The first thing you should look for when buying your beach home is any existing structures that are put up on the property. This includes things such as seawalls, jetties, and docks. Make sure that all of the structures were built legally and conform to local zoning practices. Ask for certification if you have to. In the past, construction restrictions were much more incredibly lax than they are today, and these structures may have been grandfathered in, meaning you can’t make serious improvements to them. They have may even have been built illegally, leaving you with hefty fines and having to take them down when they are found out. In the case of structures like sea walls, this could leave you with a shrinking amount of property as erosion takes its toll.

The next thing that you should look for when investigating beach homes for sale you are thinking of making an offer for is where the high water level occurs, especially during storm seasons. In most areas, all beaches up to the level of the high water line are public and after this your private property begins. Unfortunately, this level changes day to day and season to season. Especially during stormy seasons, your property can actually shrink by 100 feet or more, depending on where your property is located. Make sure you find out about where the water level comes to at all times of the year so you know how much danger your home may be in during stormy weather.

Along these same lines, also find out how much your coastline is expected to erode each year. Most communities place restrictions on housing that only allow them to be built the average amount of erosion per year times thirty or forty years. If your home is closer than this, you may end up with either a costly move or water in your first floor sooner than you may expect. Even if your home is built at least this far away from the shore, if you think a normal mortgage on a home is thirty years, your home will be paid off just in time for it to sink beneath the waves. Never overlook the amount of shoreline erosion you may be facing on any beachfront properties you consider.

Finally, find out about how often national disasters are expected to smack into your beloved beachfront home. If the area is too prone to disasters, you may end up only being able to get extremely high risk flood and wind insurance, which will result in your paying even more money than you expect.

Buying beachfront homes is a dream for many people the world over. If you want to keep your dream alive for years and years to come, make sure to do a little research on the home and the property that you’re investing so heavily in. If you do this, you’ll be sipping martinis carefree on your oceanfront property in no time.

Related posts:

1. Build Your Dream Home on Oceanfront Land for Sale
2. Finding Your Perfect Beach House for Sale
3. Getting Your Dream Ocean Front Homes

Effects of Erosion on Ocean Front Property

On inland land, property lines are for the most part unchanging. Once you buy a parcel of land you can be pretty sure that you will have complete control over that area until you decide to sell it barring an eminent domain case by the state. However, on beachfront property, property lines are always changing. This is because your property generally starts a the high water line, and anything below this is considered public beach. The high water line can change from day to day and in stormy seasons may even more as much as 100 feet inland! It is important that you know exactly how much erosion your property is likely to face in the future to make sure that you can enjoy your parcel of land for years to come.

Short-Term and Long-Term Erosion

There are two different types of erosion that you will have to deal with on your oceanfront property. First, you will have to deal with short-term erosion. Short term erosion is caused by hurricanes (or typhoons in the Pacific) and other strong seasonal storms. These violent storms move tons of sand and other debris around when they crash into the land. They can make new inlets, destroy old inlets, and completely reshape coastlines. However, most of the damage done by storms is eventually reversed and the shoreline returns to normal in due time.

The more serious form of shoreline erosion is long-term erosion. Long-term erosion is caused by a variety of factors, including rising sea levels, strong longshore currents, and other more complex factors. This type of erosion is not easily stopped and permanently reshapes coastlines. If your property looks right out onto the ocean, it is imperative that you ask your realtor what the amount of erosion in the area is. It is not necessarily required by all states that the buying party be made aware of any of the risks of eroding shorelines.

The areas most at risk of long-term erosion are inlets. These areas are hard to replace and are many times constantly changing. If you are buying property on or near an inlet, make sure that the coastline is not moving underneath you!

What Can Be Done

Once you find out that your home is threatened by erosion, what can you do? Unfortunately, there are not many good options that you can undertake when trying to deal with erosion. One option could be to install so-called “hard-breaks” that stop erosion and waves from further damaging your property. Hard breaks include sea walls, jetties, breakwaters, and bulkheads. While these will protect your property, they will generally do so at the expense of adjacent properties and are not allowed in most areas. Check your local regulations. Another option that some people may consider is to try to replenish the shoreline by dredging up sand to replace the sand that’s eroded. Unfortunately, this is incredibly expensive and would have to be done along long stretches of the shoreline, not just around your home to be effective. It is also only a temporary solution and within a few years you could find yourself back in the same situation, but a few dollars poorer.

Beachfront properties are among the most desirable pieces of real estate in the world. However, they have their own unique challenges and dangers associated with them. Make sure that you’re fully aware of all the risks of buying a certain property before you sign any paperwork.

Related posts:

1. Dealing with Erosion on Ocean Property
2. Getting Your Dream Ocean Front Homes
3. Ocean Front Real Estate