IS THIS HOME IN A FLOOD ZONE?
This is a common question you may hear from your clients while home shopping. While the insurance company and FEMA maps can identify this for insurance purposes, there is another interactive website available to determine the risk of flooding, developed by a nonprofit research firm called the First Street Foundation . According to an article in Realtor Magazine, the National Association of Realtors is "reviewing hundreds of pages about the scientific methods and data contained within the report and looks forward to learning more." This site, uses more progressive criteria such as "current climate data, future sea level rises, and increased rainfall-related risks due to climate change". While this tool is not to determine insurance needs, it can give more insight into areas prone to flooding, whether or not they are technically in a FEMA map "flood zone". This information can be helpful to share with your clients for them to further research, so as to make an informed decision when purchasing a home.
See the links for full article in Realtor Magazine, and for the First Street Foundations interactive site.