Would you build a home on a flood plain?
 

let's say you have an opportunity to build a beautiful home on a flood plain. It will flood 1-3 times per year, but the Government (through higher taxes on a national scale) will pay for any damages associated with the flood, forever.

Would you build on a flood plain?

I wouldn't.

No

If it flooded that frequently it would definitely be condemned

Is there a point to this?

1 - 3 times a year? Most people won't.

But stretch that out to every 50 or 100 years - and people think, "hey, that is not likely to happen to me anytime soon.."

And they are right.

The problem is - 10,000 homes in a 100 year flood zone and the government is paying for 100 homes a year (on average). And that is a lot of money too.

The government has no business subsidizing some taxpayers at the expense of other taxpayers..

But think about how good the fishing would be, right from the comfort of your living room

John Stossel did a piece on beachfront mansions on LI that regularly get destroyed & are re-built by the govt.

My folks live on an island that's 18 miles long and 1/4 mile wide. The Army Corps of Engineers keeps the ocean away from the bay, which we pay for, and my folks, who are not poor at all, get flood insurance subsidized by the rest of us. I think it's wrong. But as long as it's available, people will take it.

People do it all the time. It's a question of cost (insurance), design event (typically a 50-year or 100-year event) and objectives.

Would I build on one? Sure, as a developer knowing the risks. Would I live there? Probably not, but again maybe depending on a full cost-benefit analysis taking all factors into account.

If the property was really nice and in a great location?

I would build a Key West Style home:

http://www.flgulfhomes.com/images/pi...rbor_house.jpg

Then buy a well lifted Jeep for those occasions:

http://www.ajeepthing.com/images/cjlifted.jpg

Then I would have a garage on a mound with lifts for the cars.

This is assuming I have lots of money to do this. :D

People of means have always had houses on barrier Islands and otherwise near the shore. The thing is - until Federal Flood insurance came along - they were bungalows! Now they are McMansions!

And this is not only a coastal issue at all. Plently of tract homes on low lying land have been built in the past 60 years..

All kinds of modern mapping and databases are available. There is no excuse any more.

jim is correct. i would if i could engineer a fantastic home. then 1-3 times a year, you could fish off the back porch.

house on stilts, garage on stilts, boat dock, back up power, big beer fridge...

Every house is in a flood plain--it's just a question of time. Will it flood in 20,000 years or 2 years? Because a house is on-average expected to last about 100 years, I'd say that a 100-year flood plain is the minimum timespan that should be acceptable for building.

The issue is getting a building permit. If it is a ACOE denoted flood plain you will have to provide compensation else where for whatever additional impervious you add. Also you will need to do major water quality compensation. Not fun.

Look to pay a CE a minimum of $20k to do the analysis for a 1/4 lot.

...and chances are if its next to a river there are tons of critters around to screw you through fish & game permitting.

You also have sewage & leach line issues if you are in a flood plain.
There is also a min floor elevation you need to build up to, that may be to raise the pad up (major earth work) basically creating an island in the flood plain, or using a raised floor / stemwall construction to get the finished floor elevation up to the min level - all aspects of building in the flood plain are expensive.
The view (or the fishing) better be damn good to justify the cost.

A lot are doing it...again...and again...and again...The place is called New Orlean.

To the original question - no, it's too much of a hassle to deal with even if costs are covered.

I'd build me one of these!:D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219858138.jpg

People buy high rise condos in San Francisco, don't they?

house would have to be a standard foundation home, zoning laws.