Oceanfront

The creme de la creme of waterfront housing is of course, the oceanfront home. There are countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America that are completely landlocked, so oceanfront property-buying there is limited to the super-rich, who can afford to buy Puerto Vallarta real estate or a private island in the South Seas. However, here in Canada, ocean views are available to more people for a smaller investment as we have more coastline than any other country in the world. This may lead some Canadians to take ocean views for granted, but for the rest of us, it remains the best kind of waterfront property.

Oceans vs Lakes and Rivers

Oceans are favored over lakes and rivers in terms of views because the oceans are so much more variable. While lakes remain largely stagnant and rivers always flow the same way, oceans offer the chance to see tides, marine life, large boats, and spectacular storms. For this reason, ocean scenery shows up as the background for everything from Seattle business cards to tourism brochures and often helps cinematographers win Oscars. An ocean view is an ever-changing one, so you'll never get tired of gazing upon it from your deck or bay windows.

Pricing an Ocean View Home

The size of the town or city your home is located in and the amenities available will be the defining factors in the price of an ocean view home, not the ocean view itself. Ocean view homes in big cities like Vancouver and major tourist destinations like Tofino are enormously expensive, way out of the price range of most normal people. If you're tied to a particular area for work you may not be able to avoid these prices, but if you're retiring or you work from home on Accpac Vancouver software, you're much better off looking at property in smaller, more unknown towns.

Choosing an Ocean View

When shopping for a home with an ocean view, you may think that it doesn't matter what part of the ocean your windows face because it's all the same, but you couldn't be more wrong. The differences between parts of the ocean can be as big as the difference between gold mutual funds and a bucket full of used syringes. Ocean views near cities tend to be dominated by container ships and polluted water, while smaller towns are cleaner. There are certain areas along the coasts of Nova Scotia and Vancouver Island where you can see whale migrations from your window, while other towns might have great sailing or a lot of high waves to make things interesting.

Building an Ocean View Home

Before you get caught up in choosing dolphin motifs for your contemporary bathroom vanities, take a minute to consider the dangers of building a home near the ocean. Because the ocean is so much more violent, especially in winter, make sure your house is far enough back and high enough up not to be swamped by storm surges. Also take erosion into account, because waves and tides increase its speed. You don't want your new home being undercut after only a few years.