Rhode Island Flood Zones-
South Kingstown RI Real Estate Has them Too
Just because you can’t see the water doesn’t mean you are not in a flood plain. There are many areas in low lying areas like
Flood Plains- Waterfront is more than the view
Wickford RI flood zones, Narragansett beach areas and Jamestown RI that are flood areas.
You can find out through the every Town Planning department or go online and locate your Flood map at fema.gov (it’s easy to do once you get the hang of it). Then take a print of that page and keep it with your home property/insurance information.
Most of the coastal RI towns, especially in southern Rhode Island, are in a flood zone. Once you get out of the Flood zone ‘X’ (which does not require flood insurance) you will need to pay, on top of your homeowners insurance, for flood insurance. Price is dependent upon your mortgage amount and flood zone. This is ‘need to know’ information that a listing agent Must have in hand prior to listing a home- current flood maps with the ‘panel’ notation for any buyer. Always check with your insurance agent for your potential flood costs (dependent upon elevation, mechanical placements in home, etc.).
A homeowner, when you list your home within a flood zone, may tell you they don’t need flood insurance. That is not what a listing agent takes for gospel. Additional checking with flood maps through your town is required. Remember it’s up to the buyer’s agent to do the final due diligence here. Hurricane Katrina & Sandy changed flood requirements with insurers and lenders to require this insurance for homeowners.
I’ve listed houses that sell for $360,000 that require a mandatory $5000 a year flood insurance cost in South Kingstown. Adding this $420 a month flood insurance cost onto the mortgage payment can challenge any buyer. Find the home with the wash away walls, up on pilings and you will save substantially on flood insurance costs annually.
