I am selling my trailer house and 4 acres to a friend. Yesterday he calls me and says the bank called and said part of my house is in a flood zone. I told him I had no idea about that as it has never come close to flooding the house there is a creek you can jump across about. 80 yards from the house. The house.sits quite a bit higher than the creek. He is wanting to know what flood insurance would cost on a 30 thousand dollar house and how would he get it. My homeowners insurance was zero help. Can anybody tell me what they pay? It is in a very rural area.

Not offered in lots of places

It's been a long time since I sold the stuff so I can't tell you about the price. But here is what I know.

Any insurance agent can sell it. It goes through a federally underwritten program administered through private insurance companies. Any decent local independent agent will have access to a market for it. But it's a real pain the rear to deal with and most agents will only sell it as a service to existing customers.

If you cheaped out and bought a policy through an 800 number or .com, then I don't know what to tell you. The mortgage broker could probably tell him where to find a policy.

As I recollect, the coverage isn't much good. It has high deductibles and doesn't cover much of the loss. It mostly benefits mortgage lenders.

Do a duckduckgo.com search on "national flood insurance program" and there is probably a website with directions on how to obtain coverage.


Here: https://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program/How-Buy-Flood-Insurance

I need some of that flood insurance maybe the lake here is up about 70 yards and is about 50 from the back deck it should run over the spillway soon then it will cut its own track through the field and go back down some.

My guess is the bank just happens to sell flood insurance and is jacking him up. Saw the same thing with a friend of mine who live in town on top of a hill. No way in heck it would ever flood up there. There is flood plain, and a flood way.......there is a difference. And "they" go through every once in awhile checking elevations and updating necessary areas that have to be insured.

Lots of flood loss over the last several years just a knee jerk reaction to past losses maybe.

A couple of months ago I paid $590 for 165,000 coverage.

Check with your city or county. FEMA has mapped many areas of the country and the maps show individual pieces of property along with the flood classification of that property. You may have more than one classification on your land depending on the relief and contours of it.

You can call the NFIP (national flood insurance program) and they can provide you with companies that will write flood policies. I buy it through my credit union

Dont build on a flood plain.
Insurance will be high or impossible to get nowadays if you do/did.

Rush says they wanted $200,000/yr to insure his house on the beach in Palm Springs FL so he just plans on rebuilding out of his pocket when it happens.

(What Kart29 said above)

Banks that are FDIC are required to require flood insurance if loaning money on property in flood plane or flood zone.

If your homeowners insurance agent doesn't know how to write flood insurance I think I'd be looking for a different agent.

My guess is $30,000 of coverage will cost around $600 a year.

FEMA has a flood map that will show the risk or lack. Communities apply to the flood program and establish appropriate building codes. You country building inspector can advise. If your property is code compliant, you receive a lower premium than if it is pre-code construction. Steps, decks, and detached buildings are probably not covered. A policy will cover the structure, but not contents, unless content coverage is added. There is a significant deductible also. There are private policies and FEMA policies. I have owned both. I once lived on Hatteras Island in NC. I was also a insurance agent for 15 years. Your coverage should be inexpensive, if required.

Private policies sold in your state can be found with a call to your state insurance commission.

The are the buyers responsibilities, not the sellers. You can not insure a property you do not own.

You need to have a surveyor shoot the elevation of the floor of your home....Shouldn't matter if some of your property is within a 100 or 500 year flood plain.

It's the homes floor elevation that matters.

Some of those FEMA flood plain maps have been proven wrong by surveyors.

That may be the bad thing finding someone that will offer insurance in my area. I have lived there 29 years it has never come close to flooding.

Any agent can sell it. Its a government underwritten policy that originates in Kalispell MT.

If he is paying cash he will not be required to have it. If he is securing a loan the mortgage co may require it.

That’s the same plan I have minus the $200,000.

Counties that have GIS data on-line often have a map layer showing the FEMA flood zone. Might be a place to start to see if flooding is really a problem. Just because part of the property is in the flood zone doesn't mean the house is and you should be able to tell from the map.

I looked at the map and about 3/4 of my house is in a zone a. Part of what they got in it isn't gonna flood unless an old man in a boat with a lot of animals go by. The guy buying the house plans on some day building a home that will need financed. Other than that we could do owner financing.

I used my GPS to figure out the difference between the run over spot at a place down the road and while parked in front of my house, the difference was 40 feet of elevation. The issue was when they put in the interstate the 100 year water drainage was blocked fields were changed and filled in. Don’t see the water getting to the house as once it starts flowing it will erode the field back to the natural level as it cuts a new drainage.