Real estate agent weighs in on Manawa flooding property damage

The city of Manawa continues to clean up after a massive flood and what was once a pond is now almost dried up, leaving many homeowners around it concerned about their property values.

• Watch people continue to fish at the Mill Pond Wednesday, in the shadows of the dam which was severely damaged during last week's flooding
• Hear from a real estate agent about what the flooding means for homeowners in the affected area
• Manawa is holding a public council meeting Monday at 6 p.m. to discuss the future of the dam and Mill Pond

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story edited for the web.)

The city of Manawa continues to clean up after a massive flood and what was once a pond is now almost dried up, leaving many homeowners around it concerned about their property values. I'm Pari Apostolakos and I spoke with a local real estate agent about what they need to know.

"In terms of property value it really depends on whether your home was affected by the dam or not," local real estate agent Patrick Saifkani said. "You know, obviously some of the waterfront properties are no longer waterfront so that's going to have a slight decrease in value, maybe, maybe not. Who knows if the dam will fill back up."

Saifkani told me he just sold a home in Manawa near the Mill Pond for above asking price. He has some advice for people who own homes on or near water.

"Get routine inspections, make sure your sump pump's working, make sure the foundation is in good standing condition," Saifkani said. "Make sure that the drain tiling is good, intact. If there's any water pile ups or [saturation] in your yard I would definitely get that looked at."

Now, despite the water level being lower than normal, and in some spots nonexistent, at the Mill Pond off of the Little Wolf River people are still fishing here. Jeanette Much who has lived in Manawa all of her life is hopeful the Mill Pond will return to what it once was.

"The mill pond is a very significant resource in our community. We have fisheries out here and it's a lot of family gatherings and stuff, people all come together to fish," Much said while on a walk with her dog near the dam Wednesday. "We do quite a bit of ice fishing out here in the winter, so that's good memories of all that throughout the years."

As the community continues to clean up, Saifkani said what this means for Manawa's real estate market overall remains to be seen.

"This drew a lot of attention to the Manawa area which, if you know, is a smaller community," he said. "So it could go one way or another, if your home was affected by the dam, obviously it's going to go down in value. But if it wasn't, like this property [I had listed] wasn't, then who knows? Maybe you could end up selling for higher than you think."

The city of Manawa is still waiting to see what relief funding it can get from the state.

The Manawa deputy clerk tells NBC 26 the public is welcome to attend a council meeting next Monday at 6 p.m. Where they'll discuss what's next for the dam and Mill Pond.