I am in my late 20s. Husband is in his early 30s. We plan on purchasing a house/permanent living space when I am in my mid to late 30s. Between now and then we plan on eliminating our debts (student loans) traveling and possibly living abroad and growing our savings and retirement accounts which at the moment is almost non-existent.
For the most part we have decided to live in NYC once we decide to settle down. We’re both fond of Queens, NY but we may find ourselves in Manhattan should we be able to afford to live and purchase property there.
As a future bean counter I have some unconventional ideas on investing, saving, and living. One of my plans prior to purchasing a house will be to become a building inspector so that I can do an initial inspection prior to purchasing our place. I also would like to know what I am paying for when I hire a building inspector.
But the main point of the post is not about my unconventional ideas. Its about FEMA maps.
At a previous job in another lifetime (prior to Hurricane Katrina), I became very familiar with FEMA flood maps. These maps depict areas that are prone to flooding. Since I dislike all natural disasters (as everyone should but I probably spend more time obsessing over them than anyone else), I am always thinking about them when thinking about living situations. For example, I will probably never (I say that because I’m always told to never say never, even though secretly I do because I know myself better than anyone else), move to the West Coast. Reason: the giant fault line. I am not crazy about earthquakes.
So in an attempt to educate myself further, I have been looking over New York’s flood maps at FEMA’s website. FEMA ID for NYC: 360497. You can zoom into the maps and see potential flooding areas and plan (like me) to avoid purchasing property in that area. So the non flooding areas will eventually play a role in the purchase of a house.
For me there is an even greater incentive to avoid living in a flooding zone: I can’t swim.
