All Forum Posts by: Jennifer S.

@Charlie MacPherson, thanks that makes sense. Looking forward to hearing how the flip goes, I am generally mesmerized by before and after photos. 

@Alex Cornwell thanks for the additional intel on New Bedford. I saw a bit online about the Southcoast rail project. I didn't spend enough time on it yet but at first glance struggled to figure out the probability of it going through. How are you following it, any reputable sources you recommend? 

Hi @Kyle Joseph, thanks for the post. If this kicks off and there's a meeting in January when I'm in town I'd be happy to attend. The others are more important in terms of fixing a date since my schedule is a bit fluid but happy to add on once dates are set if that might be ok for you.

Thanks, it doesn't work on my phone to do that. Weird!... But no biggie

Sure, whatever is convenient, there's so much great education on here and your posts on their own are a great starting point. 

@Bob Bello, thanks this is important information and thank you for taking the time to outline it.

One of the reasons I'm going a bit patiently on my next cash flow driven investment (whether in FL or MA), is I want to better understand these issues before investing. With the rentals I'm looking at, a spike in flood insurance would greatly impact the cash flow. If properties outside the flood zones can also flood, I'm just trying to figure out how to assess the various risks. 

I also have seen what happens to property prices where I live when they are not mortgage-able (slightly different case--I'm in the United Kingdom right now and banks don't like to lend on certain types of construction that I think US banks would find quite fine). Prices are much lower as it becomes an all cash market. That's not the end of the world but I don't want to take a hit on my own investment if the mortgage-ability changes after I buy it.

I hope I wasn't giving misinformation-I didn't mean to imply the FEMA zones are perfect predictors, for me it was just an eye opener that rivers could trigger a worse score than things closer to the beach. Call me naive, it was my first US property purchase!...My friend who bought a raised house, it was new construction so no cost to raise an existing building.

One question I had about Building C/diagram 1B, did you mean the 16' height means it could float away more easily? Thanks again

@Tom Brooks, thanks for the very helpful information. I'll look into the sites you shared. I first started digging into this issue when looking to buy in Boston in some years ago. At the time I was also looking at the seaside city of Quincy and was totally surprised to find that parts of Quincy bordering a river were at higher flood risk than some parts quite close to the ocean that were on higher ground. This was from the FEMA add in to Google Earth. Interestingly, a few weeks after I was researching this river (it's called a "Brook", how is that for misleading) flooded and there was TV footage of people's sofas floating.

Since that day I've checked every property I am seriously considering into the FEMA - Google Earth thing. I'm looking for faster ways though, that system takes forever to load and is hard to understand for a layperson. I think awareness of these issues is only going to get stronger. Thanks again!

@Aaron Araujo

Hi Aaron 

Thanks, that's helpful info. I'm probably going to put New Bedford back on my list although I am suffering slightly from shiny object syndrome in terms of markets. Good to have a few options.

I think triple deckers are the unsung heroes of the Northeast. Yes they need repair work but think of some the new construction today, I wonder how it's going to hold up in 100 year's time. 

At some stage, no rush as I know most people here have busy lives and day jobs, would be curious your views on the commuter rail extension to New Bedford. Is it just a dream?? Well thanks again for the reply.

@Tom Brooks

Hi Tom, Many thanks for a great, helpful article. I have a friend who bought a new construction property near the beach in the Northeast that was significantly elevated (from memory 12 feet) and her flood premiums were quite low.

It didn't look unattractive and their back porch had great views as a result of the height.

So as I've been researching Florida properties (specifically Orlando) I noticed how few of the homes were elevated, even the new builds. Perhaps the builders are avoiding flood zones so they're not elevating for that reason.

Are people opposed to the look of the elevation? Is it an issue for elderly buyers? Small elevation would be fine I imagine with ramps but my friend's house would need a weird looking ramp! Thanks again.

I think I just accidentally hit the up vote on here and can't seem to undo on my phone. Hope you all don't think I'm a narcissist!! 

Thanks @Anthony Thompson! Quite logical what you say. For me it was more the gravy approach.

I was searching around for any posts on zoning in RI but only found stuff in other markets, but I'll keep looking. I know this is as local a topic as can be