All Forum Posts by: Tone Church

From having worked in marketing and lead generation for fifteen years I can tell you pretty confidently that the questionnaire is your problem. An 80% drop off in the lead funnel from initial inquiry to questionnaire submission is horrendous from people that have already found you and decided to inquire with you. Require bare minimum information (and nothing that isn’t critical and you don’t use immediately) and consider making it a two step questionnaire instead of having it all on one page. Watch your showings jump dramatically.

Originally posted by @Lynn McGeein:

I won't buy in a flood zone anymore unless it is a great price and I can pay for it without a mortgage.   Flood rates are too unpredictable right now.   If you feel it is a great price and a low risk area  (although in a flood zone), ask the seller if they'll owner-finance long-term and not require any flood insurance.  You'll risk not being covered if it floods, though, so make sure it's a good enough deal to be worth the risk.  

From what I have been told by local surveyor that has been in the immediate area for a long time, it has never flooded, including after Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, in which there was a lot of flooding in the area. Owner-financing is an interesting idea to explore.  

@jacob Atkinson that seems like bare minimum concession. I will have at least that much eating my rental profits for the next 30 years and that assumes the rates don’t go up. The house is 1-2 feet below base level flood elevation. Partially below ground level basement and partially above ground level. What does being in this flood zone (AE) do to the value of the home (the bank told me the flood zone doesn’t impact the Homes value in the assessment) when I would go to sell it? And how motivated does learning about something like this make a seller to negotiate accepted price and by how much?

@zach quick $8000 deposit on a $219,000 purchase financed via FHA. Total closing costs including Downpayment will be $25k. Projected rental rates of $3,000 per month after about $6,000 in updates to home.

UPDATE: Property will not qualify for a LOMA. It is squarely in a flood zone and remain there. Would love to hear from all those wonderful contributors who have shared their valuable insights on your final vote. To try to salvage my deposit and walk away or to ask for a concession from seller and continue the transaction? $200-$300/month for insurance. 

@justin s , @Robert Murphy, @Kysha Currence, @Jeff Copeland, @Alan Francis, @Dave Dagostino, @Bryant Weber, @Steven Gesis, @Carolina E., @Jeff Greenberg, @Ryan D., @Colleen F., @Charlie MacPherson, @Jay Hinrichs, @Michael Norris, @Zach Quick, @Cameron Novak, @Mike Cumbie, @Derek Lacy, @Account Closed

Very interesting topic as I am about to establish an LLC and will be self managing my first rental property. Curious to see what input there is. What about having tenant responsible for certain areas of maintenance like snow removal and salting in exchange for a reduction in rent?

Quick update for everyone (thanks so much for all who messaged me and contributed to this thread). I am having a surveyor complete an elevation certificate next week and will be submitting for a LOMA via the eLOMA process, which is an expedited online submission that gives qualified surveyor professionals an instant determination. Even if I can't get it out of a flood zone I may be able to move it from an AE zone to an X zone which should bring insurance costs down or eliminate the need. 

The seller did not have the property financed and thus did not know it was in a flood zone as they were not required to purchase insurance for it. 

If it turns out that I cannot have it removed from the flood zone through the LOMA process, I am still deciding what the appropriate concession would be to ask from the seller. Anyone have any ideas?

By the way all, here's the property on the FEMA floodplain map (circled in red). Blue represents 1% annual chance of flood and the brown represents .2% annual chance of flood. Red striped area represents "regulatory floodway". As you can see, I'm right on the edge.

@Russell Brazil 0 "I was able to get an elevation certificate in order to get exempted from the flood insurance requirement" - Do you know if it is possible to do this prior to closing on a property? How do I go about getting this?

@Account Closed - "I asked the seller for a price concession when we capped the expense." - How did you determine how much of a concession you would ask for?  How much did you offer for the property prior to and after finding out it needed flood insurance?

@derek lacy - "By the way flood goes by the property not the owner. Meaning if there is an old elevation cert it would be valid." - Where would I look for this?

@Mike Cumbie "Line item 10 on your NYS Property Condition Report asks if it is in a flood plane. What does the one you have from them say?" - I never received this from anyone to my knowledge. Who was supposed to send this to me? My real estate agent? I found the form and it opens by saying "General Instructions: The Property Condition Disclosure Act requires the seller of residential real property to cause this disclosure statement or a copy of thereof to be delivered to a buyer or buyer’s agent prior to the signing by the buyer of a binding contract of sale." - Never received this. Somehow, after bringing up my concern to my real estate agent, my mortgage broker, and my attorney, none of them have mentioned this form to me. 

@Zach Quick - "I would also encourage you to make sure and still consider backing out is still an option for you (I'm assuming you can due to inspection still)." - I already had the home inspection and am under contract. Once the bank ordered the assessment, that's when I received paperwork letting me know I needed flood insurance.

@Jay Hinrichs - How much does being in a flood zone affect resale value? Do I need to comp the property against others in the area also in flood zones to figure out if it is already baked into the sale price?

@Charlie MacPherson - "My flood insurance guy has told me that if a property has a history of flood damage FEMA will pay...." Do you know how I would find out this information? I will also talk to my insurance guy about that.

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread. 

@Ned J. - not sure it's quite that easy. Unless I am unable to secure financing, I'm on the hook for my deposit amount.