As a buyer, you have to ask yourself, what's the point of living in Florida if you can't live waterfront?
It's a first-world problem, maybe. We live landlocked all over the place. We never really stop to think, why can't I live waterfront? At least not in Utah or Colorado or Arizona.
Technically, I guess you CAN live waterfront, as long as you don't need an ocean.
But for Florida, it's hard to think of moving inland at all, when you have the option to get right out on the edge of the land. Florida sports beautiful sands and a temperate ocean. While it might be less expensive to live inland, is it worth it?
The bottom line is that you have to decide what it's worth to you. Be sure to have those tough conversations with your family or partner (or pets), and loop your realtor in as soon as possible in the conversation.
Wait, your realtor? What do they have to do with the decision?
The answer is EVERYTHING.
If you don't understand your options and have someone stumping on your behalf, it's anyone's guess if you will find the right choices or even know they exist.
If you have pets, for example, there are a lot of considerations that can get very complicated. If you've ever tried to find a pet friendly home without someone working directly for you, I'm sure you know how hard it is.
And pets aren't the only thing. You need to decide if you can be satisfied living with an HOA, given the fees and the lack of control in some regards. You need to ensure that you're moving into a neighborhood that meets your educational requirements for the kiddoes.
What hospitals are close? What stores are close? Do you have a Super Target or just a Neighborhood Market?
These are the kinds of things that you probably take for granted. Knowing full-well what you want in advance can ultimately create a very powerful initiative to ensure you're represented in all your interests, and not just the requirements of bedrooms, bathrooms, and finished living space in cubic measurements.
Luckily, realtors have access to scads of resources to ensure that all your criteria are considered and none of your time is wasted. Without a realtor, you might never know about pet friendly waterfront condos in Boca Raton.
That's just one example where a typical consumer's blind spots inarguably cripple that consumer's capacity to see through to the goal.
The moral of the story? Challenge your situation and your needs. Establish a strong baseline on what you WANT versus what you NEED, and ensure that you arm your realtor or buying agent with all the must-haves and might-wants.
If you power your agent with the battery of knowledge, you will literally have what you want in the end with no question as to whether or not there was a better deal out there.
If you don't take the time to understand your needs, they will only ever be met by coincidence, if at all.
