What would be better?

Question

Jim K. · Answer

@Kevin Kong

I think the trenches you're talking about are called French drains.

But if this is your first foray into real estate investing...wow, that's a heavy-duty project that's putting the cart before the horse. The other thing I would also ask you to think about would be climate change. Do you really think that current flooding levels are going to stay steady or is there a high probability that they will they get significantly worse in the years ahead?If you saw that this property flooded to 10 inches a few years ago, what's to stop it from flooding to 16 inches during the next "once-in-a-century" storm that, wonder of wonders, comes along in in the 2020s?

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Kevin Kong, I would also be concerned about the insurance for this house.  If you haven't gotten a bid on that yet, I would.

From there, I agree with Jim.  Not only does this sound like a massive under taking, but I would be curious what the cost is.  Stilts, pumping 24 inches of concrete under a house to raise it up.  That all sounds like a 6 figure endeavor.

And along with Jim's comment: I toured the Farnsworth House many years ago.  When it was built in 1951, the stilts placed above the 100 yr flood plain.  It flooded in 1954, 1996, 1997, and 2008.  So the 100 yr flood plain was breached 4 times in 70 years, including 3 yrs after completion.  And there have been many other times that waters got very close to the finished areas.

The little info I have on this property, I would steer clear, personally.

Kevin Kong · Answer

Thanks for the reply!  It seems like that is the verdict.  Everyone i talked to said stay away.  You can't be too safe especially in flood zones.  The one that happened recently was one for the books in this area.  I appreciate your help.

Kevin Kong · Answer

Thanks for the reply!  Yea i was worried about that too thats why i wanted to built stilts on the house and raise it 4 feet so I wouldnt have to worry about floods in my life time at least haha.  I noticed the area where the house was some people had the "french drains" already and I'm curious to see how they held up.  Thanks again for your help.  It looks like more and more people are telling me to stay away from flood area homes.