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As someone who owns a beach house. Some other things of importance.
First it is elevation that matters not distance from beach in a flood.
Zone matters. Some beach front units are in the dreaded V zone. Velocity Zone. Meaning wave action. If condo is in a V zone flood insurance is much more expensive.
Prior flood history of condo and age of condo (post-firm vs pre-firm makes a big difference in prems).
Financials of condo is a big deal by beach. Also some condos have a lot of rental restrictions and fees by beach to watch out for. Things wear out quicker by beach, roof, siding, doors, parking lots.
we are on a canal lot and about a ten minute boat ride into the gulf. The canal is only about 30 feet from our carport and the salt air is brutal on a car. I used to leave a car there year round and it basically ruined the vehicle. I had to change the alternator and the air conditioner (twice) due to corrosion.
Regarding not seeing the water after dark, there are nights when I look out my window at Lake Michigan and it is lit from above and below with moonlight reflecting off the water. In the winter, the moon gleams on the ice. Another poster mentioned the other day that the stars are exceptionally diligent about keeping darkness at bay. True, there are some dark nights but it's not really a 14/10 hour split.
To some extent, though, it's like disagreeing over whether blue is a better color than yellow. Some on this board have eloquently described their love of looking out at mountains. Some have sincerely stated their priority of living near family. Some want to take advantage of first class live music because of the joy it brings them. For me it's the Great Lakes, for sure in part because of a childhood vacationing there. So I did move to a (winterized!) waterfront house for retirement and still am entranced with the beauty of the view.
If you want to just open your eyes and see water, then that's your choice. If you are happy to open your window for an enticing whiff of salt air, there you are. If it's enough to drive easily to water, but have more social and physical amenities, then Bob's your uncle. No right or wrong, just what's your priority.
If I were to stay in California after I retire, I would move into a 55+ mobile home community within the Ventura harbor. Not on the beach, but within a five-minute walk. Wonderful environment, if you don't mind mobile home communities. Complex is well maintained and is also rent controlled. The units are more expensive than elsewhere for obvious reasons.
I believe that there are some beach-front mobile home communities in the Pebble Beach area, but have not investigated them.
None around Pebble Beach that I know of? Santa Cruz has a nice cliff side home park. Most are modular now and many with awesome ocean views. Deanza Estates!
Salt air. It. Destroys. Everything. You'll have to replace your outdoor grill, kitchen etc every couple of years because salt air corrodes. If you ever want to leave your kitchen door open to the outside, it will corrode your household appliances.
Regarding the rust and corrosion, these are some of the materials to look for to dampen the effect of salt air :
- Galvanized iron
- Cast aluminum
- Stainless steel
Having lived most of my life either on the ocean, ocean view, or walking distance, this is my take.
At night it is dark. You cannot see the ocean. So up to 14 hours a day (depending where you live in the world) that view you are paying a very high premium for, you will not be able to see.
Many times your view from across the street to down the block is just as good as oceanfront.
Salt air. It. Destroys. Everything. You'll have to replace your outdoor grill, kitchen etc every couple of years because salt air corrodes. If you ever want to leave your kitchen door open to the outside, it will corrode your household appliances.
Neighbors. When you live at the beach, there is almost a 100% chance for several months of the year your neighbors will be vacationers. Every week for weeks at a time you will get a new set of neighbors that think it is perfectly acceptable to put 27 people in a three bedroom rental. Can you imagine the trash they generate?
If you can afford it, buy a home a couple of blocks from the beach in a residential neighborhood and build your own pool.
You are absolutely right about people who rent out their condo's for the season or even worst on VRBO for a week or so. If you live on the beach in Florida you can expect to have new neighbors on a weekly or monthly basis and they are there to party for the whole time they are there. Before buying a condo on the water in Florida look to see how many units are for sale and how many are for rent and check the vacation rental sites. Many time you will see 3 or 4 times the rentals as the sales. Remember the old adage Let the buyer beware
You are absolutely right about people who rent out their condo's for the season or even worst on VRBO for a week or so. If you live on the beach in Florida you can expect to have new neighbors on a weekly or monthly basis and they are there to party for the whole time they are there. Before buying a condo on the water in Florida look to see how many units are for sale and how many are for rent and check the vacation rental sites. Many time you will see 3 or 4 times the rentals as the sales. Remember the old adage Let the buyer beware
But that's part of the fun of the beach ... Parties! But I hear what you're saying ... hopefully there will be more education going forward about how to party outside and keep it low inside to respect residents of condos. The HoA has to do its job in putting signs to that effect. That is another factor in favor of #2 and #3 on Post 1.
Last edited by Yippeekayay; 08-09-2016 at 08:07 AM..
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