Where would you base your boat

smitty477 said:

I guess you did not notice I was not suggesting that location.
Where would you suggest Geoleo?

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Actually I live and keep my boat in the area ( I rent docks from house owners or apartment owners- never marinas --which cramp my maintenance style). Been doing it for 14 years and 4 boats. It was just warning about the long summer heat-- its great if you can take it--- hardly anyone out on the water in the heat either as the water gets to 88-90 degrees. Plus there is a do it yourself yard in St Pete where you can get a lot done. ENJOY!!! PS Homes and Condos have increased about 110% in past 10 years.

Consider the costs associated with waterfront home while you are out cruising. You still get to pay while you’re gone. Being a landlord while away sucks unless you have someone very reliable.

Some nice canal homes just North of the Okeechobee waterway at Stuart.

I have considered renting dock space behind a house, buying a house with a dock and renting the house, or buying a canal lot to keep my boat at. Each time I come away with the concern of how protected will my boat be when I'm away from home. Currently I spend about $7K between summer and winter marinas that are very protected including night watchmen patrolling the marinas. Finally came to the conclusion that night time security and marina employees walking the docks during the day was a very nice feature I couldn't replicate at a private dock.

Ted

O C Diver said:

Some nice canal homes just North of the Okeechobee waterway at Stuart.

I have considered renting dock space behind a house, buying a house with a dock and renting the house, or buying a canal lot to keep my boat at. Each time I come away with the concern of how protected will my boat be when I'm away from home. Currently I spend about $7K between summer and winter marinas that are very protected including night watchmen patrolling the marinas. Finally came to the conclusion that night time security and marina employees walking the docks during the day was a very nice feature I couldn't replicate at a private dock.

Ted

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The big issue in our area with keeping a boat at a private dock is that most of those are behind homes also being rented as vacation homes so people around that you have to walk through to get to your boat and also vacationers around who may go to your boat.

While Oriental is inexpensive as pointed out above, it's also remote and it's cold in winter. Only the OP can decide where he wants to be. I hope that comes first and then he figures out dollars wise how to make it work best. I like having good boating year round. Others like a full change of seasons.

ranger42c said:

Rules of thumb (approximate, and assuming existing house):
- non-waterfront = $X
- non-waterfront with seasonal waterview = $1.2X
- non-waterfront with waterview = $1.5X
- non-waterfront but with neighborhood dock privileges = $1.7X
(except some of the old "vacation" neighborhoods can be more viable assuming you're willing to bulldoze whatever's on the property and start over)
- waterfront (shallow, or unprotected Bay) = $2X
- waterfront with protected deep water = $2.3-2.5X

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BandB said:

Ranger's pricing is very helpful and his comment on house and marina.

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djmarchand said:

Ranger's factors sound reasonable for the Chesapeake.

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I don't want to be misleading; my post was meant to be more illustrative than perfectly accurate. The general drift is just that prices rise every time "water" enters a real estate listing around here. And the actual factors today may not be what they seemed to be when we were last seriously shopping.

Since it's raining here today -- yet again -- we've yet again entered into that "non-waterfront with seasonal waterview" category: our back yard is a feeder that drains into the creek a few hundred feet away.

-Chris

When looking where to keep a boat consider how far the dock will be from where you want to cruise. Some areas along the ICW are many miles from an inlet and even then where do you go? Travelling the same ICW route for hours every time you want to use the boat gets old fast.
Keeping the boat near cruising areas and driving to it may be better. If you intend to just leave the boat at the dock and take long trips without local cruising then distance from places to go doesn't matter as much.

MissMaggie said:

Don't know if this is what you're looking for... We plan on listing in the spring with sotheby ... you can check it out on Google Earth ... I have about 12 ft at dead low tide ... very protected Creek ... concrete boat landing in the yard ..About a mile and a half off the intercoastal... 19Dirt rd, Seabrook SC 29940
Happy New Year
Wayne

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And are you really going to sell it for $300k or less? That was his budget.

No sorry didn't realize your price range... and I will be deleting my reply sorry I didn't mean to be soliciting

MissMaggie said:

No sorry didn't realize your price range... and I will be deleting my reply sorry I didn't mean to be soliciting

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Well, your property would appear to have met all but his price requirement. I'm guessing you'll list for 200-250% of that though.

Yep....

As I understand it, Personal Property taxes are set by the county. There are 3 counties in VA that do not charge PPT on boats.

It is possible that some cities may also charge a tax on boats, but that is in addition to the county taxes.

Where to live on East Coast

I was going to suggest just about any of the waterfront towns/cities on the NC coast. There are a lot of canal communities. Trouble is, that area is a catchers mitt for hurricanes. I think you are going to have some difficulty finding what you want for $300k but it’s not impossible.
You might consider the Jacksonville area on the St Johns river. It’s pretty well protected, no state income tax, low cost of living and has access to the ICW.

djmarchand said:

Oriental, NC met all of those criteria. Unfortunately my wife, after living there for 4 years, finally couldn't stand the small town isolation, so we moved.

Other similar towns (from N to S) to consider: Elizabeth City, Manteo, Edenton, Bath, Washington, New Bern, Beaufort, Wrightsville Beach.

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I would like to recommend a specific marina in New Bern. I'm at Northwest Creek Marina across the river from the "city" of New Bern. It's a fantastic marina with an associated community - Fairfield Harbor. There is a gym and swimming pool within 100 feet of the harbormaster's office and the showers and restrooms are great.

We got hit pretty hard by Florence, but we are just about back up to speed.

If you have questions, please feel free to let me know.

Also, no personal property taxes in Florida. Something to consider; a house “on the water” on the east coast is also vulnerable to hurricanes and storms. A small home can be purchased in a nice community close to a marina in the Jacksonville area for less than your budget, your taxes would be minimal, you’d be in an area that’s probably the best protected, lowest hurricane frequency on the east coast and you’d have access to the ICW to cruise north or south as desired. Our tides are minimal, maybe 1.5 ft or so.
The gulf coast of Florida is probably the prettiest water but hurricanes and storms are a constant bother. We’ve lived in Pensacola and Jacksonville.
St Augustine is pretty but exposed and very expensive.

JLD said:

This is interesting, because here is what is on the Hampton government website:

Tax on Boats & Personal Watercraft
Boats are assessed at fair market value, generally derived by applying a percentage to the total original cost. The tax rate for privately owned pleasure boats and watercraft used for recreational purposes is $.000001 per $100 of assessed value. The tax rate for all other boats and watercraft is $1 per $100 of assessed value. Register your boat with the commissioner’s office.

Are the Virginia property taxes just a city and/or county thing?

Jim

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A few years ago Hampton, Va decided to get greedy and impose an annual boat "license" fee. You don't get anything for it other than the privilege of keeping your boat there. Once again, "Is the water any wetter, does it sail us any better than it did before when it was free?" Hell No!!

From the City web site:
https://hampton.gov/2859/Boat-License-Fees
"Boat License Fees
License fees for boats
A license fee as set forth in Hampton City Code section 37-416 is required on every privately owned motorized boat or watercraft used for recreational purposes only and privately owned non-motorized pleasure boats used for recreational purposes only, 20 feet in length and over, which is normally operated, docked, stored, or kept within city limits over 180 days.

The license fee is due on or before December 5th of the preceeding license year, or within 10 days of purchasing such boat, or within 30 days of moving situs (position or site) of the boat to the city, whichever is sooner. The license fees imposed on boats and watercraft with situs in the city, as described in Article XV of the Hampton City Code, for any portion of the year between January 1 and June 30, are listed below:

Boat type / License Fee
January 1 - June 30
Motorized boats and watercraft under sixteen feet in length: $20
Motorized boats16 feet to less than 20 feet in length: $40
Boats 20 feet to less than 40 feet in length: $75
Boats 40 feet in length and over: $150
Note: License fees are subject to change

No license fee shall be imposed on boats that do not have a situs in the city as described in Article XV of the Hampton City Code between January 1 and June 30 of the license year. You may also register your boat online."

Where to base my boat

Va is a beautiful state with a lot to offer. In fact the entire DelMarVa area is great. The problem is, that area is the California of the east coast. High cost of living, they tax everything you have and all those taxes add up quickly. Factor in the winter weather and it all points to further south.
The city of Jacksonville, NC up New River might be an area to consider but they get hit by hurricanes as well and they also have state income tax.

Seevee said:

New,

I assume you mean ranch home as in the style of home, not a ranch with horses, etc...... which would be quite expensive.

In the bigger cities, suspect that budget would be a big hard to work with, but outside of cities it gets much more affordable. 5 ft draft could be a challenge, too, but still there's opportunity.

I sold a waterfront home in Madeira Beach a few years ago for $400k, with sailboat depth and 40ft on the water. Nice little place. There's others out there, too, but in the past 2 years they have gone up here in the St. Pete area about 4 to 6% depending.

Now up in Hudson, just north of us, the price drops dramatically. I had a flipper there I picked up for $100 and sold it for $180, nice deep waterfront and suspect that home would be perhaps $250 to $300 today. Small 2br, carport.

Another thought (I don't deal with these) are mobile homes. There are waterfront ones that are in the $300 range and fairly nice water, but small lots... 30 ft in some cases.

So, lots of choices, and there's TONs of them.

For "me" ideal would be a small town, great waterfront and nice places to boat. Doesn't exist in our area or anywhere south of us, with rare exception. There aren't any small towns, and the ones that are, just blend into the next town.

Food for thought.....

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We've actually lived in Hudson for the past 30 years. While the Gulf access is amazing & the prices are very reasonable it is not deep water access. 4' is about the max for a useable draft & with that you're watching the tides.

Myrtle Beach

Check Zillow for listing. Harbor Oaks Marina subdivision. We have a house for sale that includes a 30 foot, may not be big enough, deep water slip. It is on the intracoastal. Small subdivision with about 30 lots. Each lot is assigned a boat slip. HOA fee covers dock electric, dock water, pool and clubhouse. We have a Camano we keep in our slip. 2600 sq ft. 4 BR, huge garage, 3 years old. House is not on the waterway but very close to it. Easy walk.
$331k

I respectfully disagree that $300 a month is low. $50 a month is low. The $300 a month can support a mortgage of about $68,000 at 4% interest rate or it can pay the yearly rate for a slip in many marinas.
The problem is that a lot of people may not be interested in tennis, racket ball or a swimming pool the HOA offer. But one is stuck with paying to support the interest of others. This is particularly a problem when reselling the home. Also, it is a carrying charge while one is cruising with the boat.

In principle, I am an enemy of HOA fees and HOAs to begin with as I find them incompatible with the boat cruising lifestyle.

Hammock Beach

We stopped at Hammock Beach Marina in Palm Coast on 3 Nov for “ a month or so”. Four days later bought a condo in Yacht Harbor Village. Ideal location on the ICW with a full resort hotel, beaches, golf, etc. Two bedroom condo was in mid 200’s, three bedrooms from low 300’s. Wonderful area.

Wifey B: Location location location. That's what will influence the price. However, for a boating home, I'd toss in climate climate climate. One has to weigh both of those. I want bikini weather year round. You could give me the most beautiful idyllic town and a great deal on the cutest house ever, but you tell me it's going to be cold six months of the year, and no thanks.

That's what each person has to weigh. People pay a lot for homes at ski resorts. Ski resorts would only tempt me if they have nice spas and nice indoor pools looking out over the slopes.

Choosing where to live is such an individual thing. We lived in a moderate climate in NC, near Charlotte, before moving to FL. We were happy there, but could never go back.

How far is the closest good inlet to Palm Coast? St Augustine?

I just bought a condo in Edenton, NC. Condo came with boat slip on site, but there is also a marina very nearby. Small town (5,000) , yes everyone seems to know everyone and they are all friendly. Planning to move there in July and also look for an equivalent place in NH for summertime (and for zero state income tax), but I think we could handle Edenton full time if necessary. Time will tell. 20 miles from ICW for easy access to north / south cruising grounds. Oh, the condo + slip were about $275k.