Waterfront Home Info

[Midnightrider]

Buy an existing property with a house. More expensive, but tons less of BS.
I built mine...two years to get a Building Permit.....LUGM, Planning Comission, Army Corps, Critical Area Commision, Department of Health, Department of the Environment, Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Forest Service, Maryland Department of Agriculture, St. Marys County Department of Public Works, Neighbors.........and probably forgot two or more.

We went back and forth between building and buying on the water. Our realtor gave us some really good advice: there aren't any deals on a new build. You pay retail for everything. We ended up finding a place that was recently redone and got a decent deal.

We had a builder come out and look at one property and he noticed the survey was a bit off. The long and short if it was that you could only build in the back corner right near both neighbors and you would never be able to see the water from the house despite having a large waterfront lot.

 

[Gilligan]

Buy an existing property with a house. More expensive, but tons less of BS.
I built mine...two years to get a Building Permit.....LUGM, Planning Comission, Army Corps, Critical Area Commision, Department of Health, Department of the Environment, Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Forest Service, Maryland Department of Agriculture, St. Marys County Department of Public Works, Neighbors.........and probably forgot two or more.

Had to run that gauntlet in 2012, trying to get a home built to replace one that burnt. Hired LSR to do most of the heavy lifting....did a great job.

 

[officeguy]

Had to run that gauntlet in 2012, trying to get a home built to replace one that burnt. Hired LSR to do most of the heavy lifting....did a great job.

Is that a local architect or permitting consultant?

Sounds like the kind of company to hire during the due diligence on any waterfront property, whether it's new construction or existing structure.

 

[Bird Dog]

Had to run that gauntlet in 2012, trying to get a home built to replace one that burnt. Hired LSR to do most of the heavy lifting....did a great job.

I used DH Stephens good results, but still a pain.

 

[Gilligan]

I used DH Stephens good results, but still a pain.

Bottom line: Trying to go through that process without a local land planning company that really knows Critical Areas is about impossible. Higgs got ours through the process in roughly three months, which I though was pretty remarkable. The guy that did the special foundation engineering for us was fast too. Unfortunately, he's passed on so no point in mentioning his name.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

Not to mention the 50-100%, or more, increased premium in price one would pay for good waterfront, compared to a comparable inland home. Of course with that, comes a hefty property tax bill as well. You also better not cut any trees, shrubs, bushes, invasive species down, basically anything green and growing, or even dead standing trees, even if you didn't plant it, without first getting permission, after filing an application to do so. All because of the critical area laws. Any property within 1000 feet of water (shoreline) is subject to them.

 

[Gilligan]

I
Of course with that, comes a hefty property tax bill as well.

There is that. Hefty indeed...

 

[Sapidus]

I'm on the bay in a critical area with well and septic and in a 100 year flood zone.

The sulfur smell in the water was unbearable until i installed a whole house water filter and got a new stainless steel lined water hot water heater that doesn't react.

Also I have a pool but its not as deep as I'd like because the under lying water table is very low. There are all sorts of rules and regulations about what you can plant and what you can cut so be sure to read up on that.

I would buy the house again in a heart beat so don't hesitate I m sure you will be happy living on the water.

 

[Wishbone]

7D does not count. You could build a brothel over there and it would take years for the county govt to find out.

Well now that you've told them!

 

[Christy]

BUY the place with the existing boathouse. Sell a kidney sell a kid sell something and get it now! .

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.

 

[Christy]

Look at the septic system also.

Thanks! Friend of mine's septic failed and they couldn't even put in a new one. Had to go to storage tanks that they come suck out every month. That would NOT be ideal.

 

[Christy]

That said, you want to pay close attention to the mean water depth of the waterfront you are looking at. Deeper mean water closer to shore and you need less dock in the first place.

Elevation is important too. Avoid properties in the various flood zones or at least recognize the possibility of chronic flooding AND the required flood insurance if you have a mortgage. We get a lot of that on St. George's.

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.

 

[Christy]

I lived on the water for 50 years. My last property is NOT on the water for a good reason. You probably have some idyllic dream. It's not a dream; it's a just boatload of problems.

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.

 

[Ken King]

With global warming, why not let the waterfront come to you? It should be any day now, right?

 

[Christy]

learn what's Ripairian Rights and what's Non- Ripairian Rights.

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

 

[Christy]

Buy an existing property with a house. More expensive, but tons less of BS.
.

Yeah, I have no desire to build new. I'm not even all that picky over the house. My only requirement is that it has 2 bathrooms. Other than that, I'm wide open.

 

[Wishbone]

With global warming, why not let the waterfront come to you? It should be any day now, right?

If you listen to MSNBC, you could have ocean-front at the top of Spruce Knob.

 

[Christy]

The sulfur smell in the water was unbearable until i installed a whole house water filter and got a new stainless steel lined water hot water heater that doesn't react.


I would buy the house again in a heart beat so don't hesitate I m sure you will be happy living on the water.

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?

 

[RoseRed]

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.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sa...,-76.492224,38.308056,-76.608095_rect/12_zm/?

 

[hitchicken]

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.

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.