Check on the flood insurance and flood claim history on the property, Bobert. That can make a huge difference in the selling/asking price and how much you want to move into the ground floor. I'm on a creek in Fort Worth, but we're partway down a ridge so it rushes past and gets over the bridge in heavy rain. Look at a topo map for your area (bring the new place up in google maps and look at the terrain.)

Enter the address, town, state, and zip in the box on the right on this page (one-step flood risk profile) and see what it tells you. It'll list a gazillion agents to sell flood insurance; your insurance company agent can probably sell it without going to a separate agent. When I switched to Amica I left my flood coverage with Allstate, because Amica doesn't write the policies, they would refer it to another company.

I absolutely love living on my creek. The beauty of the water, the wildlife, the ability to pump water if I want to, it's all there. But so is the potential hazard. My house has never had a claim, but insurance is still worthwhile.

SRS