Beach House By Dawn

Sharing a real estate perspective on purchasing property in the low country.

Coined the “Low Country”, the South Carolina coast is a series of beaches, salt marshes, rivers, coastal islands and the ocean. The Low Country term was a coastal term where more upstate in South Carolina is called High Country, higher ground and more mountainous.

Low lying areas can be a flood risk that needs to be assessed. I always tell my real estate clients moving to this area, any area can realize flooding. That tends to make buyers nervous, so let’s dive into the subject.

Now that we’ve established that flooding can happen anywhere, let’s dive into where it is most prevalent. Little River, Cherry Grove, Conway along the river and historic Georgetown are prone to low lying areas that can realize some flooding during catastrophic events. Areas like Garden City Beach along the coast need to only have a king tide and their causeway floods.

Developers and planners have prepared communities with flood management engineering to minimize property damage. Most of our communities have water retention ponds where the rain runoff is sent to during major rain events. Thank goodness for civil engineering because once those ponds fill the water is diverted to the next level of management.

Always check where the property lies when considering a purchase of real property in the Low Country. This is easy to do buy plugging in the address at the FEMA web site.

FEMA flood maps determine if the home is in a flood zone. If the property is in a flood zone, you will be required to purchase a flood policy if your home is financed. This policy payment will be included in your escrow. If the flood map shows a rating of AE, this property is high risk flood. If the flood map shows rating X, this is a low risk property. For complete explanation of FEMA flood codes, see their web site here.

Condominium owners have a blanket policy for the building they all pay into for a joint policy, this policy typically includes a flood policy if it is close to the waterway, river or ocean. It is not necessary to purchase a personal flood policy if you live in a condo, unless you are on the absolute ground level and close to a body of water. Oceanfront property is prone to flood surge from hurricanes and will need a flood policy.

It is important to note that flood maps are constantly being updated by FEMA. A property never considered to be in a flood zone can be rezoned by FEMA.

If you would like to research Myrtle Beach Real Estate with these considerations in mind, reach out to me, I’d be happy to help you find a property you feel safe from floods in.