When you imagine a luxury home, where is it located? For many people, the ultimate luxury dream is to own beachfront property on their own private island. While owning the entire island may be a bit outside your price range, having beachfront property on an island is far more attainable. Before you invest in a dream beach home, consider the following questions:
How Much Travel Time Can You Manage?
If you are buying this beach home as a second home, how often do you plan to be there? If it is a seasonal vacation home, the distance from your primary residence doesn’t matter as much. If you plan to be there on every long weekend, it’s probably best to pick a place that’s within a reasonable driving distance from your full-time home.
Sometimes having a second home that is several hours away can actually be a blessing. Your time spent there becomes much more intentional since you have to plan further in advance. Not being able to drop by on a whim means that you have to work this time into your schedule ahead of time.
You should also keep in mind your beach home’s proximity to other necessary locations, like grocery stores, dining and shopping options, and medical facilities. If this is a weekend getaway kind of house, you don’t want a location that’s so remote that you have to drive an hour one way and back to pick up some grocery staples that you forgot. Location will also be important if you plan to rent out your home while you’re away.
Do You Want to Rent Your Home?
If you do want to rent your beach home, it needs to have all of the amenities that you searched for when you selected your primary home. Easy access to shopping, dining, supermarkets, gyms, and other basic facilities is just as important to renters as owners.
Consider the portion of the year that you want to rent your place, too. High season or offseason? This can influence the size of the home, as renters in the high season may prefer a larger space so that they can invite friends and family members to share it with them.
Whatever you decide to do, a realtor who knows the local area well can be an immense asset during this process.
Are You Prepared for the Maintenance?
Have you ever owned a home by the beach before? In addition to the standard maintenance that every house requires, a beach home’s proximity to saltwater and water in general means you have different maintenance needs. Because saltwater is corrosive, the lifetime of equipment life your HVAC will be shorter. There are systems that are specifically made for this kind of environment, however, so keep this in mind as you have someone inspect the home. Don’t forget about your flood insurance policy, either.
Do You Have Connections in the Community?
Especially if you’re not going to be there year-round, you’ll want to establish your network quickly. Knowing that you have someone in the area who can check on your home from time to time provides invaluable peace of mind.
We’ve written about these considerations not to dissuade you from buying a beach home, but to make sure you are fully aware of all that goes into the purchasing decision and that you will be more than satisfied when you finally decide on your perfect place.
Once you’ve thought about the above, it’s time to start looking for your dream beach home. Take a look at the waterfront property on Seabrook Island and reach out to one of our real estate agents for more information.