FEMA Flood Insurance, Napa River Double-Wide - How to pay lowest price
yet get replacement cost if flooded? Must distinguish between coverage
for regular home real estate -- and the relatively under-served and
mysterious coverage and "replacement cost" scenarios for MH: trailers,
i.e. mobile homes, i.e. manufactured housing [MH] -- it is NOT real
estate, and is view as a boat or a car, legally.

How do I get lowest price on mandatory flood insurance for my weekend
house -- AKA mobile home/manufactured home -- in wildly expensive Napa
Valley town of St. Helena?

This 1978 double-wide "manufactured home"  (weekend house) is next to
the Napa River which flooded in '85 and '94.

If I were to sell it with a local real estate agent, the price would
be over $300,000 in this market. Since I've redesigned it and
completely rebuilt the interior, a replacement cost might be $250,000
for a redesigned current mobile home/prefab house with all the
kitchen/bath upgrades.

I was once told the insurance would only cover the "Blue Book" value
of my double-wide:
The "Blue Book" value for my 1978 Fleetwood is about $6,800. But the
current market value here at the mobile home park in St. Helena, Napa
Valley (where I rent my space) is about $300,000 for my double-wide (I
did a "gut renovation," white pine floors etc., stainless steel
kitchen).

I have insured it for the past couple of years with a big company
(Farmer's) for $113,000,  with no coverage on contents.

Why so low? I interviewed a FEMA official in early 2002, based in
Sacramento, who told me that amount would allow me to recreate my
design, would cover "replacement cost."

Post-Katrina: 
"Replacement cost" with MH (manufactured housing) -- bottom line, how
defined? It's like my house is an old VW bug, and I had it customized
at the Ferrari shop. Will FEMA put me back into an old VW bug?

I didn't want to buy any flood insurance back in 2001 or 2002, but my
private lender insisted on it. (The flood project here on the Napa
River in St. Helena is stalled; funding problems in Washington DC).
Now it seems crucial.

After watching New Orleans, is FEMA making good on mobile home
policies like this -- where the house is worth so much (like the
million-dollar park on the Malibu Highway in NYT this year).

 Replacement cost coverage, according to my "Flood Insurance Renewal
Premium Notice", "is provided under the Standard Flood Insurance
Policy Dwelling Form for a SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING,
provided the amount...of coverage...is at least 80% of the repl.cost
value of the structure at the time, or is the maximum amount
available..."

The insurance payment goes to the "Flood Insurance Processing Center,"
in Dallas, TX.  (and Kalispell, MT.)

To estimate prices, insurance agents want to know this "Blue Book" information:
The 1978 "Fleetwood" brand double-wide is about 1,440 sq.ft. -- 24'
wide, 60' long. It is set on cement blocks (no permanent foundation)
and is not tied down.

I spend more than 80% of my time here.

The 1978 "Fleetwood" brand double-wide is about 1,440 sq.ft. -- 24'
wide, 60' long. It is set on cement blocks (no permanent foundation)
and is not tied down.
This year, I will spend more than 80% of my time here.

My insurance is handled locally. Most of the business of this ?park?
has been referred to her, so she?d be an effective voice in moving any
flood claims.

Are there current news reports -- on FEMA, Katrina flooding
overwhelming the federally-backed insurance system, changes to payouts
on flood insurance for mobile homes, and especially replacement cost
definitions ? that will guide my decision-making process?