Buying a Home
Buying near the water with your eyes open, so the house you fall for is still the right house after the first nor'easter.
The view sells the house. The rest of it you have to ask about.
Almost everybody who buys on this coast falls in love before they ask a hard question. That order is human and it is expensive, because by the time you are emotionally committed you are no longer in a good position to hear an inconvenient answer.
So I front-load the inconvenient answers. Flood zone and elevation. What the insurance is actually going to cost, which on some properties is a larger monthly number than people plan for. How the lot drains and where the water goes in a storm. Whether the dock, mooring or beach rights you are being told about transfer with the deed or belong to somebody else. What salt and wind do to a house over twenty years, and which parts of this one have already lost that argument.
None of that is meant to talk you out of a house. Most of the time the answers are fine, and knowing them is what lets you enjoy the place instead of worrying about it. But you want them early enough that walking away is still a real option.
Tell me what you are looking for
I live on Buzzards Bay
Which is not a marketing line. It is an address, and it is the reason the coastal advice is worth something.
I know which roads flood and which ones people say flood. I know which stretches of shoreline are moving and which are stable. I know roughly what an insurance quote is going to look like before you order one, and I know which houses have had work done that you will want to look at closely.
I also know what these towns are like in February, which is the single most useful thing I can tell a buyer who first saw this coast in July. Some villages carry on year-round. Some empty out almost completely. Neither is wrong, and buying the second one while imagining the first is a mistake people make every season.
Water frontage, water view, and water access are three different things
They are priced differently, insured differently, and they are not interchangeable, but the listings do not always make the distinction clearly.
- Frontage means the property meets the water. It carries the highest price and the most exposure, and it brings the most questions: erosion, seawalls and revetments, flood insurance, and what you are permitted to do near the shoreline.
- View means you can see the water, and the question nobody asks in time is whether the view is protected. A view over a buildable lot is a view somebody else can take away.
- Access means rights to get to the water: a deeded beach, an association, a right of way, a mooring. Those rights vary enormously in how solid they are, and they are worth reading carefully rather than taking on trust.
Moorings in particular deserve attention. Waiting lists in some harbors are long, a mooring is often permitted to a person rather than attached to a property, and assuming one comes with a house is a mistake worth avoiding before you write an offer rather than after.
What I check before you are committed
- Flood zone and elevation, and what that means for both insurance and for what you would be allowed to rebuild.
- Insurance, including wind and coastal coverage, which is a separate conversation from ordinary homeowner's insurance on this coast.
- Septic. A Title 5 inspection is a normal part of a Massachusetts sale, and a failed system is both a cost and a timing problem.
- Water supply, town or private well, and what the testing shows.
- Water rights, dock, mooring and beach, and whether they genuinely transfer.
- Whether the house is built for year-round use, which on the Cape especially is not a given.
- What is next door and what could be, including conservation land, buildable lots, and anything that would change the outlook.
I work with inspectors, lenders and insurers who know coastal Massachusetts, because a good inspector from somewhere inland will still miss things here.
How I work with buyers
We start with how you want to live rather than with a list of bedrooms. Year-round or seasonal, commuting or not, village or acreage, water out the window or ten minutes away. Those answers narrow ten towns to two or three far more efficiently than a price filter does.
Then we look at houses, and I tell you what is wrong with each of them. Including the ones I think you should buy, because every house has something, and you should hear it from me rather than from an inspector after you are attached.
In Massachusetts you and I sign a written agreement setting out what I do for you and how I am paid before we go much further. Compensation is agreed between us and it is negotiable; there is no standard or customary figure, and anybody who tells you otherwise is wrong. I will explain the whole arrangement in plain language before you sign anything.
This describes my general process and is not legal, tax, or lending advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does flood insurance cost on the South Coast?
It varies enormously by elevation, flood zone, construction and the specific property, so any figure quoted on a website would mislead you. What I do is get you a real quote on the actual house early in the process, well before you are committed, because on some coastal properties it is a large enough monthly number to change what you can afford.
Does a mooring come with a waterfront house?
Often not, and this catches people out. In many harbors a mooring is permitted to a person rather than attached to the property, and the waiting lists can be long. Never assume one transfers. It is a question to answer before you write an offer, and I will ask it for you.
What is the difference between waterfront and water view?
Waterfront means the property meets the water, which brings the highest price and the most questions about erosion, insurance and shoreline permitting. Water view means you can see it, and the question worth asking is whether the view is protected, because a view across a buildable lot is one somebody else can take away.
Are these towns busy year-round or only in summer?
It depends entirely on which town and which village, and it is the most useful thing to know before buying. Some carry on through the winter with everything open. Others empty out almost completely from November. Neither is a flaw, but buying the second while picturing the first is a mistake people make every season, so I will tell you plainly which one you are looking at.
Do I need a written agreement to work with you as a buyer?
Yes. A written buyer agreement setting out what I do and how I am paid is signed before we get far, and I will walk you through it in plain language first. Compensation is agreed between us and it is negotiable. No rate here is standard or customary.
Can you help me buy in Rhode Island as well?
Yes. I am licensed in Rhode Island as well as Massachusetts, so the coastal Rhode Island towns are within what I can handle directly rather than having to refer you elsewhere.
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