Originally Posted by
Pat Barry
So you are not asking for help in making a decision, just wondering out loud?? It sounded like you were looking for advice.
No, not at all. I was just curious how many here would pay a premium for a house on a canal if they never intended to own a boat.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me because the view isn't all that great. It can even be downright ugly. And if across the canal is a mangrove swamp, you have a no-see-um factory in your back yard. If you like a water view, make it an ocean or lake, not a canal that was created solely for boat travel and docking.
If I wanted a view, I'd want something visually appealing. But, from what I've seen, at least half of the homeowners in the canal communities we've house-hunted in don't own boats. Yet they paid a lot more for their home and pay taxes and insurance annually that is considerably more than non-canal homes. The only way to make that ugly canal beautiful is to see a boat docked on it. The beauty being your ability to escape the rat race every once in a while.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain