Don't Buy Waterfront on the Gulf Coast Until You Ask These

By Bryan David

Bryan David is one of the best REALTORS® serving Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport and the entire coast. He is a Biloxi native, military veteran and retiree, and a multi-year top-producing agent with hundreds of satisfied clients.

We’ve helped a lot of people buy and sell waterfront on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the buyers who end up happiest all have one thing in common. They figured out what they actually wanted from the water before they fell for a specific house.

Not all waterfront is the same, so here are five questions worth answering first.

1. Why do you want waterfront in the first place? Is it the views? Fishing? Do you have a boat, or plan to get one? Are you going to entertain, and will there be small children around? Living on the water carries real risks, both from the water itself and from what lives near it. Your answer shapes everything, because the properties here are genuinely different from one another. Some are beachfront, some sit on the bay, some have deep water and some barely any, and then there are the canals, the bayous, and the riverfront homes. Picture how you’ll actually use the place, and lean on a few professionals along the way to steer you toward one that fits.

2. What do you want to build on the water? A pier or a dock? Maybe a bulkhead, or a boathouse with a lift, or a boat ramp? There’s more to these than people expect. Beyond your home inspection, it’s worth talking to a couple of companies that actually build bulkheads, piers, and boathouses and install lifts, and getting their read plus estimates for new work or repairs. In most cases, you’ll need permits, and that’s almost a certainty for new construction and common for repairs too.

3. Will the water depth actually fit your boat? This one follows right from the last. What’s the depth around the pier, and what’s the draft of your boat, meaning how much water it needs to sit in? If you’ve got a bigger boat that draws three or four feet or more, or think you might someday, the location has to be able to support that vessel, now and down the road.

4. What kind of access do you actually need? Do you need navigable, deep water you can get in and out of all year, or are you really just planning to put a kayak in now and then? That’s a major factor in choosing where to buy, so think honestly about it, and about where you’ll spend the most time on the boat.

5. Are you ready for the storms and the wildlife? Are you ready for hurricanes, flooding, and storm damage? And here’s the bonus nobody puts on the brochure: the critters, the pests, and the things that sting. Living near marsh grass, bayous, and brackish water brings out water moccasins, the occasional alligator, and gnats, which Bryan calls flying teeth.

Now, that’s a long list of challenges, and you might be wondering whether it’s worth it. It absolutely is. There’s nothing like pulling in from the island, setting the boat on the lift, and walking up to the house with no ramps and no crowds. Nothing like heading to the pier in the middle of the night, flipping on the fishing lights, and pulling in giant trout with no one around. Sunrise coffee on the water, sunset drinks with friends, just you and a little peace and quiet.

If you’d like to learn more about buying waterfront on the Gulf Coast, reach out. Call or text us at 228-215-1861 or email us at bryan@expectrealty.com, or visit expectrealty.com. We’ll point you in the right direction, answer your questions, and help you find a property you’ll be happy with for years.