SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To help
consumers better understand flood risk and take necessary
precautions, realtor.com® now includes flood risk
information on for-sale and off-market properties. Properties now
display a Flood Factor™ from First Street
Foundation, a nonprofit research and technology group, which is a
score between one and 10 that represents its cumulative risk of
flooding over a 30-year mortgage. Properties also display their
FEMA Flood Zone, providing realtor.com® users with a
comprehensive understanding of their flood risk.
This first-of-its-kind data integration on
realtor.com® will give home shoppers and homeowners easy
access to previously hard-to-find information about flood risk.
Users can also drill down for additional details on past, present
and future risk, and explore the interactive flood map.
"Historically, determining a property's flood risk was an
onerous process -- in some cases, potential buyers would have no
idea a property was in a flood zone until it was flagged by the
mortgage company prior to closing, or in some cases not at all,"
said Leslie Jordan, senior vice
president of product, realtor.com® . "By surfacing this
information upfront, consumers can avoid surprises and have all the
information they need to make informed decisions and feel confident
about the home buying process."
First Street Foundation has developed the industry's most
comprehensive, climate adjusted flood risk model, assessing flood
risk at the individual property level today and in the future
throughout the continental U.S. The model incorporates local
adaptation, includes areas not currently mapped by FEMA, and
assesses risk from four types of flooding events, including
riverine, rainfall, storm surge, and tidal sources. The model
addresses the reality that these sources have been, and continue to
be, impacted in different ways by a changing environment. The First
Street Foundation Flood Model was produced in partnership with more
than 80 of the world's leading hydrologists, researchers and data
scientists and has been reviewed by some of the world's leading
research institutions.
FEMA Flood Maps are the official public source for flood hazard
information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance
Program. A property that is in a Special Flood Hazard Area is
identified as having flood, mudflow or flood-related erosion
hazards and requires mandatory purchase of flood insurance. In
order to make the most informed decisions, home shoppers should
consider multiple sources of data and have a discussion with their
real estate agent.
"Integrating Flood Factor on realtor.com® provides
millions of current and future homeowners with a comprehensive,
accessible understanding of a property's flood risk due to a
changing environment over the life of a 30-year mortgage," said
Matthew Eby, executive director of
First Street Foundation. "By democratizing access to this
information, First Street Foundation is helping homeowners protect
what is likely their largest, most valuable asset: their home."
Realtor.com® aims to provide consumers with as much
information as possible so they can feel confident in their real
estate decisions. By better understanding a property's risk of
flood, homeowners can protect their home with flood insurance and
other precautionary measures.
Realtor.com®'s new flood data can help reduce
flood-related surprises at the closing table. Agents and brokers
can use this valuable information to provide additional context,
guidance and insights to the buyers and sellers they work with.
Professionals can use both the FEMA and Flood Factor™ data on
realtor.com® to help reduce the number of clients who
buy high-risk properties by surprise or list properties before
mitigating the risk by helping their buyer and seller clients
perform due diligence and increase confidence in real estate
markets, particularly where FEMA does not currently map.
Flood risk data is now available on realtor.com® web,
mobile web, iOS and Android apps. For more information on Flood
Factor and a free online flood data visualization, visit
floodfactor.com.
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com®
makes buying, selling and living in homes easier and more rewarding
for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of
digital real estate 20 years ago, and today through its website and
mobile apps is a trusted source for the information, tools and
professional expertise that help people move confidently through
every step of their home journey. Using proprietary data science
and machine learning technology, realtor.com® pairs
buyers and sellers with local agents in their market, helping take
the guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For
professionals, realtor.com® is a trusted
provider of consumer connections and branding solutions that help
them succeed in today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is
operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV]
subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National
Association of REALTORS®. For more information,
visit realtor.com®.
Media Contact
Nicole
Murphy, nicole.murphy@move.com
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SOURCE realtor.com