Purchasing a Property in a Flood Zone

There might be something wrong with that really great deal on your new land! Often, buyers aren’t aware of all of the hazards associated with buying properties. One of the most frequent and devastating natural disasters is flooding. This is especially true in Arizona, California, and other arid environments where soil cannot saturate the ground because it is too dry to allow for adequate saturation. This is an important question to ask your Realtor or yourself when buying property - is the property in a flood zone, or is it prone to flooding?

There are several resources for checking if a property is flood prone or in a floodplain. The first is your Realtor. Don’t have a Realtor? Don’t fret. Second stop is the local jursidiction where you are buying property. If you’re in a City such as Cottonwood, AZ, they may refer you to the County (Yavapai.). This is often somewhat slower than checking online yourself, but worth the time, given they may have more information than is published online. Other options are: GIS maps, FIRM Maps (Federal Insurance Rate Maps), or even Zillow (this is not the most reliable, but is a nice red-flag if they mention flood hazard).

Impacts of Floodplains on a property:

1) The most obvious: flooding! And flood damage, flood risks, etc.

2) Flood insurance - for some properties, this can be upward of $500/mo. This is a big portion of your mortgage payment, watch out!

3) Building restrictions - it can be extremely expensive to elevate your home out of the floodplain or flood way. This can mean engineered pads with compacted fill, rip rap, and more. For manufactured or modular homes it can mean deeper footings, taller stem walls, and greater permitting requirements.

4) Soft costs - engineers, permits, and surveyors add up, especially in flood plains.

5) Onsite waste-water restrictions - alternate systems can be required in flood plains in order to avoid discharging wastewater into a waterway - these systems can often cost $15,000-20,000 or more, plus additional design fees and operating and maintenance costs.

Contact Permit Pushers to navigate these sticky situations!

Flooding in Camp Verde, 2021

Don’t let this be you!