QLD Flood maps

Hi All,

Just looking into flood maps in Brisbane and wondering whether the floods that are marked on the road/street affect prices on the property itself, if the flooding is only to occur on the road/street rather than on the property.

See example below.



As you can see Ridgewood Rd/Whitewood St is shown as having Medium flood risk, will this affect prices of the property sitting along these roads?

Cheers

 

If it's on your street it's probably in your garage or your yard or coming up through the drains

 

In that case how much would the prices be affected? these streets for example were not affect in both 1974 and 2011 floods.

I'm looking at putting in a couple of offers on a few property that are similar to these... should I be concerned? should I stay away?

 

If you are asking this question, when you come to sell this property the buyer will ask the same question.

As much as the risk of actual flooding, it's more so the affect on the future sale price I would consider.

Cheers,
Michael

 

Being able to look at the maps is a new thing, say in the 70's you would only know by local knowledge of what has been actually flooded or reported.

Asking old locals is a good idea, if it has not flooded before, it may not be as high a risk. Heavy downpour in any area could cause local flooding.

I look at things this way, there are thousands upon thousands of homes along Australia's coast, many would not have had water anywhere near them in recorded history. One Tsunami or other really large event could change all that. Or you could be the safest flood free block and get hit by a quake. So just work out if it suits you and is a fair deal - would be my approach.

Also, what Mic said.

 

Another good resource is Google Earth - they have an image overlay at the peak of the 2011 floods - see here for instructions http://media2.apnonline.com.au/img/media/pdf/Google_Earth.pdf
Worth a look, but every flood will be different - much of the water came up through drains etc in the inner city areas of Brisbane.

Flood risk definitely limits your resale market - many of the flood risk houses were listed at lower prices with address available on request going back a year or two. Concern seems to be fading slowly with time..

 

Also be aware that flood zoning (even if an old local confirms it has never actually flooded) will impact on development options (possibly reduced density or raised floor heights etc) so keep that in mind.

 

Not to mention valuations.

 

My wife and I were discussing this exact issue last night. We went through a few properties a couple of weeks ago where only a small percentage of the lot was minimally flood affected.

It was suggested to us that the further we get from the 2011 floods, the less people will worry about these marginally affected properties. However I go back to what @Michael_X said - if we are worrying about it because it's on a flood map, chances are our potential buyers will worry about it when it is our time to sell.

We also figured that there are so many other properties to pick from, so why not just pick something that is not in a flood zone?

In the end I don't think there is a definite right or wrong so if the numbers work and you are comfortable with your decision having considered the potential risks, I say go for it.

 

The only problem with some of the 2011 B-floods areas,and we are only invested in 2 ,they went down very quickly in a matter of months the high 400k,s into the high 100k range at one stage those areas are now back into the pre 2011 flood values so c-g may be hard to find and they are hard to find tenants not everyone want to live in a property that can be flooded very quickly,and also be very carefull you read the fine print in insurance contracts for flood areas in Brisbane,not all insurance companies cover for floods..good luck..

 

Maybe not, its always worth checking out if council has installed a backflow device in the prospective area since 2011 refer
Backflow | Brisbane City Council

I know they installed one in Milton near the railway station a couple of years back - made getting to and from work by car so much more fun....but if it works, well worth the inconvenience!

 

Besides prices, I would be more concerned with what the insurance company thinks of it. Give them a call and get a quote.

 

Also keep in mind that the overlays boundaries can be adjusted by council. So best not to be too close.

 

Thanks @willair. Good to hear advice from someone who had flood affected IPs through 2011.

We've decided at this stage that we'll just steer clear of flood zones as that is what we feel comfortable with, especially starting out.

 

<span class="quo">‘</span>Events don’t unfold hour-by-hour, but minute-by-minute’: QLD floods –

 

Yeah... nah...

A Tsunami or Earthquake in Australia would be a freak once in a lifetime event. A bit different to living in a flood zone. You may as well include meteorite strikes in there too.

Like other have said, so many properties out there to choose from, why insist on buying in a flood zone? If it was a proximity argument and everything close to the action was effected you might have a valid point (Like Newcastle for example) but in Brisbane it's not all properties close to town are effected so why buy in it?

 

Yeah, I was going to add meteor, but that is less likely than a tsunami, we have a lot of coastline

I would not insist, it would have to be a fair deal, it just does not scare me if I know no actual flooding in 70's or later, the maps work on the same kind of risk as tsunami or earthquake from ones I have looked at.

Not sure of your age, but when I was young, we used to look at quakes as being something for California, but look at Newcastle, and both Newcastle and Brisbane are on flood plains, so will flood, as long as your not going to get wet, I do not see a large issue, buying where it has gone under, well, that is a different thing. If your not getting wet, and it is flooding, your going to have all the associated inconveniences in many many places.

 

Willair, are you willing to share what insurer is best in your opinion for flood or water damage, by PM if not wanting to put names here.

 

No problem, Suncorp we have everything with them and i think they give us 15% off the total ,and this is just something i found out the other day as i had the rebuilds set at 280k including demo removal costs,and the insurance was around $2600.00 per year full landlord insurance with a few adds items of extra cover,so i asked to drop the rebuilt too 250k,and the insurance price went down 432 dollars on that house in a over the roof floodzone..

 

Thanks, thought as much.