Houston, Texas and its surrounding area has seen a slight decline in sales and home prices but compared to other cities across the country our great town of Houston is doing well.  There are lots of places to visit such as the Space Center, The Aquarium both in downtown Houston, and Kemah. The Houston Zoo. There is also Moody Gardens in Galveston and many other spectacular eating places.

Houston is the workplace for many hospitals and medical research facilities along with the oil and gas industry and Space center facilities.

If you would like more information regarding Houston, Spring, The Woodlands, Lake Conroe please feel free to email me at patti@PattiMace.com.

I was reading an article in a real estate magazine “Texas Realtor” regarding flood insurance and wanted to touch briefly on it with you all.  Flood Insurance like earthquake insurance is considered ’single peril’ insurance and is sold seperately by the Insurance company.  For most people this is an extra expense that they feel is unnecessary until the unforeseen happens and their home floods.

 Most of the time you will find that a home will be located in a 100 year flood zone, but what does that mean? Well, it means that there is a 1% chance that a major flood will occur in any given year, not once in a 100 years as the name implies.

Can a home that has flooded before be covered under flood insurance.. the answer depends on if the home is in an area that participates in the National Flood Insurance Program.   Areas that flooded two consecutive years are considered to be in a flood plain also know as Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).  These homes are at a high risk for a major flood event - a 26%+ chance over the life of a 30 year mortgage.  If a home lies within an SFHA the lender will require flood insurance.

Should you get Flood insurance? Statistics show that 25% of the homes that flood come from areas considered to be low to moderate risk. FEMA works hard to redraw the imaginery lines for flood zones.  So it is up to you as a homeowner to decide whether or not to purchase flood insurance just keep in mind that it doesn’t take a major Hurricane like Katrina to flood an area. A slow-moving system can do just as much damage.

If you still are unsure please visit www.floodSmart.gov for more information on flood insurance, risk of flood and tips for homeowners.

Talk to you again soon,

Patti

p.s. “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did.”
“But people will never forget how you made them feel.”