Would you buy a house in sinkhole alley?

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

It being sinkhole ally just makes me more inclined not to buy one there. I wouldn't buy one there anyway.

 

[Kitty 34]

I like to celebrate Sinkhole de Mayo

Ahhhhh, the drink and food items we could possibly come up with to celebrate this very special day!!!!

 

[Micca]

Ahhhhh, the drink and food items we could possibly come up with to celebrate this very special day!!!!

Starting with...Free Holes?

 

[Kitty 34]

Starting with...Free Holes?

Like free donut holes? That's good.

 

[Eeyore daily]

My parents bought a house in Pinellas and in Pasco county (FL) which both have sink hole rates according to the map. I think it's unavoidable in FL in general but if it's not one thing it's another. I live in the Pasco house and tbh my concerns are more of flooding/bugs than sinkholes lol

 

[Toolulu22]

My FIL lives in Ocala where he and his wife began hearing/feeling something similar to a train or truck passing. There was nothing outside and the feeling and sound kept on. They had someone come in and check and sure enough there was a sinkhole under their home that took 11 truckloads of concrete to fill. Luckily they HAD sinkhole insurance and now they are supposedly safe because the concrete goes down to the solid bedrock. FIL says he'll never be able to sell.

MIL lives in Spring Hill, which in North of Tampa. Her neighborhood is notorious for sinkholes. She does not have sinkhole insurance because she can not afford it. We definitely have that worry on the back of our minds. She looks at every crack sideways.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Yes, I would. Although the area I would want to buy in isn't prone to sinkholes. Having lived in FL most of my life I'm really not worried. I've never known anyone affected by one.

 

[Feralpeg]

Have you seen any? Are most just small?

I've seen them on the local news, but I've never seen one in person. Nothing near my home.

 

[scrapquitler]

There is a part of me that would love to move to Florida and live near Disney, but all the houses are either in or on the edge of Sinkhole Alley.

If you knew an area was prone to some bad natural/unnatural disasters would you steer clear of it?

I live outside of Portland Oregon now and we are supposed to get "the big one" at some point, but really the sinkholes seem more real/immediate.

I think almost every area is prone to some sort of natural disaster. Take your pick: earthquake, tornado, blizzard, mudslides, avalanches, wild fires, hurricane, flood, sinkhole. Some are easier to avoid or plan for, and others are unpredictable.

As far as sinkholes specifically, maybe we just don't hear it in the news up here in New England, but I haven't heard about a huge sinkhole epidemic in Florida. I've heard of a few in the last 10 or 15 years, but I've heard of a lot more of most of the other types of disasters. Sinkholes would be low on my list of concerns.

 

[Minnesota!]

Starting with...Free Holes?

The play on frijoles was GENIUS level wit!

 

[fla4fun]

The insurance is actually for that is something you need to buy extra. I guess it runs anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 extra a year in addition to your other regular insurance.

Wow, that seems high compared to what we pay for homeowners insurance and our insurance does have the sinkhole coverage. It’s not a separate policy like flood insurance, just an additional rider on the regular policy. I don’t recall my parents having sinkhole coverage when we lived in Pinellas county, but that was more than 25 years ago and sinkholes weren’t really talked about all that much. I think the case of the guy being swallowed up by a sinkhole at night is what freaked everyone out regarding sinkholes. But I would be just as freaked out by an earthquake or flood.

 

[Mirielle]

I just sold one smack in the middle of the Red Zone!

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Have you seen any? Are most just small?

You know all those perfectly round looking lakes on a Florida map? Sinkholes made those.

 

[cinnaminny]

My FIL lives in Ocala where he and his wife began hearing/feeling something similar to a train or truck passing. There was nothing outside and the feeling and sound kept on. They had someone come in and check and sure enough there was a sinkhole under their home that took 11 truckloads of concrete to fill. Luckily they HAD sinkhole insurance and now they are supposedly safe because the concrete goes down to the solid bedrock. FIL says he'll never be able to sell.

MIL lives in Spring Hill, which in North of Tampa. Her neighborhood is notorious for sinkholes. She does not have sinkhole insurance because she can not afford it. We definitely have that worry on the back of our minds. She looks at every crack sideways.

Dang. That could have swallowed him up! I wondered if they fixed it with concrete. I guess so...

Curious, did he live in a new house or an older one?

 

[Toolulu22]

Dang. That could have swallowed him up! I wondered if they fixed it with concrete. I guess so...

Curious, did he live in a new house or an older one?

He bought the house new at that time- probably 20 years ago. However, a new community is going in right down the block from him. He is in ‘horse’ country. But all the horse properties are being developed.

He was told that since he had such a large sink hole that its likely his neighbors could develop them as well. Hopefully, the new home buyers do their homework.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I'll be honest, the sink holes do scare me . But we live in Kentucky, which is also a sinkhole prone area, and haven't had any trouble. If you let your anxiety get the best of you and stsrt googling, you'll find reports of people falling into sinkholes across the country. A man on an Illinois golf course, an Arkansas sink hole opens up under a lake and causes a whirlpool that traps boaters, sinkhole causes car accident in Arizona, etc... They can happen anywhere. Thr risk, while real, is small. My entire extended family have lived in Polk county Florida since before WW2, and nobody has ever had sinkhole issues.