Not one house in TV had water during Irma!

Florida doesn't use Attorneys for buying/selling a home in Florida. Up north (where I am from) no one buys/sells a home WITHOUT an attorney. The value of having an attorney disclose this to you before signing on to buy is "priceless." Sorry this happened to you and I'm sure many others. You paid a huge amount of money for those properties, now on top of that, built a new home at a premium with a bond nonetheless........was it all worth it?

No way if flood insurance needed in most of the villages???????

I could be wrong but my understanding is that the Villagers real estate agents are not licensed.

Not in the homes but the golf courses. The ponds overflow into the course so homes don’t get flooded.

Correct

In 2017, we put a down payment on a lot sight-unseen. Our sales person took videos of multiple lots and we chose the one we liked best from his videos. The Villages held that lot for us. We were told that they would hold our lot for four months. Our sales person also told us that The Villages would allow us to select another lot if we were not happy with ours. We were told that we could change lots ONE TIME. When we came here a few months later, we looked at all the lots that were available at that time and loved the one that we had chosen (still do). So (assuming they are still doing this), you may be able to select another lot, if you are unhappy with the one you chose. However, it is possible that all the lots you are considering are in the same flood zone and you would have to settle for an interior lot.

Flood insurance is available from the federal government if you are in a designated flood zone. You can apply for this insurance through many commercial insurance companies and the premiums are fixed based on the zone. Your plot plan designates your elevation level and that determines which level you require. Which flood zone level your I’m determines the premium you pay but there is a deductible. Your bank no doubt wants more coverage but you in my opinion should only get the difference in coverage between what the government flood insurance covers and what your bank is requiring.

Flood zone
 

To be accurate, the ENTIRE COUNTRY is in “a flood zone”. The National Flood Insurance Plan publishes maps of every state and municipality. It ranks every location not just those in a high risk area. Depending on which zone they assign to a particular area will determine whether or not your property is considered at high risk, consequently requiring Flood Insurance if you have a mortgage. Without a mortgage you are not required to purchase flood insurance.

As others have pointed out, The Villages development department engineers do move a lot of dirt when creating neighborhoods south of 44.

I'm close to the Hogeye Sink in Marsh Bend, and studied the topography before closing on my new spec home. We are at 72 ft in elevation now, and about 20 ft higher than the Sink. Area north of us shows as in a flood plain on FEMA maps, but I noticed that it is quite a bit higher than the Sink, too. Looks like Marsh Bend does have a lot of fill to make the home areas higher than the original topography.

I see similar elevation raising in the development near Red and Gray Fox.

I even viewed a Don Wiley video that showed Marsh Bend area around the Sink over the years. At one time two years ago, the Sink looked more like a lake rather than the swamp it usually is.

So... Until FEMA updates it's maps, you may be in a flood zone until you determine if your elevation is higher or the same As when the zones were mapped. For peace of mind, investigate further, or change to a different lot.

Most closings are typical and title companies do as good a job as attorneys. I come from NJ and in the north part of the state, they tend to use lawyers, in the south, title companies. They do not do investigative work. FEMA maps may periodically be updated but I would assume any institution will use them to designate flood zones. I had a beach house on the ocean and that was obvious but others are not so obvious. If you are in a high risk zone, your rates will be very high. If you are in a low risk zone, your rates will be cheap and begs the question as to whether or not it is needed. Dwelling insurance has nothing to do with flood. Separate policies. Flood policies are usually underwritten by the government and capped at $250,000. Additional insurance would have to be purchased privately, like Lloyds of London. Has nothing to do with ponds or such. The villages does an outstanding job of water control with very sophisticated systems.

When I was a Town Supervisor in Upstate NY, we learned that FEMA was updating the entire country flood mapping. This was in response to the increased level of flooding seen across the country. Therefore, they were expanding the areas of the 100 year flood plains (actually 1% chance of flooding). Given that this data was gather several years ago, I doubt that the work the developer has done in the past few years to increase the elevation of a particular house will impact the government rating. On another note, I agree that TV does a great job of water management during the big storms. However, if we have a storm that overwhelms the water management system and the flooding enters your home, the damage will be extensive. You will be glad to have the insurance at that point.

If you get an elevation certificate from a surveyor it may cut the cost. Also there is no fight just have to apply to fema and they will change it or remove it. Check on an elevation certificate

In May, I sold a house in Virginia that was solidly in the 100 year AE flood plain. Prior to selling I got ($800.) an Elevation Certificate which allows for better risk assessment. The purchaser's lender allowed her to purchase private flood insurance vs FEMA which significantly reduced the yearly premium. As I recall, the premium quote from FEMA was over $6,000, private was under $3,000.

FEMA insurance has a $5,000 deductible, although you can pick higher, and as I recall is capped at a $250K payout.

Remember the FEMA pool includes oceanfront properties that are sinking into the ocean.

FWIW

If u can pay cash you don’t have to have flood insurance. That would save money till
 

Resale lot and guy another. Pay cash u don’t have to have flood insurance.

We have golf frontage with a pond view. We have the highest lot on the golf course. Our lanai is 3 or 4 feet higher than ground level. When the pond overflows it goes right or left of our house. No houses were ever flooded. We have a condo in the Keys. Flood damage in lower Apt. from Hurricane Irma. Flood insurance paid promptly. Our upper Apt. (15 and 30 feet above ground level) had damage from wind and rain. Wind insurance said this was from flood and didn't want to pay. After much wrangling, they finally paid. Wind gust at one time was 186 MPH. Next door apt. paid promptly before they made repairs. Ours wouldn't pay until after we made repairs and submitted receipts. We found it depends on what adjustor you get. If you have a flood or other damage, ask for another adjustor or supervisor if you are not satisfied.

Wow! Good info. We are not in a flood zone. Lots of pockets of potential flooding here

You are wrong.

Flood plain information is REQUIRED to be known on any federally insured (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, etc) mortgage.

https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/...od.20Insurance

The references to "seller" means the mortgage bank who originated the loan, not the seller of the property.

Cow's?

excellent post. we see this often in our area, (S of 44). we chose a home away from any ponds, water, etc., and asked our ins. broker specifically about this. i wasn't so much concerned about flooding as i was about the creatures that reside in water, namely gators & snakes. :faint:

:clap2::1rotfl:

There are many things buyers here are not aware of, flood zones, sinkholes, potholes, sewer,quarry vibrations, house cracks when new, Coleman prison, unlimited amenity increase,bond interest rate, portion of bond never goes away and increase in value is overstated or a lie. You have to pay for a newspaper to find out what’s going on you have to pay for a service for tee time reservations, many of the house contractors the villages have an equity stake in, etc.

He didn’t have a real estate agent. People that show houses in the villages are not real estate agents. They are sales people and represent the villages not the buyer they don’t negotiate for the buyer.

During Hurricane Irma...The areas on this flood map that are deep red did have slight flooding I remember friends in the older sections had a lot of water but were able fairly quickly to return to their home.


32162, Florida | Flood Factor

i agree- it was amazing to watch how well the planning worked out-- everything around us was built to handle water flow & drainage. we were the 1st family to move into our area. everything around us was a construction site, & here we are 3 yrs later with an entire neighborhood & very nice people to boot. for months we watched the homes & roads go up, and often spoke with some of the workers, who explained how the roads are all built on a slant to help drain any standing waters, which then is sent thru pipes to wherever it goes.

We do not live in Florida yet and were totally unaware of this. We lived in the lakes region of NY where flooding could be a problem for lake level houses as the Finger Lakes are huge bodies of water. This never crossed our minds when purchasing a lot on a tiny pond. Do we have any legal recourse for failure to disclose by our realtor?

Yup - it's called "due diligence".

Are you the john Wright that had a place in historic a few years back?

We close Feb 12 and this situation just came about with the mortgage company last week. It takes away a lot of the joy in this whole process and we are looking at a total of 635K invested in this house with a pool. Actually I am very angry that the realtor never mentioned this when we were looking at lots. The lot was a ridiculous 159K and many were priced even higher. Just so angry that this was never disclosed or we would have chosen a different lot. I did not really even care about Chitty Chatty...just wanted a nice lot to build on and we had only July to make our selection due to other factors.

Do you mind naming your mortgage company? Just curious if this would happen with Citizens First.

Caveat Emptor!!! Is the FIRST term you learn in any real-estate or busniess course. Translation is "LET THE BUYER BEWARE" you never took the time to learn what MUST be disclosed and what need not be disclosed.

Surprised?? Almost all of Florida is a Flood Zone. This peninsula that we live in so flat that sometimes I think the state's high points are the overpasses over Interstates and Florida Turnpike. The Florida Citrus Tower, in Clermont, is 226 feet high and you can see into 8 counties. You can buy Flood Insurance from FEMA - mine costs about $400 per year.

Laws are so different here then in Mi.I was a realtor would have been sued if I had worked as a buyer agent and not disclosed, the seller definitely would be sued.

Home Owner’s Insurance
 

Home owner’s insurance does not cover damage caused by any water coming from the ground up . . . . flood, rain water runoff, swimming pool overflow, none. Only flood insurance covers damage caused by ground water.

Thank you for this link. I typed in our villages address and it was "1", minimal risk.

Although this issue is on our list to research before buying, I thank the OP and respondents, as it reinforces the importance of doing a thorough job of due diligence before purchasing and not just depending on what sales people say - or don't say.

Yes, a buyer must do their own research and not expect someone to look after their personal interest. (They will be disappointed!) Or hire a professional who will do it for them. If you don’t look into it, don’t be surprised you bought swamp land, or high risk sink hole area etc. Caveat emptor.

As to fees for tee time, newspaper etc my first response is that services are never free. Who works for nothing? Of course you have to pay for them one way or another. ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch.’

Get an Elevation Certificate from a surveyor. We did that on our waterfront home in NJ and it significantly reduced our flood insurance premium. You have our sympathy though as that is an unpleasant surprise.