Ground Level Dwellings in Costal Flood Zone

[Stephen Janes]

I have been searching for a house hack & STR in Galveston Texas for a few months now. Most houses on the island are raised a few feet on piers to reduce the chance of flooding. However, some houses convert the area below the main house into living areas (picture attached) and some houses are even on slab foundations. I have seen properties for sale with streel level dwellings where the drywall is ripped out due to flooding. Because of this, I have made the assumption that I should avoid any property on the island that has a ground level dwelling, especially in a AE flood zone.

However, is this a good assumption? Please share your experience or advice on owning a property in an AE flood zone with ground level living areas.

Thanks,

-Stephen
 

[Mark Brown]

@Stephen Janes. I might consider something ground level behind the sea wall. That’s most houses in that area. But anything out beyond the sea walls I wouldn’t want at ground level. Also if it’s in a city in that area, if the place gets flooded, the city will require your rehab to comply with current fema regulations that say the ground floor of the house must be above the base flood elevation. For a ground level house, this means you’ll be required to raise the entire house and put it on stilts anyway, which will put you upside down on your investment. So to put it another way, a ground level house outside of the sea wall is just one hurricane away from losing your entire investment.