Everybody loves getting something for free.  But in this case, we are only giving out free advice.  And trust me on this, you don’t want a free flood zone determination.

There are some websites out there that will tell you what your flood zone is on a free report which sounds like a great deal.  But then you realize the company behind the zone is not a professional flood zone determination company and there’s no guarantee that the flood zone is correct.  Ok, maybe but just because they aren't professionals for zone determinations and there’s no guarantee, is it really that bad?

Well, ask yourself why the company won’t guarantee the results?  If they don’t trust their own work, why should you?  You work hard, I bet you trust the results of your own work.  And if they aren’t guaranteeing the results, your lender and your insurance agent are not going to trust the results either.

And yes, it can cause you real harm if you rely on that information to make a flood insurance decision or any decision about your risk exposure.  If the “free” report says you aren't in the high-risk floodplain, you might think you don’t need any insurance.  But if they were wrong and your house floods, you could lose everything.  The opposite is true too.  If a the “free” reports says you are at high-risk of flooding, but you actually aren't, then you might be buying insurance you don’t want.  Free isn't free when you’ve got so much on the line.

Let’s get technical about it.  To properly deliver a flood zone determination, we have to research your property boundaries and the boundaries of your house in relation to the newest FEMA flood map published by the federal government.  We have to figure out if your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, and we have to figure out if you are part of any of the exceptions FEMA gives homeowners.  This is federal, state, and local government data we have to untangle for you and it takes a lot of expertise to do it.  I bet you can picture the amount of work it takes to figure all that out and make sure it’s right.

And then, we guarantee it because we are experts.

Our guaranteed flood zone determinations also come with a free report.  It’s a map of your property and the FEMA floodplain.  And we tell you how close you are to a flood zone, and not just what the zone is.  That’s because you might be really close to the floodplain, and since Mother Nature doesn’t care what’s on the flood map, we think you should know that kind of thing.  We’ll also tell you about the exceptions that might be available for your property and how close you are to fresh or salt water, among a dozen other things relevant to flood risk and protection.

The National Flood Insurance Program and dozens of insurance companies trust our flood zone determinations, so you can too.

So, if you get a free flood zone determination, take it with a grain of salt.  When you want to know the genuine answer, leave it to the professionals.  You’ll be surprised at how affordable it is, and there’s too much on the line.