To lower flood insurance bills for homeowners, Largo is buying homes to remove them from a flood plain.
By SHANNON TAN
Published October 10, 2003
LARGO - Great deal!
3 bd/2 ba/garage ranch style house near McKay Creek. 1,309 sq. ft.
New paint inside. MUCH MORE!
Motivated seller. Price reduced to: 0.
Call the city of Largo today.
Ready to move in?
Don't pack your bags just yet - the house will have to move first.
That's right. First, you'll have to find movers who will put the beige house with chocolate trim on wheels. Oh, you'll need a new location for the house.
And hurry, because the welcome mat at 132 Gatewood Drive won't be out for much longer.
Its former owners sold the property for $149,000 to the city, which wants to give away the house for free.
"The catch is, when you leave, you have to take it with you," City Manager Steven Stanton said.
The house is one of 11 placed on a repetitive loss list because it flooded at least twice in 10 years. The more houses there are on the list, the lower the community's flood grade, and the higher individuals' flood insurance bills will be.
Largo, which rated a B up till 2002, now has a C.
Last year, city commissioners approved a policy to buy properties on the list. With fewer than 10 such houses on the list, Largo homeowners could save a combined total of $125,000 a year.
Letters were sent out asking the owners of the homes on the list to give the city right of first purchase if they decided to sell their houses.
The owners of 132 Gatewood Drive responded. So did the owners of a house two doors down.
The city is in the process of buying that 2,042-square-foot home, which has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Any takers?
Moving these houses will cost about $15 to $20 per square foot, says Pat Burdette, president of Modern House and Building Movers in Orlando. It will take about a week.
"It's a win-win-win situation for everybody," Burdette said. "The city is saving tax dollars by not demolishing the building. The house is not demolished and put in a landfill. . . . House moving is the largest recycling industry by tonnage."
But if no one takes the bait soon, the houses will be knocked down.
It will cost the city between $5,000 to $10,000 to demolish each home, said Michael Staffopoulos, director of community development.
The land will be used as a natural flood plain, and for improvements done to alleviate flooding along McKay Creek.
