One of the best aspects of working with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International is the camaraderie and information sharing we do among ourselves. Recently an agent asked via email: “How do you research to make sure that a property is not in the flood plain?”
Neal Heery responded and we wanted to share it:
The only way to be sure of flood plain to get a survey with flood certification.
Every county has a G.I.S. just Google it. This is a link to Fulton county: http://wms.co.fulton.ga.us/ms/sitemap/top.php At these web sites you can pull up 100 and 500 year flood plain, parcel dimensions, elevation contours, building outlines, take measurement, find zoning status and a variety of other information. In the below map you can see our office address. It is not updated with our building. The green line in the map across the property we are on shows that we are 820 feet above sea level. The dark red across the highway surrounding the creek is the 100 year flood plain and the light red is the 500 year flood plain. There are very few limitation about what you can and cannot do in the 500 year flood plain, but it is still better to know about it and try to avoid.
This second picture is zoomed in and we and we can see the entire property in 2 foot increments. The doted blue line in front of the Borghese denotes a wetland or stream. I am sure that it is now buried and know this was a major stumbling block when they permitted this site. When you see these area you need to know that there are substantial restriction as far as 75 feet from the dotted blue lines about what you may or may not be able to do. This can include making landscape changes. If the line is solid blue some restrictions can exhist and longer distances.
If you see water markings anywhere close to any property always point this out to clients as an additional reason to get a survey and ask the surveyor to include a flood certification certificate if flood plain is at all close.
It would be great if FMLS would link this site to the addresses or property tax info.
