Lender and flood insurance

[James Tatlow]

Hi BP -

I have encountered an odd situation that I want to run past the community.  

I have 2 duplexes under contract.  They are right next door to each other but are on separate APNs so the sale is being treated as two separate transactions.  I heard that another property in the neighborhood fell out of escrow because the lender was requiring flood insurance so I reached out to my insurance provider to get an estimate. The quote came back very expensive, expensive enough to be a deal killer.

I called my lender to find out if the loans would require flood insurance.  Their response was that one property would and the other would not!  I don't understand how this could be possible.  They are currently investigating why this is the case.

I guess i don't really have a question, just wanted to see if anyone had any insight.

Thanks!

[Bill Gulley]

The top of the lowest part of the foundation must be 1 foot above the flood plain, if you house is in a flood plain but built on a mound or hill, a "spot elevation" by a surveyor is worth the engineer's assessment. You can usually study the topography in the area and tell if the subject property improvements are in peril. :)