Buying Land in a Flood Zone: How to Read the Map and What It Means

Rivers, creeks, and lakes make land beautiful, and they also put part of it in a flood zone. A flood zone is not always a deal killer, but it changes where a buyer can build and what they will pay. Here is how to read the map and what to do with it.

What Is a Flood Zone?

A flood zone is an area FEMA has mapped for its flood risk. High risk zones start with A or V.

FEMA flood maps split land into zones. The high risk areas, called Special Flood Hazard Areas, are the zones that start with A (inland) or V (coastal, with waves), and they are mapped as having at least a 1% chance of flooding in any year. Zones marked X are moderate to low risk. The floodway, the channel and the land right next to it, is the strictest area of all.

How Do You Check if Land Is in a Flood Zone?

Look up the parcel on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, then confirm with the county floodplain administrator.

1. Search the map. Enter the address or coordinates in the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and open the flood map for the area.
2. Lay it over the parcel. Use the county GIS to see how much of the parcel the flood zone covers, and whether the building area is in or out.
3. Call the county floodplain administrator. Confirm the zone, ask what a permit to build needs, and ask whether a newer map is coming.
4. Look at the land. Debris lines, water marks, and low wet ground tell you what the map might not. Check for wetlands at the same time.

What Does a Flood Zone Do to Building, Insurance, and Resale?

Building costs more, flood insurance can be required, and fewer buyers want the land.

Counties in the National Flood Insurance Program require a permit to build in high risk zones, usually with the home raised above the expected flood level. A buyer who builds a home there with a federally backed mortgage generally has to carry flood insurance. Septic can be harder in low, wet ground too, so get a perc test on the building site. All of that shrinks the pool of buyers and the price.

The flood zone's location matters more than its size. A parcel with a high, dry building site and flood zone only along the creek can sell fine. A parcel where the only flat ground is in the flood zone will not.

Do Lenders Lend on Land in a Flood Zone?

We do when most of the parcel is out of the flood zone, and we value it on the usable land.

Some flood zone on a parcel is fine. Our valuation is based on the usable ground, so flood zone acres lower it. We pass on parcels that are mostly flood zone or wetland, because they are too hard to resell. Our terms:

• $30,000 to $1,000,000, interest only, 14% on loans of $100,000 and up and 16% under $100,000, for 24 months
• Up to 65% of value (our own valuation, not an appraisal; closer to 50% of value in slower markets), never more than 80% of the price
• $600 closing fee, 2% exit fee at payoff, no points, no appraisal
• Business purpose loans to LLCs and corporations, on land of 2 acres or more

See how we value land without an appraisal and land loan requirements.