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Right now I'm doing a lot of house hunting online because mostly I'm checking out areas and not ready to buy a house. I was upfront with the online agent who's been incredibly helpful btw.. and told him we might not be purchasing until next year because I have to sell first and he sent me the sweetest response telling me he'd gladly work with us however long it took. I like this agent because he said that. He's not pressuring me like some of the others I dealt with for a short time. I realize this agent is taking time out of his schedule to work with someone knowing there's no guarantee that it will pay off for him so I'd like to stick with him.
At this point I don't expect much from him other than to send me photos of homes in the area's and with the criteria I chose and some area's that he suggested also as we're mostly looking at area and not really for any particular house yet.
My question is.. Some of the homes I'm looking at are near the water. When we do start the house hunting process can I expect him to check to see if they need flood insurance or are in flood zones before we see them or is that my responsibility?
I would expect your Realtor to do a flood zone search, but you should ask for one just in case. When I was a Realtor, my office always included a flood zone search with our listings and for our buyers. It is a simple search and should be expected in most markets.
Thank you both! As part of the criteria for a home I did mention I didn't want to be in a flood zone but I didn't want to come right and ask him if he's actually checking for that. I don't want to be a bother at this point because I feel a little guilty making him do this work with no guarantee of getting paid.
The first online agent I dealt with told me I had to do the checking but she also acted like she wasn't really interested in helping us. After sending me a list of homes, I never heard from her again anyway.
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Your agent can check.
Your surveyor can check, and that is definitive.
You can check.
We are fortunate in Wake County, NC. The County GIS has a flood plain overlay that is fairly accurate.
We also have FRIS, at www.NCFloodmaps.com that is fairly accurate.
But, get a licensed surveyor to hang his license on the flood elevation before closing.
Your agent can check.
Your surveyor can check, and that is definitive.
You can check.
We are fortunate in Wake County, NC. The County GIS has a flood plain overlay that is fairly accurate.
We also have FRIS, at www.NCFloodmaps.com that is fairly accurate. But, get a licensed surveyor to hang his license on the flood elevation before closing.
Absolutely! I will do that before I sign on the dotted line. Thank you.
We'd be paying cash so I can't even rely on the bank to insist I have flood insurance which would be a good indication that the home is in a flood zone..
You, as the buyer, should do your own research on that. What if the agent tells you it is not in the flood zone, and it turns out to be in one? You're going to be mad, right? Do your own research so you are the one responsible in case the information online is inaccurate.
Yes your agent should look it up. Anything that is close to a flood plain, I'm with MikeJ that you should get an elevation certificate done. FEMA has an address lookup with a map overlay so you can generally see where the flood plains are.
Thanks all. I really just wanted to know if that was something an agent would do or if it was too much work for an online agent. For now I'll trust his judgement and check out the area's he suggesting against the FEMA maps, but when it comes down to actually buying I'll check on my own and also get a licensed surveyor not only to make sure I know where my property lines are but to let me know if it's in a flood zone.
I had no idea that surveyors even checked to see if property was in a flood zone. I thought they just checked property lines so thanks for bringing that up.
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