Ground Level Dwellings in Costal Flood Zone
I have been searching for a house hack & STR in Galveston Texas for a few months now. Most houses on the island are raised a few feet on piers to reduce the chance of flooding. However, some houses convert the area below the main house into living areas (picture attached) and some houses are even on slab foundations. I have seen properties for sale with streel level dwellings where the drywall is ripped out due to flooding. Because of this, I have made the assumption that I should avoid any property on the island that has a ground level dwelling, especially in a AE flood zone.
However, is this a good assumption? Please share your experience or advice on owning a property in an AE flood zone with ground level living areas.
Thanks,
-Stephen
@Stephen Janes. I might consider something ground level behind the sea wall. That’s most houses in that area. But anything out beyond the sea walls I wouldn’t want at ground level. Also if it’s in a city in that area, if the place gets flooded, the city will require your rehab to comply with current fema regulations that say the ground floor of the house must be above the base flood elevation. For a ground level house, this means you’ll be required to raise the entire house and put it on stilts anyway, which will put you upside down on your investment. So to put it another way, a ground level house outside of the sea wall is just one hurricane away from losing your entire investment.
Learn to swim (with the sharks--literally).
Thanks @Mark Brown!
I did some additional research on Base Flood Elevation (BFE) and thought I would share. (DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert. This is just for reference)
This FEMA video talks about the BFE and how it is used:
This FEMA map lets you know the BFE in the area of the property. For example, (EL 11) means the area has a BFE Value of 11 feet above sea level: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?
This USGS (United State Geological Survey) lets you determine how many feet above sea level the land is: https://apps.nationalmap.gov/v...
This link helps you use the USGS map to determine the elevation of the land: https://reduceflooding.com/202...
In conclusion, I plan to look up the BFE and the land elevation to determine how high these houses in Galveston should be raised. This way I will avoid having to loose money evicting sharks from my property 😂.
Thanks again for your help!
Hello. I am not an expert, but I would recommend you research insurance & FEMA requirements and have a couple of insurance companies quote it. I just built an elevated home in Jamaica Beach (AE flood zone) and the best insurance quotes appear to come when the lowest floor of the home is at least 4 feet above base flood elevation.
There are some homes with ground-level exemptions due to "grandfather" clauses but as a new owner you will not be able to get anything insured that is below the BFE. It's really not worth the risk anyways. As others said, behind the Seawall you might be okay but Hurricane proved otherwise. Elevated homes often convert ground level areas to bunk rooms or spare rooms but there are not insurable and the only things covered will be your electric and water heater in those areas.
What many do is leave the concrete flooring and paint, use greenboard for the walls and raise items off the floor using risers or bricks. That will help with tidal flooding but not Hurricane level floods. It will flood again! Mother Nature has no respect for your plans so all you can do is design around her. Bathrooms are not allowed by permit and you'll have to be very creative in how you furnish and provide a/c and heating; portable units are recommended. Just be prepared to lose it all in the next big flood event. Think of it as a bonus room and any year it survives is a blessing.
You are on the right track with figuring out the BFE and elevation of your ground level. The USGS map should only be used for approximate elevations, it is no way accurate enough to figure out the exact elevation of your parcel. Try looking for LiDAR data provided by the county/city for more accurate elevation data. But again that will only give you a slightly better estimate of elevation. To get the exact ground elevation you will need a surveyor to measure the lowest floor elevation of your building. This link gives guidance on what is the lowest floor elevation of your building.
I’ve seen some folks use that street level enclosed areas as a recreational area. Maybe stick a ping pong table or a pool table down there, but don’t insure it as “living space”. You won’t be able to consider it towards living square footage, but you could still get some functional use out of it. Might draw some additional attention/revenue for Airbnb use.