Pricing a waterfront home

A lagoon home with a bulkhead and a dock, a bayfront home with an open western view, and an oceanblock home a short walk from the sand are three different products with three different buyers. Comparables drawn across those lines produce a number that satisfies nobody.

Within lagoon properties, the variables that actually move price are specific and physical: depth at mean low water, how many turns to open water, the condition and age of the bulkhead, and whether the dock has current permits. Two houses that look identical from the street can be far apart on all four.

Bayfront adds exposure to the list. A western view is worth a premium; the same view with no protection from a hard westerly is worth less than the brochure suggests, and buyers who have owned on the water know it.

The short version

• Lagoon, bayfront and oceanblock are separate markets; do not blend the comparables
• For lagoon homes, price is driven by depth, turns to open water, bulkhead condition and dock permits
• A bayfront view is worth a premium; unprotected exposure discounts it
• Ask which four comparables a price came from, and why those four