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Flood Insurance
Find out if the home you want to buy has a flood claim?
Before you buy a home you need to know everything about it. It’s not just the property value and the locality that’s important. The condition of the home should also be considered before a buy. While you can get a qualified home inspector to assess the home’s condition for you, and let you know about signs of water damage or molds, this alone is not enough.
Before you buy a home in a particular area, find out if it is located in a 100-year flood plain. What does 100-year flood plain mean? A 100-year flood plain means that the area in which you are residing or considering to purchase has a 1-in-100 chance of receiving a flood in a year. In other words, there is a one percent chance of a flood each year. Once you find this out you need to look at other details which give you information about the past of the home with regards to damage caused by floods.
It is mandatory as per State Law in certain States for a seller to disclose if their property had certain problems and one such disclosure is about flood damage. They cannot avoid giving such details because when they fill in the Transfer Disclosure Statements (TDS) and Seller Property Questionnaire, they are required to provide such details.
Now if you live in a state where it is not mandatory for the seller to disclose information on flood damage, you can find it out yourself by ordering a C.L.U.E report. A C.L.U.E report is short for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. It details out information on a property for the past five years and costs $20. You can order this report online or you can buy it along with a natural hazard disclosure report from your insurance agent. If the previous home owner had to face damage from floods you can see it here. This does not mean you should get disappointed and drop the idea of buying the home, just that you need to be alert about taking flood insurance.
Finding out if the home you want to buy has a chance of getting damaged by floods when you live in it helps you to understand what you may expect after you move in or in the coming years. You will be better prepared to handle the event of flooding in such a home if you want to buy it.
Summary
Find out of the home you want to buy requires you to take flood insurance or was previously damaged by floods before you make a purchase.
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