell houses and while there are many that are really good (some are personal friends), others want to put that commission in there pocket, and will not tell you the
whole truth, you have to keep asking questions, ask, ask and keep asking.

Good luck in your search.
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