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Flood Control Buyout Team Running Out of Time  | Allison flood. |  |  | White Oak intersection during Allison |
He has bought over 2,000 houses; and he wants 250 more by Jan. 26th. Buyout Counselor for Harris County Flood Control District(HCFCD), Don Ward buys houses, for the Right of Way Division.
In many cases, FEMA has already paid 4 to 5 times the value of the home in flood claims. According to Mr. Ward, FEMA would save money in future claims by simply buying the home in question for its market value and tearing it down.
No one will ever be allowed to build on the land again as a condition of HCFCD's purchase of the land with FEMA money.
 Not a bad deal if you ended up with a flood house. HCFCD has already purchased nearly 25% of the 8,200 "multiple-FEMA-flood-claim" properties in Harris County. And only 250 or so remain that meet the cost-benefit analysis performed by HCFCD.
According to Mr. Ward, 150 of those homes will never be purchased because HCFCD cannot get in touch with the owners.
WHAT'S THE HURRY?
So why the hurry for January 26th? Mr. Ward explains.
HCFCD has a deadline to use the $25,000,000 granted by FEMA to buy houses that have flooded repeatedly in Harris County.
Mr. Ward estimates that approximately half of the $25,000,000 will be going back to FEMA.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LAND?
The neighbor, or the first one to speak up, gets to use the land after the house has been torn down. They can fence it and keep it. It can never be built on, but they can have a big yard, make a park, etc.
Mr. Ward wanted investors to know that anytime they see HCFCD as the owner of an adjacent property, they may have access to the HCFCD empty lot.
That is not a bad pitch.
APPRAISAL DRIVES PRICE
Once a seller has agreed to entertain an offer, Mr. Ward will send the paperwork to FEMA. Within a few weeks, the real process begins.
Mr. Ward will send out a third party appraiser. Once the appraiser determines a fair market value, HCFCD will pay the owner that price less property taxes owed for the property at a title company. HCFCD pays all other closing costs.
If you don't agree with the HCFCD-appointed appraiser, you have the right to send out your own appraiser to assess value, as long as they can justify it.
Don't think that just any appraiser will work. Mr. Ward is a licensed appraiser himself - all appraisals will be thouroughly scrutinized.
However, if you are offered a price you can accept, you will be selling to one of the biggest buyers of property in the market. Our guess is: HCFCD closes.
If you would like to know if one of your properties is being offered a buyout - contact Mr. Ward at
Don.ward@hcfcd.org. Don't bother Mr. Ward with properties that are not in a serious flood situation.
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