All Forum Posts by: Erick Sembrano

@Caroline Gerardo that is really informative! Thanks for the link and also for the insights. As this is my first time to buy in that area and also a property that is in a flood zone, I did not have much idea about it. Having said that, I did not get a Clue report. 

@Jason Regan Hi Jason, glad to know someone from the Leominster area respond. Thanks for sharing your experience, sounds like something positive may come out of getting an elevation certificate even if I can just reduce the cost of the flood insurance. That would be great if you can PM med the name of your insurance person. Thanks!

@Caroline Gerardo Thanks for the link, it's a helpful read although I still don't understand most of it. It seems like as you said the burden of proof is on me and other property owners. Here's the add - 41 Pleasant St Leominster MA

@JD Martin Thanks for sharing the company, would be interested to hear about what will happen with your situation, if you could give us an update that would be great. 

@Jonathan Bombaci Thanks for the company share, will look into it and hope I can decreased by insurance cost. Will also see how far I go with getting an elevation certificate and diving deep into this rabbit hole. 

@Caroline Gerardo It seems like a very slim chance of overturning a flood zone designation. The property is in Central Massachusetts in a city called Leominster. It's in the downtown location actually, there's a nearby creek about a block away. 

@John Mocker Thank you for the message, so getting the Elevation Certificate seems to be the initial first step. 

Do you think an Elevation Certificate can at least lower the price of the flood insurance if the designation is not as low?

FYI: Will repost this in the Property Insurance Category since I did not get any comments when this was posted in my local area. 

We have a multifamily property that is in a designated A14 for flood zone and as such in a higher risk of flooding needing a flood insurance. We did not get a certificate of elevation via land survey before we bought this property. Wondering if anyone has been successful in getting a LOMA (Letter of Map Amendment) to FEMA (if the certificate of elevation supports it) and changed their designation out of the flood zone?

Looking forward to hear about others experiences. Thanks!

Thanks @Dmitriy Fomichenko!

@Milo Milosovic good to know information, thanks for the reply! Hope we can see one of yours one of this days. 

At the start of 2021, my wife and I decided to go ahead and buy our first investment property. It took us 8 months of searching and making offers before we finally bought a 6-unit multifamily property. I am most proud for not giving up and we kept taking action.

We have a multifamily property that is in a designated A14 for flood zone and as such in a higher risk of flooding needing a flood insurance. We did not get a certificate of elevation via land survey before we bought this property. Wondering if anyone has been successful in getting a LOMA (Letter of Map Amendment) to FEMA (if the certificate of elevation supports it) and changed their designation out of the flood zone?

Looking forward to hear about others experiences. Thanks!

Investment Info:

Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment in Leominster.

Purchase price: $515,000
Cash invested: $138,263

This is a 6 unit MF with all one bedroom apartments we bought and looking to add value by exterior cosmetic updates, increase monthly rents towards market rates, and renovate the remaining 4 units yet to be updated during turnovers. Will work on decreasing overall expenses by addressing repairs and maintenance while stabilizing the property in the first few months.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Wanted to start acquiring small commercial multifamily properties.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

This property was on the MLS and we offered 15k over asking.

How did you finance this deal?

Commercial loan with a local credit union JDCU.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Flood insurance is costly and can eat up some of our returns.

@Matt Damon This is a really nice property and looks like you did great on the remodel! Even better that you were able to increase the rent recently to increase your monty cashflow. Were you able to refinance it after the renovation?