The California Association of REALTORs® (CAR) has updated its standard Fire Hardening and Defensible Space (FHDS) Disclosure Form to comply with updated regulations. Here’s what you need to know about the changes …  What Has Changed Certain advisory language has been taken out and put instead in the Wildlife Disaster Advisory (WDA). Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 have been modified to explicitly state that applicable portions of the form need not be filled out if certain statutory conditions are not met. Questions about the vulnerability of the home have been modified to reflect the ...

Believe it or not, most houses that get lost in wildfires aren’t lost because they were unlucky enough to be located in the heart of a blaze. They burn to the ground because of some relatively undramatic cause — an ember wafting into a vent, or a low-intensity fire miles away from the red zone.  In fact, more than half of all houses lost to wildfires are ignited from the inside, from firebrands that enter the house. As you can imagine, these burnouts were eminently preventable — but not automatically. A home can be safeguarded against these avoidable dangers through a process known as har...

After a record wildfire season in 2021, California heads into the summer of 2022 with dire warnings of a wildfire season that could meet or exceed the one before it — both in the northern and southern reaches of the state. At the beginning of June, the National Interagency Fire Center added Northern California to its list of regions in the west with “higher than normal” potential for wildfires in the coming months. Southern California, too, faces an elevated risk of wildfire in the wake of extreme triple-digit heat waves.  Remember, a June heat wave kicked off last year’s record-breaking ...

If your home sits in a FEMA-designated area of high flooding risk, your lender will probably require you to purchase flood insurance. Flood insurance can help you recoup damages caused by flooding that homeowner’s insurance does not cover.  As a quick reminder, even an inch of floodwater in your home can cause can cause an average of $25,000 in damage, and damage from floodwaters that arise from the ground (overflown riverbanks, burst water mains, runoff due to erosion) are usually not covered by your homeowner’s insurance.  Flood insurance does cover damage from this sort of damage … but...

If you have homeowners’ insurance, you are likely protected from financial loss due to fire damage … but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take steps to protect your home from a wildfire. Fire damage to your home can be incredibly disruptive and disheartening. You could have to relocate temporarily, even permanently. Treasured belongings, keepsakes, and tokens of memory could be lost forever. Needless to say, a wildfire in the vicinity of your home can be extremely dangerous, even deadly, to you or your loved ones if your home is not properly protected. If you live in an area — often rural ...

Owning a home in the Golden State is not without its potential hazards to be aware of before you buy. For home sellers in California, the Natural Hazard Disclosure Report (NHD) is a time-honored annoyance. Every seller in California must prepare one for the sale to close. If you’re thinking of listing your home, let’s get familiar with the report so there’s no surprises. The Natural Hazard Disclosure Report is a report required by the state that discloses whether or not the property in question is at risk for a laundry list of natural hazards. It consists of the aggregation of several othe...

The ground shakes under Americans’ feet an average of 20,000 times every year. Most of the time, the seismic vibration is so slight that we don’t even feel it.  But those rare major earthquakes — in addition to being hazardous to life and limb — are capable of causing catastrophic damage to your home and the property inside of it. Worst of all, much of that damage won’t be covered by standard insurance policies.  Fortunately, there’s something out there called earthquake insurance. But is it worth it? What is earthquake insurance, and how do you know if you really need it? What Is Earthq...

When you buy a home, it can sometimes seem like the inspections never end. The home inspection, the title inspection, the appraisal, possibly a survey … it may feel like your prospective home has been poked and prodded to death. And you along with it. Then, as if it weren’t enough, your lender comes back with a request for flood certification. What are they asking for, and why? What Is Flood Certification? Flood certification is official documentation of the flood risk status of a piece of real estate, presented on a Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form (SFHDF) promulgated by the Fed...

“Why do I need flood insurance?” The short answer is — you may not need it, but it’s almost always wise to consider it.  The main reason most people end up getting flood insurance is because their mortgage lender requires it. Why will a mortgage lender require it? To protect the collateral for the loan — i.e. the property. If a house is severely damaged by floodwater and there’s no insurance to cover it, it may suffer a catastrophic loss of resale value and require tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.   For the homeowner, the most financially sound move may...

Just what you need as a homeowner … another bill. But it’s far better than having to pay out of pocket for flood damage. Restoring a home after a flood can cost anywhere from the thousands to the tens of thousands. Many homeowners think their homeowner’s policy covers them in the event of flooding, but it only protects them if the water enters from above. For example, stormwater from a compromised roof.  If water enters from the ground — storm runoff, overflooded river banks, etc. —  homeowner policies do not cover damages.  So how big a bite are we talking about? How much can you expect...