Seeking advice on my first investment- concern about flooding

[Sarah Dunn]

Hi all- new investor here, I need advice. I purchased my first real estate investment a couple months ago with the initial intention of using BRRR. It is a single family home with two separate houses on the same property and I got it at a very discounted price on an online auction, sight unseen. To give some background, the one bigger house on the lot needs a complete rehab, for it has been vacant for nine years. The smaller house has an unbearable smell from previous cats and have had multiple inspectors check it out and all suggest to just get rid of the house entirely. My concern is there is a creek/ stream that runs right behind the property and do not want to run into future problems with flooding if I were to hold this long term like my initial plan. My question is, should I try to wholesale this property, move on from it, and use that profit to aid me on my next investment, or should I go forth rehabbing and refinancing this property to start my investment portfolio? If I choose the second option, I already got quotes on the demolition of the one house and that isn't a concern. The concern is the creek flooding and causing a headache long term with flood insurance every year. Any and all advice would be so helpful!

[Brian Nally]

Are you in a floodplain?  Have you investigated what kind of insurance you would need to refinance? Is this property local to you? If not, I probably wholesale it and move on. Too many variables to manage effectively for afar, imo.