Connecticut has expanded the flood risk section of its residential property condition disclosure under Public Act 25-33, a change that shifts when coastal Fairfield County homeowners must confront flood questions. Rather than waiting for a buyer to raise the issue during negotiations, sellers are now expected to provide clear answers about flood zones, flood history, and insurance before an offer is made.
Kristin Egmont, a Coldwell Banker Realty agent licensed in Connecticut since 2003, said coastal sellers who wait for a buyer to ask are already behind. "Transparency is what really needs to start before the home is listed," Egmont said. "Not after the buyer has the contract."
The stakes are concentrated along the shoreline. Fairfield County includes some of the state's most sought-after waterfront communities, and Egmont points to Westport, Fairfield, Norwalk, including Rowayton, and Darien as markets where proximity to water is a central part of the appeal. That appeal now comes with questions buyers are more prepared to ask: whether the property sits in a mapped flood zone, whether it has flooded before, whether there has been water intrusion, what flood insurance costs, and whether a lender will require it.
Before listing a coastal property, Egmont works through those questions with the seller. She reviews where the property sits on the flood map, any history of flooding or water intrusion, and available information about past insurance claims and the home's elevation. The disclosure, she said, works best when it gives buyers enough information to make a real decision rather than a checked box on a form.
"Buyers also have to think about it," Egmont said. "They need to understand elevation, drainage, what the insurance premium is going to be, and what kind of financing requirements their lender is going to require if they have financing." For sellers, she said, the task can be as simple as stating the facts plainly: the home is in a flood zone, flood insurance will be required, and the current policy costs a specific amount per year.
The timing of that information matters. A buyer who learns the numbers early can plan around them; a buyer who learns them halfway through a transaction often returns to renegotiate or walks away. Egmont frames flood disclosure as part of a broader principle she applies to every listing: the issues a seller addresses before going to market are the ones that will not derail the deal later. "The more we address these items before listing a property, the fewer surprises we're going to have during the negotiations," she said.
She also challenges a common seller misconception that listing is a single step of taking photographs and putting a home online. Instead, she walks properties with sellers before listing, identifies improvements that make financial sense, plans staging, and flags potential inspection issues, with pre-inspections worth considering for some homes so problems are found on the seller's timeline rather than the buyer's.
For coastal sellers planning to list in the coming months, Egmont advises gathering flood zone status, any history of flooding or water intrusion, current insurance costs, elevation information if it exists, and records of past claims now. Sellers should also review current disclosure requirements with a Connecticut real estate attorney, since the rules apply to the condition report they will sign. Answers to common seller questions are available on Egmont's seller FAQs page. More information about Kristin Egmont is available online.
