House on the water or near it?

[Ronnie]

So thanks for all the feedback guys I will try to respond by memory so write back if I miss anything.

taxes are the same whether I’m on or near the water. The house on the water couldn’t be viewed yet, so my realtor took us to the dock on his pontoon, the house is on the same stretch of water so less than 5 mins away at no wake speed.

the house near the water had Hoa fees of $85 per month to cover dock maintenance only. The place on the water doesn’t have any hoa fees. Whether hoa fees apply depends on what kind of home and what area I buy in I’ve seen duplexes and quads with hoa fees of $300 to $500 per month. We have decided we are too old to start sharing walls with strangers/neighbors. So it’s single family home for us, no condominiums.

these homes give me access to the Sacramento delta. That is a bunch of rivers / water ways spanning the area between Sacramento and San Francisco (something like 2,000 miles of shoreline).

The only reason I would move at this point is to be near or on the water. My son is away at college for the next 4 years. My wife just landed a job that should allow her to work from home permanently and I can either work from home or go into the office but my commute should be the same or just a few minutes longer than it is now. Also my family lives closer to discovery bay while my wife’s is closer to our current home. The big driver for me to move is i am sick, sick, sick of trailering, launch and recovering my boat. Doing it with jet skis doesnt bother me at all, mostly because they are easier to manage and a little bit because they are new so my wife is still into them. If I can’t move to the water im not going anywhere, home values in my area (considered part of Silicon Valley increase faster than those of discovery bay).

my wife prefers the house with the pool/bigger more rooms. I want the house on the water. We lived where she wanted for 20 years now so she said will do what I want this time around.

unlike other states, there are only two lakes that I know of in CA that you can buy property on the lake, Folsom near Sacramento and lake tullock 50 or so miles south.

I will update this thread asthings change. Currrently we are working with realtors to sell our current home as well put a bid in on the home on the water.

before I forget I asked about the line of fenders and was told not to bother, just by some fan like systems that push the water away from the dock. I’m still suspicious about how much crap builds up at the end of the cove as well as the smell that comes with it. Every so often a newbie will come flyimg through the main channel but I was told it rarely happens and the cops are never called. The home owners “handle it as it happens”.

 

[Ronnie]

Another thing for my wife and I to consider is capital gains tax. None for the first $500k over what we paid in 1997. We expect to pay it on the remaining gain which should be between $300k and $500k depending on what the final sales price is. Now I understand why my neighbor across the street bought and sold within 4 years. He bought at 700k and sold for $1.2m four years later. Same floor plan as my home. Crazy costs. He took his profit (none of it subject to capital gains tax) and moved to Florida a few months ago.

 

[OurCrew]

I would avoid HOA’s , so that is a plus for the on the water house. I thought if you roll over into a new house you only get hit with Capital Gains if new house is less expensive ?
Is it possible to get a lift installed there ? Prevents marine growth

 

[NewBoater]

On the water. We have the boat on our lift in the backyard and there's nothing like it.

 

[Troch1]

I would avoid HOA’s , so that is a plus for the on the water house. I thought if you roll over into a new house you only get hit with Capital Gains if new house is less expensive ?
Is it possible to get a lift installed there ? Prevents marine growth

I think the 1031 exchange only works for investment properties, not your main residence. He’ll be hit with capital gains on anything more than $500k in appreciated value.

 

[Julian]

before I forget I asked about the line of fenders and was told not to bother,

This makes me even more suspicious......I suspect that the junk would be a pain to deal with.

 

[shnknapp]

Another thing for my wife and I to consider is capital gains tax. None for the first $500k over what we paid in 1997. We expect to pay it on the remaining gain which should be between $300k and $500k depending on what the final sales price is. Now I understand why my neighbor across the street bought and sold within 4 years. He bought at 700k and sold for $1.2m four years later. Same floor plan as my home. Crazy costs. He took his profit (none of it subject to capital gains tax) and moved to Florida a few months ago.

Tax accountant here, I would say just sell and pay the gains now. The thing about the tax code is you never know what is going to happen; could get ride of the exclusion, could raise the the rate, etc. At this point, 20% fed on the gain is still lower than the typically middle class bracket of 22%. Also, don't forget to add any and all improvements to your basis.

And @Troch1 is correct, 1031 exchange can only be used on an investment property. And even if it was an investment property, those are a crap shoot as once again, you have no idea how tax laws will change.

 

[captras]

Our place is on the water with a boathouse that holds both jetskis and the boat. We have been there 24 years, and it is the only way to go. No HOA fees (only 4 houses in the subdivision) and taxes are relatively cheap. When we want to go out, simply take the covers off, throw a switch and the boat/jetskis are in the water. Just as easy when the day is over. We are about 1/2 mile off the lake, in a protected cove, so no problem with washout from storms/waves. The lakes is 90,000+ acres, so alot of room to play. If you can get on the water, I would go for that. Of course, that adds cost. We were lucky and our property, just under 2 acres, was very reasonable at the time. Since then, more and more people have moved to the area, so property values have risen considerably. Best of luck!

 

[AZMark]

I have no experience but would ordinarily say on the water as everyone else has.

In looking at those pictures though, the house on the water doesn’t look all that nice and the other one is literally across the street and at least appears to be a lot nicer/newer from the aerial of the neighborhood. I’d probably go with the better quality house in that situation. Maybe the pics are deceiving and the homes are more comparable than it appears.

 

[Ronnie]

In looking at those pictures though, the house on the water doesn’t look all that nice and the other one is literally across the street and at least appears to be a lot nicer/newer from the aerial of the neighborhood. I’d probably go with the better quality house in that situation. Maybe the pics are deceiving and the homes are more comparable than it appears.

You pretty much nailed it. the private dock comes with a smaller and older home .
At this point the dock is like the supercharger for a boat or waverunner; it’s bonus, but if i don’t get it I will likely regret it. It would be awesome to walk out to the backyard to use the ready to go boat, skis, sup or canoe. Maybe have a lily pad in the water along with a chair or two to chill in/fish from.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

@Ronnie, does your realtor think both houses (the smaller one on the water and the larger one across the street) are worth the same dollars? The reason I ask is that in some markets the asking price is the selling price and in others it is set low to get folks to bid up the price of the home.

I'm kind of stump on the dock hoa fees? From the picture you show it looks like both homes would share community dockage, unlike the larger homes in the background. I would double-check to make sure the aren't any hoa fees for the home on the water.

Jim

 

[biffdotorg]

You pretty much nailed it. the private dock comes with a smaller and older home .
At this point the dock is like the supercharger for a boat or waverunner; it’s bonus, but if i don’t get it I will likely regret it. It would be awesome to walk out to the backyard to use the ready to go boat, skis, sup or canoe. Maybe have a lily pad in the water along with a chair or two to chill in/fish from.

I hate to say it, but maybe neither is right at this time. If you are sold on the idea that waterfront is right, but the house isn't, then wait. We looked at so many homes when we were buying. Once we walked into the "right" one, we knew it.

Sometimes would would sell ourselves on a place, when comparing two, and one would sell. Then we would measure our disappointment. Then re-evaluate on if we were putting enough value on the features that sold us on the sold property. Reality took over as we realized it was more emotion than anything.

If you didn't have the offshore home to compare to, would you be satisfied with the waterfront property with no comparable? Or would you keep shopping for a larger home on the water? And would a larger home be in your price range?

I get this feeling, you know the value of being on the water. You are going to be a zillow fool for the next week. Good luck!

(I am really holding back showing pics of our shoreline or drone footage of our property. As what is perfect for us, so many others would find zero value in. Only you know what you want)

 

[msavold]

FWIW, we looked and looked and looked - for something with water access and then ended up buying a lot with a dock. Designed and built the exact house we wanted. (Aside about the dock - in our area, it took us several months to get a permit for a lift and we'd heard that a dock permit in some areas would take up to two YEARS because of the various levels of bureaucracy!)
All that said, we use the boat a LOT more than the time when we had it on a trailer while we waited for the lift to be built. Even though the public, free ramp is only a 4 or 5 miles away, the extra half hour or more it took to get the boat in the water (forget about Saturday mornings on a sunny summer weekend).
Oh, and one other point I don't think I've seen mentioned: a LOT easier to keep an eye on your boat when it's outside the window. (Easier to tinker on it - or even just sit on it and play some tunes with a cold one in hand.)

 

[Ronnie]

FWIW, we looked and looked and looked - for something with water access and then ended up buying a lot with a dock. Designed and built the exact house we wanted. (Aside about the dock - in our area, it took us several months to get a permit for a lift and we'd heard that a dock permit in some areas would take up to two YEARS because of the various levels of bureaucracy!)
All that said, we use the boat a LOT more than the time when we had it on a trailer while we waited for the lift to be built. Even though the public, free ramp is only a 4 or 5 miles away, the extra half hour or more it took to get the boat in the water (forget about Saturday mornings on a sunny summer weekend).
Oh, and one other point I don't think I've seen mentioned: a LOT easier to keep an eye on your boat when it's outside the window. (Easier to tinker on it - or even just sit on it and play some tunes with a cold one in hand.)

Life has slowed my wife and I down on this in that we were not available to deal with it earlier this week and the realtor that we are working with to sell our home just had a death in the family. It’s a good thing because I’m not comfortable making an offer on a house I have not even walked through yet and don’t want to be in a position of selling my current home without having another to move into.

we looked at a home and it’s stairs down the levy to a small dock/raft. Our realtor there told us to stay clear of that one/that neighborhood because the home made docks are not licensed and the city is meeting soon to determine if the home made docks will be allowed to stay in place. My realtor thinks the city will have the docks removed because they block a lot of the waterway to the fast water slough. We are taking his advice on this.

 

[msavold]

Completely understand your discomfort. It's already bad enough in this market with everything so rushed. One thing I didn't mention was that one of the factors that pushed us hard to building even though it meant missing a season was that many of the houses we looked at were Crap with a capital c when it came to maintenance. Proximity to salt water as we all know is lethal to anything outside and we saw that in spades, particularly with properties that were second homes. No way I'd consider something sight unseen. There'll be others.
(Also we often laugh at how we've all changed over the years. First house requirements? Uh, a kitchen, maybe a bedroom? Fourth house dishwasher, central air, two car garage with storage space and so on and so on... )

 

[Ronnie]

first world problem but …

This is what I’m facing in the city I want to move on the water to, context 1500 sq foot duplex/condo with a private dock. Listed last last friday.



What I’ve got (very similar anyway, likely to sell for up to $200k more than asking price within 10 days of listing)

What I want, $1.15M 2200 sq ft



what I think I can afford ($900k, 1,500 sq ft)


what I’m considering instead

 

[HangOutdoors]

Anyway you can find a lot on the water and just build?

 

[Ronnie]

Anyway you can find a lot on the water and just build?

There is this one but no, this isn’t an option I’m willing to explore, I need a house that is ready to move into.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Makes sense. Wow look at the price on that lot......

 

[Ronnie]

Makes sense. Wow look at the price on that lot......

I couldn’t miss it, it seems like small patch of grass for nearly half a million dollars.