The flood insurance world is constantly changing. You have flood maps being changed every year, you have new floodplain management guidelines, and you have rates all over the board.

 

Today we want to look at roles a realtor could play. Many people do not realize that realtors can play a major role in the flood insurance world. You have these different lobbyist groups pushing for change and you have some fighting change in Washington D.C.

So let's first look at how the flood insurance world could be impacted by realtors?

Let's start with a story from about a year ago where a realtor listed a property and sold a property in a special flood hazard area.

About 6 months after the new homeowner moved in the property flooded. After the flood claim the property owner got a notice that this was the 6th flood claim on the property.

However when they bought the property they had been told it flooded one time with less than 1 inch of water.

Now this property owner could have a very difficult time selling this property. This is one of the exact situations why Texas created a new property disclosure law in September 2019. After the hurricanes hit Houston many people were not disclosing all the facts and people were buying properties without knowing they had flooded.

As you can imagine if you were a potential buyer you may not buy a property that had flooded before.

Now let's look at another scenario where a realtor disclosed the proper information. The potential home buyer was able to work with FEMA and local flood plain manager to make sure the flood threat was minimized in the future. Even though this property had flooded 10 times before the risk has now been significantly lowered.

As you can see both of these scenarios could have an impact on flood insurance. One could cause claims to continue to be paid out and another could cause claims to be minimized.

You could see why the National Flood Insurance Program is close to broke and why rates can be very high.

Realtors work very hard every day to get properties sold. Many people do not realize that realtors do not get paid if a property does not sell.

So as you can imagine having properties listed in special flood hazard areas can create some significant obstacles.

This is why it's so important to make potential buyers understand what the flood insurance options are and how to minimize the flooding.

We see this in the Homewood Alabama area everyday. This is one of the most desirable areas to live in Birmingham Alabama. However if you don't know what to look for can also be one of the most expensive areas when it comes to flood insurance.

We see people in this area paying more than $5000 every year simply because they did not know how to minimize the flood threat which could help their flood insurance premiums.

So if you have questions about how to minimize the threat of flooding on your property or the flood insurance options, then click here.

Remember we have an educational background in flood mitigation. Which means we are here to help you understand flood risks, flood insurance, and mitigating your property against flooding.