10 Questions to ask when buying a waterfront house in Florida.

What 10 Questions to ask when buying a waterfront house in Florida.

1. Who owns the land below the water? Was the water “navigable” when Florida entered the Union? Does the lot enjoy “riparian” rights? There are 2 basic types of land below water in Florida, land owned by the state and subject to “navigational servitude” and over flowed land owned by sometimes the state but most of the time someone else. Here’s an example for a property on the St. Lucie River.
2. If the land below the water is NOT owned by the State of Florida then who does own it? What rights have they conferred upon uplands abutters and what, if any, restrictions have they placed upon them and the use of the water column above the “over flowed” land they own?
3. If the land below the water is not owned by the state is there an easement recorded in the public record, or some other right, for the benefit of the subject property to pass over the submerged lands of others until one reaches “navigable” waters where as part on the ‘navigational servitude’ the general public enjoys “rights of navigation”? It’s nott just where your dock is. You need a path to the waterway out to where the general public enjoys “rights of navigation”.
4. If the land below the water is not owned by the State of of Florida then who maintains the canal? The municipality? The HOA? Or, is there a canal maintenance agreement recorded that provides triggers and apportion of expenses to the uplands lot owners, pperhaps through an HAO.
5. When was the sea wall constructed? Is it on the bulkhead line, if applicable, or on or past the lot line?
6. How wide is the canal from sea wall to lot line to lot line, sea wall to sea wall or dock to dock?
7. How far into the canal can one go with a dock? Or with a boat? Or with dolphin or tie off piles?
8. Can I aplce a lift in the dock and are there any limits as to how many, or what kind of, boats I may keep there?
9. What is the flood zone designation of the house on the lot and is there a benchmark for an elevation someplace?
10. When was the dock constructed? And, is EVERYTHING about the dock, and sea wall, properly permitted?

The above are technical and require some thought. If you’re looking for a Broker who has “done their homework”. Some other basic questions to ask afte r those above are:

1. Are there any shallow spots between this property and the open water?
2. Are there slow speed zones between the property and open water?
3. Is there a path to the open water that does not require one go under a fixed bridge
4. What are the closed bridge heights between the property and open water? Jupter area bridge clearances.
5. Is the property on city sewer or on-site septic. There’s a push right now, for good reason, to get waterfront parcels onto city sewer and if this happens it will cost you $$$.

1. When was the sea wall constructed? Obvious but the sea wall has a life span just like a roof. If it needs to be replaced does it need to be a particular material, like concrete? Can it be moved further out into the waterway?
2. How wide is the canal? Again, an obvious question but ask it to know if the uplands contiguous with the property you’re interested in are part of the property or inside of the supposed canal.
3. How far into the canal can one go with a dock? Or with a boat? A typical answer is 1/3 but it may be 1/4 or even less.
4. What is the flood zone designation of the house on the lot and is there a benchmark for the elevation someplace? If your buying something on the water then the flood zone is a MAJOR factor. Most places have a base flood elevation or BFE that is set on the FEMA maps. This affects the ability to finance and potentially rebuild in the event of a flood loss and MUCH MUCH more.
5. Who owns the land below the water? Is it riparian or littoral rights water? It it’s riparian then you have the right to get out to ‘navigable’ water with your dock but the state of Florida owns the land below the water. If it’s littoral then someone (you, an association or even a municipality) owns the land under the water.
6. Who maintains the land below the water? If you think building a new sea wall is expensive then try dredging out that walerway and disposing of all the spoils. Who’s paying for that?
7. Are there any shallow spots between this property and the open water? If you’re really interested in a property then BEFORE you own it make a ‘dry run’ from the dock to wherever and do so at low tide. You’d hate to buy a place and then find out there’s a ‘hump’ at the end of the canal that you can’t get past.
8. Is there a path to the open water that does not require one go under a fixed bridge? You may not own a sailboat but think like you do, they buy property too.
9. What are the closed bridge heights between the property and open water? In a hurricane the bridges get ‘locked down’ or remain in the closed position. Also, life is allot easier if one does not have to sit around waiting on bridges to open.
10. Is there a limit on the number of boats I can store here or the type of boat I can have here? Some municipalities and associations limit these. They also can be limited by the DEP permit which may say something like only 1 motorized vessel per lot and a jet ski counts.

There are allot more questions that I would ask but starting with these will lead into conversations that should answer 90% of the concerns.