Elevation question for flood insurance (Atlantic Beach: real estate, lender, hotel)

[Palladin23]

Does anyone have insight into the newly designated areas that moved from Flood zone X to Flood zone AE? We are considering a house in Atlantic Beach but the sellers don't have an elevation certificate since previously they were zone X.

Our real estate agent is telling us we have to pay for an elevation certificate since we're the ones who would need it for insurance purposes. Our contention is that we'd like to know approximate premiums before we make an offer. If it's going to be too high, why waste our and the sellers' time only for us to back out?

Any advice from recent home buyers or sellers?

Many thanks.

[SandyJet]

Originally Posted by Palladin23

Does anyone have insight into the newly designated areas that moved from Flood zone X to Flood zone AE? We are considering a house in Atlantic Beach but the sellers don't have an elevation certificate since previously they were zone X.

Our real estate agent is telling us we have to pay for an elevation certificate since we're the ones who would need it for insurance purposes. Our contention is that we'd like to know approximate premiums before we make an offer. If it's going to be too high, why waste our and the sellers' time only for us to back out?

Any advice from recent home buyers or sellers?

Many thanks.

My friends place is zone AE property where you can see boardwalk from front lawn and pays $600 a year. The place has a basement so with an EC the rate would be very high. But it is pre-firm grandfathered.

My home is a zone x now a zone AE coded as a PRP EE prefirm so I pay $550 a year also with basement.

if house is grandfathered and a primary or post firm the EC wont matter much.

If post firm could be elevation rated already

[SandyJet]

BTW ask for a copy of current owners flood policy and quote it that way. It is the most quickest way. If owner wont give you a copy of current flood policy something is fishy.

[Palladin23]

Thanks for the advice!

[jbean1234]

Have you spoken with an insurance agent/broker? Most can give you an estimated quote based upon the homes address and will of course factor in the flood zone. Here are some companies that write flood policies in FL: Flood Insurance Writers in Florida

[Texas Ag 93]

Going through something similar with a home purchase in Houston. The property is waterfront (on Clear Lake if you are familiar with the area at all). Also zoned AE. The seller did not have a current elevation certificate and we were adamant he get one at his own cost. With many of the homes we looked at, the agent provided a copy of the EC proactively. As you pointed out, we felt as though we needed to have a ballpark idea of insurance costs prior to even making an offer.

We did go into contract and close on 6/17. We have not finalized insurance, but the quote for flood insurance was just under $500 a year and that was at the 250K federal max. However, our lender led us to believe we might need to have up to full replacement cost coverage, which will be about $1,500. Don't think that is accurate though, because even if your house floods, it doesn't float away after all....I think our total cost will be somewhere in the middle.

For us, the big cost, though, is Wind and Hail. Cost will be about 6K for the house we are buying and that is with a 2% deductible. Ouch.

I was also somewhat surprised to find out that insurance on waterfront property can sometimes be less than homes slightly inland because often, many people in those areas are more inclined to go without insurance, thereby increasing risk to the insurers when/if something happens. We saw plenty of homes that were zoned AE that were not waterfront.

[SandyJet]

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

Going through something similar with a home purchase in Houston. The property is waterfront (on Clear Lake if you are familiar with the area at all). Also zoned AE. The seller did not have a current elevation certificate and we were adamant he get one at his own cost. With many of the homes we looked at, the agent provided a copy of the EC proactively. As you pointed out, we felt as though we needed to have a ballpark idea of insurance costs prior to even making an offer.

We did go into contract and close on 6/17. We have not finalized insurance, but the quote for flood insurance was just under $500 a year and that was at the 250K federal max. However, our lender led us to believe we might need to have up to full replacement cost coverage, which will be about $1,500. Don't think that is accurate though, because even if your house floods, it doesn't float away after all....I think our total cost will be somewhere in the middle.

For us, the big cost, though, is Wind and Hail. Cost will be about 6K for the house we are buying and that is with a 2% deductible. Ouch.

I was also somewhat surprised to find out that insurance on waterfront property can sometimes be less than homes slightly inland because often, many people in those areas are more inclined to go without insurance, thereby increasing risk to the insurers when/if something happens. We saw plenty of homes that were zoned AE that were not waterfront.

I am almost two miles from Ocean several blocks from the nearest small canal and got several feet in the house during Sandy. I am zoned AE now and was X up till around 2009 and house or block has never flooded since it was built in 1954.

It is not distance to water is is BFE that kills you. Turns out although I am not close to water I am only like BFE of 11 so when that wave came in it covered everything. Water stopped a few blocks North of me.

Flooding on a lake is limited. But flooding in an extreme event like Sandy which is a once in 712 year event is something different.

I was watching the news when Sandy hit and I was home, the reporter was on the boardwalk in Long Beach all at once the water breached the boardwalk, the reporter who was in a hotel lobby at the time litterally you heard RUN RUN, and HOLY Sh@T and camera cut out. At that point I jumped up to move stuff and within 3 minutes I had five feet of water in my house. Yep between 4-7 deep was water for two miles. Later I found out the hotel had a plate glass window in front and back for view of Ocean, no one was hurt but right after everyone made it upstairs a minute or two later a single wave blew threw the plate glass window flew through lobby and took grand piano and furniture right through back plate glass window and street and just kept going to it hit my house. That wave knocked my BMW right out of my driveway into neighbors fence.

Lakes are nice. But I learned hard way distance to water is not a big factor. The raised homes in Long Beach had zero water. The wave just shot by right under them and flat on ground houses two miles away got distroyed.