One of the greatest dangers that faces properties directly bordering the ocean is the threat of erosion. No matter where you buy your property, the shoreline is constantly changing. Luckily, most of these changes happen from season to season and year to year and the shoreline generally maintains the same shape and distance from one’s home. But in some areas, there is a significant amount of long term erosion happening where sometimes feet are lost from the shoreline every year never to return. Shoreline erosion is particularly bad on ocean properties that border inlets because inlets constantly change their shapes and locations. There are some steps that you can take to prevent erosion and sea damage to your home, but unfortunately most of them are also very tightly regulated by local government because they can affect the entire shoreline, not just your property.
Reducing Damage From Storms
One of the major causes of huge shoreline shifts is the huge storms that can sometimes strike shorelines. In fact, if the area your buy beachfront property in faces a significant stormy season you can temporarily lose up to 100 feet of the coastline in front of your house every year. It usually reappears in the spring however. Major storms like hurricanes and typhoons also destroy and rebuild coastlines in new shapes and formations.
To protect your home and property against waves and short term shore erosion, build up all of the dunes between your property and the beach. Dunes protect the property behind them from damage in the event of storm surges so do your best to keep people off them and make sure they retain their natural shape. Also try planting some dune grasses on them to help the dune hold together during high winds or big storms. This may not help the beach directly in front of your home, but it will help prevent serious short term erosion and will dampen the blows your beachfront home takes from storm surges.
Dealing with Long Term Erosion
Stopping Erosion
Your options for dealing with the long term erosion of a shoreline are much less optimistic. You can build several different types of structures that can reduce the amount of erosion the sea does to your property. These structures can include jetties, breakwaters, seawalls, or bulkheads. Unfortunately for you, the construction of all of these is tightly regulated. This is because installing something like a jetty on your property will keep the sand on your side o the island, but it will increase the erosion that your neighbor’s property is suffering from. Rebuilding the shorelines is another option, but it must be done all along a coastline and is only a very expensive, temporary solution. Before taking any actions to try to curb the erosion on your property make sure you check with the local authorities.
If your property is suffering from serious erosion, sometimes the only option may be to move your home back away from the shoreline and hope the current shift in the near future. Most states require homes to be built a certain amount of feet from the high water line of the ocean. Usually, this is the average amount of shoreline erosion in a year times thirty to forty years. It’s not an ideal situation and it doesn’t solve the problem, but it does let you enjoy your oceanfront property for a few more years before you have to give it up.
The biggest danger that faces any ocean property owner is the threat of shoreline erosion leaving him with a highly priced piece of ocean in the place of his property. If your area is only subject to short term erosion, you can build and strengthen sand dunes to cut down on the erosion and make sure that your home doesn’t suffer from the worst blows of a hurricane or other major storm. If your home is facing long term erosion however, you options are much more limited. There are structures that you can build to protect your property, but they will most likely be in violation of local ordinances. Always check to make sure that you are legally able to build a structure in the ocean before you do.
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Jack is the owner and founder of the Beachfront Property Guide. 
