Roger Pettingell: What You Need to Know When Buying a New Luxury Waterfront Home

Purchasing a new luxury waterfront property isn’t just about buying a home. It’s about entering a new lifestyle – a fantastic and highly coveted way of life on the waterfront. With that comes a few all-important and largely unique considerations. It’s just one of the many factors setting luxury waterfront homes apart from traditional dry-lot properties.

To demonstrate, what follows is a small handful of must-know elements involved in purchasing your first luxury waterfront home. It’s a list that starts with dockage, including costs and whether it’s the must-have feature that it seems.

Luxury Waterfront Home Dockage

Waterfront home buyers often overlook the numerous considerations tied to dockage. Dockage may seem like a given. It may also seem like a must-have. However, neither of these assumptions is necessarily true. Not all luxury waterfront homes come with dockage. And when buying one that does, you must account for the resulting requirements.

Dockage can be a costly addition to any waterfront home. That’s both in terms of the purchase price and ongoing maintenance. Accordingly, ask yourself whether you require dockage. Unless you plan to use it regularly—for example, boating, fishing, or kayaking—it may not be the necessity that it seems.

Maintenance Considerations

Dockage isn’t the only potentially costly element of a luxury waterfront home when it comes to maintenance. There are other crucial maintenance considerations, too. A prime example is seawall upkeep. Seawalls are invariably costly to fix, so it’s vital that you ensure the integrity of those surrounding any luxury waterfront home that you’re considering buying.

Furthermore, the majority of waterfront homes don’t have connections to public sewers. As such, there will be costs relating to the necessary septic provisions. As with seawalls, it’s a good idea to call in an expert for a septic inspection before moving forward with any new luxury waterfront home purchase.

Necessary Insurance Coverage

At the same time, you must familiarize yourself with the necessary insurance coverage for any new luxury waterfront home. This coverage differs considerably from the insurance needed for a typical dry-lot property. Flood insurance is, of course, a given. However, there are various other insurance necessities – some of which it’s all too easy to overlook.

With that in mind, consider reaching out to a specialist insurance agent to discuss your individual policy requirements when looking to purchase a waterfront home.

Familiarize Yourself With the Neighborhood

A great way to get to know any neighborhood is to ask local homeowners. The same is true whether purchasing a traditional dry-lot home or a new luxury waterfront property. Be sure to ask them about their experiences there. Doing so can give you an incredible insight into living on the waterfront and in a particular neighborhood.

Ask for your potential future neighbors’ pros about living there and any possible cons. Hopefully, the former will massively outweigh the latter. These and other similar questions can help determine if a particular luxury waterfront neighborhood suits your and your family’s needs.

It’s also an excellent opportunity to research the surrounding shoreline. You may wish to inquire about future projections for the area, for example. Local town offices and environmental organizations should be able to assist with any questions homeowners in the neighborhood can’t answer.

About Roger Pettingell

Roger Pettingell is a highly credentialed realty agent and broker specializing in luxury waterfront properties in Sarasota, Florida. Pettingell is Sarasota’s top luxury real estate agent – an accolade now held consecutively for over a decade. Few realty agents and brokers are better positioned to offer insight into luxury waterfront living.

Pettingell has owned properties in Bird Key, Harbor Acres, and surrounding areas and knows the waterfront lifestyle of Sarasota inside and out. Further to his work, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his family. Roger and his wife are often present at their two teenage sons’ tennis tournaments. For more, follow @realroger on Instagram.