Sarasota County homeowners are sure to be relieved when they hear about the latest decision made by the US House of Representatives regarding flood insurance!
Recently, the House overwhelmingly approved a piece of bipartisan legislation that will help keep flood insurance rate increases to a minimum. 
The possibility of flood insurance hikes had been creating waves (pardon the pun!) on coastal real estate markets all across the United States. And now, thanks to the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (also known as 3370), those concerns have been alleviated.
Now the legislation heads to the Senate.
Why You Should Care About House Bill 3370
For those of you unfamiliar with the history of flood insurance in this country, here’s a primer:
For decades, home owners have received federal aid to pay for flood insurance. But the 2012 Bigger-Waters law laid out a plan to phase out these flood insurance subsidies in an effort to decrease the National Flood Insurance Program’s $24 billion debt.
This 2012 law threatened millions of home owners who were facing exorbitant flood insurance rate increases – some up to tens of thousands of dollars extra annually.
Now, with the legislation passed at the House level, these increases are expected to not be as dramatic.
The National Association of REALTORS® — among other organizations – applauded the new legislation, noting that it will protect home owners from draconian premium increases.
Legislation Expected to Help Stabilize Housing Market
Not only that, but the legislation also means that the government no longer has the authority to increase premium rates to unreasonable levels when a property is sold. This will ensure that both home sellers and home buyers are protected during the real estate transaction process.
That will in turn help stabilize local housing markets, which some experts believe have seen delays in as many as 40,000 home sales since January 2014 because of doubt about how the 2012 flood insurance law.
Helping You Sell Your Sarasota County, FL Home
Now that this legislation is one step closer to being passed into law, home owners can feel more confident about listing their home on the market and finding interested buyers undeterred by flood insurance rates.
So if you’ve been delaying listing your home on the market and are ready to take that next step toward finally selling your Sarasota County area property, make sure to contact me, Dennis Kotaska, today! Not only will I keep you updated on important developments like this flood insurance legislation but I’ll also provide you with invaluable home selling advice.
Have a fantastic day!
Dennis