Finding Real Estate With Dockage

[zstine]

We are starting to think about retirement in 5-7 years. Our plan is to purchase a condo or small house ($300-350k) on the water where we can keep a boat. The condo/house's dock doesn't necessarily have to be able hold the big boat (likely a low 40's catamaran or upper 40's mono). We can dock our tender at the house, provided there are moorings available close by (obviously docking the big boat would be better). We are pretty open to location from the north coast of FL (St. Augustine/Palm Coast), North to Pamlico Sound. We'd like to rent the property ~6mo (VRBO / AirBnB) while cruising half the year and may purchase a few years in advance of retirement as a vacation home/rental investment. We'd also like to be able to do some day/weekend sailing from the property... so deep into the ICW or up canals where you are 30 miles from open water is not good.

The question regards real estate agents and finding property in such a large search area. From my dealings with agents, they are typically specific to a local area and are licensed by the state. How does one go about finding property when the typical search parameters don't help find what you want and you are considering multiple states? Are there agents that specialize in this or special web sites that cover waterfront property?

The 'waterfront' button on zillow is not very helpful as 90% of the hits don't have and could not have a boat dock, like ocean front or property on ponds, etc.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by zstine

The 'waterfront' button on zillow is not very helpful as 90% of the hits don't have and could not have a boat dock, like ocean front or property on ponds, etc.

Zillow lets you also add keywords to your search.

I've found that "dock" narrows it down a bit. Sure, you get dockominiums, and community homes with a shared dock. But it's a start. Oh, and since my price range is well below yours, I get FAR fewer hits

I also keep a chartplotter program like OpenCPN open while I'm searching. The Zillow map sometimes makes it obvious that a location is nowhere near navigable water, but other times you have to verify that there's not a low bridge downstream or some such.

[hscrugby]

Casually looking as well, and yea, the apps seem to stink for this. What I've found is look in areas I "like" then take off all the filters, and view as "map view" and kind of guess if they are on water or not. I've seen houses with gorgeous docks with bathroom etc on the dock not even be listed as waterfront, and I've seen houses 10 minute drive listed as "waterfront"
Once you have a "guess" for a more narrow area, then if you want to be spammed into oblivion, join a local FB group and ask for realtor suggestions. Personally I'm looking in the New Bern/Oriental area. Fairfield Harbor area has quite a few that meet your criteria, but not sure how well it would do as a rental.

[esarratt]

Originally Posted by zstine

The question regards real estate agents and finding property in such a large search area. From my dealings with agents, they are typically specific to a local area and are licensed by the state. How does one go about finding property when the typical search parameters don't help find what you want and you are considering multiple states? Are there agents that specialize in this or special web sites that cover waterfront property?

Not to my knowledge in North Carolina. I have experience with North Carolina real estate only. I never found any agents to be very helpful. I wound up doing all my own searching. I own 5 properties which I am developing (none are next to the water).

I have found properties with docks that are in my price range (below $20,000); they are rare. I found you have to look almost daily, or at least once a week for months, to get property in this price range, but it is out there. It goes quickly.

I have seen properties w/no house that are cheap ($11,000) for .50 acre that needed a l-o-n-g $50,000 dock to get the to the water. If a property like this already has a dock then it is priced at $50,000.

Originally Posted by zstine

The 'waterfront' button on zillow is not very helpful as 90% of the hits don't have and could not have a boat dock, like ocean front or property on ponds, etc.

Using the keyword feature on Zillow with the word "water" or "dock" helps you locate properties near or on the water, but you have to wade through the results.

The Rich Company out of Washington, NC seems to have a lot of the market in Eastern, NC.

If you decide to buy a property and build your own dock pay attention to CAMA, North Carolina's Coastal Area Management Act. Basically permit police and regulators for anything that might harm the marsh.

I search property that looks good by walking on it. You can't really tell anything from the listings. I take a string with a weight and see what the water depth is. Talk to the neighbors who have boats about depth issues. A dinghy or a kayak is useful to scope out properties from the water.

[denverd0n]

I find realtor.com to be more useful than zillow.

[hscrugby]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

I find realtor.com to be more useful than zillow.

Advantage of realtor is it seems to update to pending and sold way quicker. Disadvantage is that it often won't show a listing for a day or two after Zillow. You kind of have to use lots of searching

[Sohum]

Try searching waterfront homes for sale (state). Goto zillow or realtor, Switch to map view,