Is Your Austin House Underwater?

I’ve helped people sell their homes when part of their property is in the 100 year Austin flood plain, and the simple truth is that it’s hard. The very fact that even the corner of the yard might get wet every 500 years or so is enough to automatically rule a home out for some home buyers. And now, the flood plain is changing.

In 2010, a new flood plain study was commissioned, and now in 2013, the results are being reviewed. Wat this means is in 2015, new flood plain maps will come into effect. As it stands now, some 2200 homes will now be out of a floodplain, and some 2400 homes will have moved in. Good news for some people’s property values, and disaster for some house prices in Austin.

How do I find out if my Austin Home is in a Flood Plain?

The City of Austin has several handy online geographical information systems to allow you to investigate all manner of things from flood plains to zoning rules. I’ve always found them a little clunky in the past, but the new link that they have up is really simple – just pop in an address and look for the blue in your plat map. There’s no key to the map, but blue is the floodplain. If you click on “LAYERS” and add “FEMA FLOODPLAIN”, you’ll see more detail.

See if your home will be underwater between 2015 and 2115

Click here for the Austin flood plain mapper

What Do I Do If My House Is Entering the Austin 100 year Flood plain?

The maps won’t be officially adopted until 2015, so you have a few choices. You can protest the map, you can buy flood insurance, or you can sell your home before the maps are adopted. You are only required to buy flood insurance if you have a mortgage, though of course, you may choose to buy it to protect any assets you have.

An Austin Realtor is the founder of Sherlock Homes Austin – a full service residential real estate company which specializes in buying and selling homes in Austin TX. Call on 512 215 4785.