Waterfront Home Info

[Gilligan]

What's a good water depth for a small to medium size fishing boat? I definitely don't want a house smack dab on the water where it is likely to flood, but I also don't want to have to climb up and down a cliff to get to our dock. The dock is very important to me, as well as the water frontage. I'd like to be able to launch kayaks from the shore. A sandy beachy area would be fantastic, but not for the entire frontage. It would eventually erode right?

Anyway, thank you for the advise. Keep it coming.

7D is a good place to look for what you apparently want...but then I'm biased, so.. ;-)

I keep an 18' fishing boat in a lift (which you'll definitely want if you expect to regularly use your boat). I also kept a 25' Deep V fishing boat in the water at the end for quite a few years. Mean water at the end of my pier where the lift and mooring is is only about 3' deep (so typically varying between 2' and 4'), so I cannot always launch and recover my boat at low tide and could not always get the larger boat in or out. If I had 4' mean water, I'd be in great shape except for the worst of the low tide events. Five feet is golden.

 

[Gilligan]

7D? 'nature's pool'? The Potomac River? ...okay.

Or Wicomico River..and any of the many, many sheltered creeks like Canoe Neck, Whites Neck, etc.

 

[Christy]

Costs, taxes, restrictions, prohibitions, laws, scrutiny, maintenance are magnified X times with waterfront ownership. if you own inland property you currently think is a money pit, you're in for a teeny surprise when you try to get your waterfront. Oh, and you're getting a boat. They're always a sound investment.

7D? 'nature's pool'? The Potomac River? ...okay.

Okay Susie Sunshine. Simmer down. It's not a competition on what is the biggest PIA money pit. I understand there will be costs, taxes, restrictions, prohibitions, laws..... etc..

I could care less about a boat. The old man wants a fishing boat. Nothing fancy. He just loves to fish, and hey, we're grown ups, we've worked for it, and if we want to blow money on it, whatevs.

7D is fantastic. I prefer that type of area over fancy, and uppity. And yeah, I'll give you the Potomac River statement. But I've probably gone swimming in worse.

 

[itsbob]

Meh, all homes are a boatload of problems. My current home has a million trees and an in-ground pool. The pool was great when the kids were young, and the trees were not so large surrounding it. Now it is a problematic money pit. I'd prefer to have nature's pool out in front of my house.

Did you see where Polly converted hers to a pond?? I think a great idea for a pool that has outlived it's usefulness/ practicality.

 

[Gilligan]

7D is fantastic.

It was even better when all of the many bars were open. But I digress... ;-)

 

[itsbob]

Good to know. It will be a while. We've got 2 houses to fix up and sell first. My dream location is Ridge/Scotland area, but it is too far for the husband to commute for work. So my new dream location is 7D. It's beautiful, and a bit wonky, just like me.

let us know, we'll put your name on one of the commune's rooms..

 

[Gilligan]

Okay Susie Sunshine. Simmer down.

 

[Christy]

Or Wicomico River..and any of the many, many sheltered creeks like Canoe Neck, Whites Neck, etc.

I like the Wicomico, we have spent a lot of time at Chaptico Wharf. Fishing there, and launch kayaks and boats. Most everyone we have encountered has been great. Everyone seems to be chatty with each other and not snooty. It's a diverse crowd and I really like that.

 

[Sapidus]

I will be sure to smell the water before buying. If you don't mind me asking, how much did the whole house water filter and stainless steel lined heater set you back?

Sure, the water heater was $1000 and the filter system was $1200. It requires filter that are changed every 6 months to year depending on usage. It was well worth it not to have to smell that sulfur anymore. It's usually only in the hot water if its a water heater issue so when you are looking at properties let the hot water run for a few minutes to check for the smell.

 

[Christy]

Did you see where Polly converted hers to a pond?? I think a great idea for a pool that has outlived it's usefulness/ practicality.

No, I'd be interested in seeing pics, but the plan right now is to cut down a bunch of trees soon and look to doing whatever repairs need to be done and re-opening the pool next summer. It is nice to come home from work and jump in the pool when it is 100 degrees out. It's just too much of a PIA right now. The battle to keep it clean because of all the trees is just not worth it. You would be amazed at how much bug poop drops out of those trees. I've also seen some insects that should remain hidden within the trees but have drown in our pool. Can't count how many "WTF is that thing?" statements I've made throughout the years.

 

[Gilligan]

A quick look at Zillow revealed several properties on sheltered water, Whites Neck Creek and St. Patricks Creek, where I used to live, that appear to be very reasonably priced at first glance. So when the time come..bet there are some decent deals to be had.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

Can you elaborate? I looked it up and have a general idea. Are there a lot of neighbors who fight over these rights?

A waterfront owner owns/controls that portion of land up to the mean high tide mark. That means that if you have a waterfront property with a nice 50 foot beach, from water's edge to grass, and the mean high tide mark is to the edge of that grass, the beach not yours, but the State or Maryland, and that means that anyone can be on it and use it. It does not mean that people can walk across your property, past your house, to get to the beach though.

Maryland’s Court of Appeals has described riparian rights as follows: “It is well established that the title to land under navigable water is in the State of Maryland, subject to the paramount right of the United States to protect navigation in the navigable waters." http://baylawllc.com/maryland-riparian-rights/

 

[Gilligan]

If I may ...



A waterfront owner owns/controls that portion of land up to the mean high tide mark. That means that if you have a waterfront property with a nice 50 foot beach, from water's edge to grass, and the mean high tide mark is to the edge of that grass, the beach not yours, but the State or Maryland, and that means that anyone can be on it and use it. It does not mean that people can walk across your property, past your house, to get to the beach though.

Maryland’s Court of Appeals has described riparian rights as follows: “It is well established that the title to land under navigable water is in the State of Maryland, subject to the paramount right of the United States to protect navigation in the navigable waters." http://baylawllc.com/maryland-riparian-rights/

I manage an offshore island on the Potomac that has probably 1/4-mile or so of beaches that are popular places for folks to beach their boats/kayaks and beach comb or just chill out. It's exceedingly rare (read: never) however to have anyone try to land and use the 50' beach on my personal island property...or that of any of my neighbors. Most people have some common sense and use it.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

I manage an offshore island on the Potomac that has probably 1/4-mile or so of beaches that are popular places for folks to beach their boats/kayaks and beach comb or just chill out. It's exceedingly rare (read: never) however to have anyone try to land and use the 50' beach on my personal island property...or that of any of my neighbors. Most people have some common sense and use it.

I wasn't trying to imply that people would use it, only that they could.

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

If I may ...



I wasn't trying to imply that people would use it, only that they could.

We did that at Windward Key in Chesapeake Beach years ago. Boy, were they pissed.

One benefit of the riparian issue is that the property owner gets first draw for offshore blind sites.

 

[Bird Dog]

If I may ...



A waterfront owner owns/controls that portion of land up to the mean high tide mark. That means that if you have a waterfront property with a nice 50 foot beach, from water's edge to grass, and the mean high tide mark is to the edge of that grass, the beach not yours, but the State or Maryland, and that means that anyone can be on it and use it. It does not mean that people can walk across your property, past your house, to get to the beach though.

Maryland’s Court of Appeals has described riparian rights as follows: “It is well established that the title to land under navigable water is in the State of Maryland, subject to the paramount right of the United States to protect navigation in the navigable waters." http://baylawllc.com/maryland-riparian-rights/

Not true....the State of Maryland does not own your un-navigable water. MHW averages 1.8' per tide

 

[Gilligan]

Not true....the State of Maryland does not own your un-navigable water. MHW averages 1.8' per tide

True. When your property is on a sheltered creek system like White Neck or Herring Creek, your property rights typically extend to some fictitious mean center line as relates to all other properties fronting the same body of water.

Does not take that water out of the jurisdiction of DNR though...

 

[Christy]

So how about putting a fence up? If you wanted to put a fence up to keep your dogs safe and enclosed, are there permits, rules, etc...?

 

[Midnightrider]

So how about putting a fence up? If you wanted to put a fence up to keep your dogs safe and enclosed, are there permits, rules, etc...?

go with and underground wire 'invisible' fence. I have used them at several homes and they all work. Plus you don't dick up your view with a fence. You just have to train the dogs. its not hard

 

[Chris0nllyn]

So how about putting a fence up? If you wanted to put a fence up to keep your dogs safe and enclosed, are there permits, rules, etc...?

I believe the only thing stopping that would be some sort of HOA restriction.