Now that our second grandchild has arrived and lives in Belleair, my wife Linda has decided that we need to move closer to the kids. Doesn’t sound too democratic, but that’s the decision. Okay, I’m game, as I enjoy working with Linda designing a new home for us. It’s a fun process, so we’ll begin searching for another site closer to the kids.In my MLS search, I came across many existing homes with beautifully remodeled expensive interiors, but unfortunately built on grade, all just 3’ to 5’ above sea level. That reminded me of my own advice about considering an existing home at grade level or building new. And, with the historic flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, and our own Cat 1 Hurricane Irma (with 8’-10’ storm surge estimates, and could have been a Cat 3 or 4), it was a no-brainer to decide to build to new higher & stronger FEMA standards.
With global warming and sea levels rising, can we expect to not have a major storm disruption in our lives for the next 30 years? I definitely do not want to be uprooted for a year or two as my home was being re-built. And, I firmly believe that new energy efficient homes built to FEMA standards will command a large investment premium. It’s the old “Supply & Demand” ratio, with only a very limited supply of new raised homes along our beautiful Pinellas beaches. Decision made, either choose an existing vacant lot or buy an older home for demo and build a new home. Linda agrees with me on that. Score, 1 for 2!I anticipate that FEMA will greatly escalate flood insurance rates beginning in January 2018, less than 3 months from now. As I understand the conversation in Washington, the 5 million existing FEMA policies might remain in effect, yet with large increases in premiums each year… but… new policies could not be issued with any subsidized rates! FEMA already owes the U.S. Treasury $25 billion (pre-Harvey & Irma), and has to presently pay $400 million a year in interest. It seems naïve to believe that Congress will again allow subsidizing additional billions of dollars of premiums each year. Virtually every home on our beautiful Pinellas barrier islands that is not newly built to FEMA elevation standards, would most likely be much less marketable as prospective home buyers become aware of the extremely high flood insurance rates. Sure, a few existing homeowners might find cash buyers that would not be required to have flood insurance. However, those homeowners have the potential of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars if their home suffers major storm damage.
Do Linda and I want to throw many thousands of dollars away each year on flood insurance premiums (the grand-kids college funds!), or go uninsured and lay awake every night worrying about losing our investment? That’s not for us. We have both decided that building a new home, constructed with all new Florida Building Code standards of 150mph storm, above the FEMA required elevation, that will allow us to sleep peacefully, and have a very sound investment for ourselves.
I hope I’m not sounding alarmist, or preaching “Chicken Little, the Sky is Falling”, I’m just passing along my own beliefs for a peaceful next 3 decades. Linda and I both agree. 2 for 3, not bad! As an added benefit, our existing waterfront home is constructed above FEMA standards, so it will command a premium sales price as opposed to grade level homes, no matter how well decorated the existing homes are. Much to think about!
GHD Construction Services, Inc. has constructed 6,000 homes since 1971, and has the new 2018 “Key West” home at 239 144th Ave. N, Madeira Beach. If you have any questions pertaining to new home construction, feel free to email me directly at: tsmith@ghdcsi.com, or request a meeting at our new model.