She Wanted the Water Views. She Got Them. She's Also Not in the Flood Zone.

I am Susan Gorden Ryan, a REALTOR® with Jack Conway in Mattapoisett, MA, and I live on Buzzards Bay myself. Most waterfront buyers assume the trade-off is fixed: the better the view, the higher the flood exposure. One buyer I worked with refused to accept that as a given, and she was right not to.

To protect her privacy, I am describing her situation generally rather than naming her or the exact property.

She wanted real water views, not a glimpse between two houses, but she was not willing to take on flood zone exposure just to get them. That combination is harder to find than either requirement on its own, which is exactly why most buyers assume it does not exist.

It does exist. Elevation and the specific angle of a lot matter more than distance from the water, and a home set slightly higher or positioned at the right angle on a bluff or rise can carry a genuinely different flood classification than a home much closer to the shoreline a few hundred feet away.

We found a property with real water views and a flood classification well outside the mapped high-risk zone. She liked the home enough, once she saw it, to renovate around it rather than looking for something move-in ready, which told me the search had actually solved the real problem rather than settling for a compromise.

If you have been told, or have assumed yourself, that a great water view always comes bundled with flood risk, that is not a universal rule. It takes more looking, and it takes checking the actual FEMA classification property by property rather than trusting a general sense of “this whole stretch is waterfront, so it's all the same risk.” It usually is not.

Get in touch if this is the exact combination you are trying to find. It takes real looking, but it is findable.