Investment property down the shore?

[Oasis]

Hi everyone, I live in Somerset county and looking to start chasing that dream of owning a beach property down the shore. In part it’s for the kids to enjoy a vacation house and part to have a place closer to the water when I go fishing but mainly as an investment rental property.
To all you Monmouth & Ocean county residence, is this the right time to start looking for that summer home / investment property?? Or wait and see what’s going to happen this summer?
And if now is the right time which area is now or will offer more better deals?
I’ll be talking to realtors soon but I wanted to get the fellow fisherman point of view first.
Thank you in advance, your opinion is greatly appreciated.

[Jay]

I was thinking the same for the future. Thanks to Sandy, those plans are no longer in my future. It's not worth the headache, if another tragedy occurs. Just my opinion. Good luck on a purchase. Hope you find something you like.

[dfish28]

Ok , great idea oasis, one of my best friends mothers is a really great agent, pm me your # if you want someone highly proficient with Monmouth and upper ocean counties , she has my dream house ... As for " what could happen again" , how many other times has this happened in your life? Just go for it!

"Live life like every day could be the last!"

[reefsquater]

If you do your do diligence it may be the right time for sure.
If you are looking for a lagoon home down in Bayville, I know of a few that were not hit hard by the storm, one in particular has 140 foot of lagoon front deep water and you can get it in the mid 300's!

[NJ Dave]

I was thinking the same, possibly a good time to find a good deal on a trashed house. I would rather buy something that needs to be re done as no matter what you buy you will eventually update it to make it your way one way or another.
Only problem I see now is no one knows WTF is going on. Everything is on a stand still. Some insurance is not paying and that ones that have the owners are at a building restriction stand still. Lift the house or not, so far nothing is in stone about the lift but what if you rebuid and then they tell you to lift it?
My friend is on hold to fix his house because the building department just does not have an answer.
Aside from the full gut that we did almost two months ago he is waiting to do what no one knows what to do.
We could re wire, insulate, and rock in a few weeks putting it back to original but he is being told not to do anything until further huricane codes come into play.
Someone has to be the guinnie pig but I would rather it not be me.
I think a good deal right now is a big gamble.

[howarda780]

One thing you have to consider is the base flood elevation of the property you're looking at. If it has damage over 50% of the value, FEMA wants the property demolished and built to the new regs of your flood hazard zone.

The regulators and town building people don't know what the local rules will be. At this point you can buy a house at a good price then learn the town rules have changed and you need to raise the house 10 feet to meet the new flood heights

Every town has different rules and height requirements. Good luck.