Selling a flood-damaged house in Tampa Bay

The water came in, went out, and left the house behind. Swollen baseboards. Drywall cut off at two or four feet. A smell you stopped noticing weeks ago. Maybe a letter from the county or the city with the words “substantial damage” in it.

Helene and Milton left a lot of Tampa Bay houses like that in the fall of 2024, and some are still sitting that way. If one is yours, the question is simple: fix it, or sell it as it is?

It is sellable either way. But the rules that set the price and the route are specific, and several are new.

The 50% rule decides more than the repair bill

Under federal flood insurance rules, a building is “substantially damaged” when the cost to restore it equals or exceeds 50 percent of the structure’s market value before the damage. Land value does not count.

FEMA does not make that call. Your local building official and floodplain administrator do, and in Tampa Bay they do not all use the same number:

• Hillsborough County (unincorporated) uses 50 percent, based on the Property Appraiser’s value or a certified actual cash value appraisal.
• City of Tampa mailed substantial damage letters to owners in flood hazard areas, with a determination form that accepts the Property Appraiser assessment or a certified appraisal.
• Pinellas County (unincorporated) uses 49 percent. Owners with Helene or Milton letters have until December 31, 2026, to comply.
• St. Petersburg applies its own 49% rule, starting from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s value, with the option to submit an independent appraisal.

A house over the line has to be brought into compliance with current floodplain rules — usually elevated, rebuilt elevated, or demolished. An NFIP flood policy may include Increased Cost of Compliance coverage of up to $30,000 toward that.

The rule is about the building, not about you. A buyer who wants to repair and live in the house faces the same math you do, and a buyer who plans to elevate or rebuild is pricing that in.

A 2025 state law, SB 180, also bars local governments in the flood insurance program from adopting multi-year “lookback” periods for adding up repairs. Ask how your building department counts permits now.

What Florida now requires you to disclose

Since 2024, Florida has required residential sellers to give buyers a written flood disclosure, and the Legislature expanded it effective October 1, 2025. Under section 689.302, Florida Statutes, you provide it at or before signing the contract, and it asks three things:

• Whether you know of flooding that damaged the property while you owned it.
• Whether you filed a flood damage claim with any insurer, including the National Flood Insurance Program.
• Whether you received assistance for flood damage, including from FEMA.

“Flooding” is defined broadly, down to sustained standing water from rainfall. The statute has no exception for as-is or cash sales, and a filed claim counts whether it was paid, denied or is still open.

Florida courts also require sellers to disclose known facts that materially affect value and are not readily observable. An as-is contract does not remove that duty.

And if FEMA assistance came with a requirement to carry flood insurance, federal law requires you to tell the buyer about it in writing by the transfer date. Skip that, and if a later uninsured owner gets federal disaster aid after another flood, you can be required to repay it.

Mold and moisture are defects, not details

Water that sat in a wall cavity does not leave when the carpet does. If you know about mold or moisture behind the drywall, treat it as a material defect and disclose it. Painting over it does not change what you know.

Florida licenses mold assessors and mold remediators separately, and an assessor may not remediate a structure it assessed within the last 12 months. Use that: get the assessment from someone who is not also selling you the fix.

I ran a crime scene cleanup company for the better part of two decades. I would rather see a contaminated house as it is than after someone has covered it.

Open claims and insurance money you have not spent

If you have a mortgage, your insurance check was most likely made out to you and your lender together, and the lender typically releases money in stages as repairs are done. Sell before repairs, and the claim, held funds and loan payoff all have to be sorted out by closing.

Whether an open claim or unspent proceeds stay with you or pass to a buyer depends on your policy, your lender and your contract. Call your insurer and servicer before you sign anything, and have a Florida real estate attorney review it.

Under Florida law, a new claim on a residential property policy generally must be reported within one year of landfall, and a supplemental claim within 18 months. For Helene and Milton, those windows have generally closed. NFIP flood policies follow their own federal rules.

As-is for cash, or repair and list

Sell it as it stands. A cash buyer takes the house as it is, along with the permits, the elevation question and the risk. The price reflects that, and it will be lower than a retail sale. What you get is speed, certainty, and an end to carrying it.

Repair and list. This can bring more, but only if the work stays under the threshold, is permitted, and the permits are closed out with inspections. St. Petersburg says its goal is to protect buyers from purchasing homes with unpermitted repairs.

Both routes are legitimate, and the disclosures are the same either way. What is not legitimate is putting paint over a substantially damaged house and hoping nobody asks. If it was a parent’s house and there is an estate involved too, start here.

When you are ready

Send me the address, whether you received a substantial damage letter, where your insurance claim stands, and roughly what condition the house is in. Use the offer form or call me at 813-482-2215.

I will tell you what it is worth as it stands, what it would be worth repaired, and what I would do in your position. If my honest read is that you should repair it and list it, I will tell you that too.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to your insurer, your lender, a Florida real estate attorney and a tax professional before selling a house with an open claim or a substantial damage determination.