Do I need flood insurance in Boerne, Texas?

If the property is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and you are using a federally backed loan, the lender will require flood insurance. Outside that zone it is optional but not unnecessary — a map line is not a risk assessment. Boerne is in Kendall County; get a flood quote during the option period.

When it is required, and who is doing the requiring

Flood insurance is not required by the State of Texas. The requirement comes from the lender, and it is triggered by two conditions together: the structure sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area on the FEMA flood map, and the loan is federally backed or federally regulated, which covers conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as well as FHA, VA and USDA loans.

Meet both conditions and coverage is mandatory for the life of the loan. The lender orders a flood zone determination early, the requirement lands in your closing conditions, and it does not get negotiated away. If the policy is not in place, the loan does not fund.

Meet only one — an SFHA property bought with cash, or a financed property outside the SFHA — and nobody requires anything. That is where the real decision lives.

The zones, and what the percentages actually mean

Texas Property Code §5.008 uses FEMA's two categories, and the statutory notice defines them precisely:

100-year floodplain, which is the Special Flood Hazard Area: Zones A, V, A99, AE, AO, AH, VE or AR. These carry a 1% annual chance of flooding.
500-year floodplain, a moderate flood hazard area: shaded Zone X. A 0.2% annual chance.

(Texas Property Code §5.008)

"100-year flood" is the phrase that misleads people most. It is not an event that happens once a century. It is a 1% chance in any given year, every year, independently. Over a thirty-year mortgage, that compounds into something a homeowner should take seriously, and it says nothing about whether one occurred last year.

A map line is not a risk assessment

This is the part that matters more than the zone designation itself. FEMA flood maps are engineering products with real limits. They are drawn on data of varying vintage, they are updated on a schedule that lags development, and in Hill Country terrain the topography changes over short distances. Upstream construction, new impervious cover, an undersized culvert or a low-water crossing can all move real-world risk without moving a line on a map.

The result is straightforward: a property outside the SFHA can still flood, and properties outside mapped flood zones do flood. Being in Zone X is a reason your lender will not require a policy. It is not evidence that water cannot reach the structure.

Two things worth doing regardless of the zone, both during the option period: look at the actual FEMA flood map for the parcel on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center — the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program, searchable by address — rather than a summary someone typed into a listing, and ask an insurance agent for a quote even if nothing requires one. Outside the SFHA the premium is frequently far lower than buyers assume, and a quote costs nothing to obtain.

What the seller has to disclose about flooding in Texas

A seller of residential real property of not more than one dwelling unit must give the buyer the written notice prescribed by Texas Property Code §5.008, or one substantially similar (Texas Property Code §5.008). The flood questions in that notice were added by SB 339, 86th Legislature, and are mandatory for contracts executed on or after September 1, 2019 (SB 339 enrolled text).

The notice asks the seller, in substance, whether:

The property is located wholly or partly in a 100-year floodplain (Special Flood Hazard Area).
The property is located wholly or partly in a 500-year floodplain (moderate flood hazard area).
The property has flooded at least once in the past 5 years.
The property is located in a reservoir flood pool.
The property has been repaired for flood damage.
The seller has received assistance or flood insurance proceeds for flood damage.

The current TREC version of the form is the Seller's Disclosure Notice, form 55-1, effective 05/28/2026 (TREC contract forms).

Read those answers carefully, and read the blanks carefully too. A seller answers to the best of their knowledge, and a seller who bought the house three years ago may not know what happened before that. "Unknown" is a common and often honest answer that tells you to go verify independently.

Note also that some sellers are exempt from providing the form — transfers pursuant to court order, foreclosures, transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy, transfers between co-owners, transfers to a spouse or descendant, transfers by a fiduciary administering an estate, and new residences not previously occupied. The exemption is from the form. It does not license misrepresentation. If the contract is signed before the seller has given the notice, the buyer may terminate for any reason within 7 days after receiving it.

Boerne is Kendall County, and the property may not be in the city at all

Boerne is the county seat of Kendall County, in the Texas Hill Country. It is not in Bexar County and it is not the City of San Antonio. San Antonio's ordinances do not apply here, and neither do Bexar County's floodplain administration procedures.

Properties in and around Boerne fall into three regulatory situations: inside Boerne city limits, inside Boerne's extraterritorial jurisdiction, and in unincorporated Kendall County outside both. Floodplain development permitting, elevation requirements and the local floodplain administrator differ across those. Before assuming which set of rules applies, confirm the jurisdiction the parcel actually sits in with the City of Boerne or Kendall County.

Get the quote during the option period, because it is a deadline

The option period is the window in which a Texas buyer can terminate for any reason. It is finite, it is negotiated rather than set by law, and it runs on calendar days from the effective date. The termination right expires at 5:00 p.m. local time on the last day, whether or not your insurance quote came back.

The option fee is delivered to the escrow agent — the title company, not the seller — within three days after the effective date, rolling to the next business day if day three is a weekend or legal holiday (TREC). Miss that delivery and there is no termination right to exercise.

So the flood work belongs on the same schedule as the inspection: pull the flood map for the parcel, read the seller's disclosure flood answers, and get a written quote from an insurance agent. A flood premium that arrives after the option period has closed is information you can no longer act on. On a financed purchase in an SFHA, an unexpected annual premium can also change the debt-to-income picture your lender approved, which is a reason to get the number in front of the loan officer early rather than late.

Who to ask

Coverage, premiums, elevation certificates and whether a policy makes sense outside a mapped zone are questions for a licensed insurance agent. Whether your loan requires coverage is a lender question and depends on the flood zone determination they order. Floodplain designations, permitting and local elevation requirements come from the City of Boerne or Kendall County, depending on where the parcel sits. Disputes about what a seller disclosed or should have disclosed are for a Texas real estate attorney.

Questions about a specific property?

Call or text 830-446-3847 · Email heath.shepard@kw.com

This page explains how flood insurance requirements and Texas flood disclosure work. It is not insurance or legal advice. A licensed insurance agent quotes and places coverage; a Texas real estate attorney handles disclosure disputes.