Sed confidunt verificare
Doveryai, No proveryai
Trust but verify
Attributed to being a Russian proverb and made famous by Ronald Reagan in the cold war, this saying cost me over $7,000 and 2 and 1/2 months of delays.
If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember my story about FEMA and flood zones. If not, go read the story FEMA, I’ll wait for you………
OK, done? So in the preparation for selling our current project on Hawkins Ave, I called my surveyor and asked him what it would cost for him to do an Elevation Certificate. Insurance companies like these for flood zone houses, even if it’s a pre-FIRM house (built before flood zone maps existed). This house was built in 1886, long before flood zones were defined. His going rate is $500. As a favor I asked him to come do a preliminary check on my house because on the flood zone maps we are about 40 feet from the edge of the FEMA zone map boundary and we seem to be higher than the street where the boundary sits.
Long story short, THE HOUSE IS NOT IN THE FLOOD ZONE. ARGGGGGHHH!!!!! I trusted FEMA and didn’t verify their data. I didn’t learn until a few weeks ago that you could even contest the FEMA maps. We can fill out a LOMA (Letter Of Map Amendment) and be clear.
Anyway, I believe in paying it forward so I hope that you too can learn from my hard earned experience about flood zones.
Yes, you can flip houses in flood zones and yes, you can contest FEMA.
Stay tuned for the results of our applications……..
Cheers,
Charles