Sandbridge Real Estate Net

Top 10 Tips for Buying a Beach House

1. Determine Why you want a Beach House
2. Select a Beach you can visit easily.
3. The land is worth more.
4. Select a local specialist.
5. Location, Location, Location
6. View the property through Goal Focused Lenses.
7. Narrow your Search
8. Explore expenses.
9. Look at your neighbors & your view.
10. Ask for Help.

#1 – Purely personal use? Combo Rental & Personal? Potential retirement property? Ocean lover? Bay lover?
#2 – Long weekend getaway retreat? How much driving time makes sense.
#3 – The land value for a Beach house is a bigger part of the value than a typical home. How much are you paying for the structure?
#4 – Find an agent who specializes in selling beach houses in the target area. Insider information is a good thing in this case.
#5 – Not all locations are equal in value, despite what Zillow or city tax assessments might suggest. You can improve the house but not the lot.
#6 – If rental income is your decision driver don’t worry about the size of the bathroom.
#7 – Find a few houses that meet your parameters. Then compare them in detail. If two come close, you can use this to your advantage in the purchase negotiations.
#8 – What are flood & homeowners insurance premiums? Are there any unusual expenses in this community? Any building restrictions for re-modeling/expansion. What repairs are needed now?
#9 – Will condition, size, occupancy of neighboring houses become an issue. Is your view subject to change?
#10 – Ask your specialist agent where in the neighborhood they live. Which house would they buy if these were their objectives? Why that house? The answer to these questions may be very revealing.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2012 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Buyers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.