Buying beach real estate sounds like a dream come true right? Who doesn’t want to live on the beach? Picture it: the constant white noise of the waves crashing on the shore, the smell of the ocean in your nose, the possible access to fresh fish at your beck and call, waking up to the sound of seagulls; it sounds just delightful. Beach properties are prime according to real estate listings and realtors but there are definitely some disadvantages to living in beach real estate. Here are some things to consider if you are wanting to either live or invest in beach real estate.
The Salt
The salt in the air because of the ocean can really do a lot of damage. If you have any metal in your home, it could cause corrosion. Cars and trailers or other vehicles won’t last as long as your beach real estate as they would in inner city condos because of the erosion caused by the salt. You could stop rusting by adding a rust proof paint layer on your vehicles, but you couldn’t do that with everything that you won’t in the house. Not to mention, salt is fairly damaging to your skin and hair as well. It can cause it to dry out a lot faster.
The People
During the winter this won’t be that big of a deal but in summertime, the beach can get quite crowded. It would literally be like having a party in your front yard that you didn’t consent to. Tourists can sometimes be a little entitled and aren’t respectful of the are that they are visiting. This can get frustrating very quickly for the residents. The beach will likely have clean up crews that come by periodically but the people that hang out at the beach themselves can get annoying.
The Sand
The sand gets everywhere. Even if you personally never go out to the beach, the breeze and wind will blow the sand in to your house. You’ll be constantly needing to sweep, dust and vacuum. Even then, you may feel like the sand can never get under control. If you visit the beach yourself frequently, you’ll find that you may need to treat your drains more often then you would if you lived somewhere else. As you wash off, even if you rinsed at the beach, there will still be particles of sand stuck to you and your clothes. This also means your washing machine will need to be treated more often as well.
The Storms
While this may not be an issue along every single coasts, many places with beaches go through pretty severe storms. If the storm gets strong enough it can cause small tsunamis and flooding right along the coast. If your home is located right on the beach, you’ll be the first to get hit. This also means that there is not a lot of time for you to evacuate once the sea starts looking choppy. There’s definitely no time to grab any personal effects.
The Smell
The smell is one of the benefits of living by the ocean but it’s also one of the downfalls. The problem is that where there is sea, there is fish. Dead fish do not smell good. They often float and get washed ashore and if they aren’t cleaned up quickly, it can leave a foul stench in the air. If you do not like the smell of bad or dead fish then you probably should not invest in beach properties, much less decide to live in one. However, you could also look into the clean up schedule that the city should have for the beach and see how often the beach is cleaned. This will make a huge difference to how the beach smells and you may be perfectly fine.
There are many great things about living on the beach like the relaxing atmosphere and quite simply, the access to the beach. You get first pick on your tanning session during the summers. You know when the peak hours are and when no one will be around. You can use the beach for running and swimming and volleyball and other exercise. However, consider all angles so you don’t end up with something you didn’t expect.
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