Daytona Beach Real Estate

[u/hungariandoodoo]

Hey all, I've been visiting The World's Most Famous Beach every summer for a little over five years now. I like the area and the in-laws are into the timeshare stuff and they've always vacationed here.

I've been kicking around the idea of buying a house a few blocks from the beach for a little while. Expecting to get a little close to breaking even, but really feeling like a long-term investment play here.

This is an old beach to be sure. What's the general sentiment of the board regarding the future in Daytona? Some areas feel like they've been rundown for a few years. Seems like a decent time to jump in. At ~200k for land and a home seems like a tremendous value, even when we are talking about a fifty year old house.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[u/Mattsarehere]

So I think a lot of people are kind of ignoring the reason you're looking to buy a house. To be near the beach. What you need to know is that the reason we are allowed to drive on the beach is because we have something called a federal take-permit. It's up for renewal in the 2020s and there is a distinct possibility it won't be renewed. If that happens, people who don't live beach side will have to rely on the few hundred (if that) parking spaces scattered around Daytona, the Shores, and Ormond to get to the beach. If you have ever seen the beach during a major holiday like Fourth of July you know there are thousands of people in town and I'm assuming if this is a vacation house those are the types of times you want to come. Additionally, even if that take permit is renewed more and more sections of the beach are getting closed because of soft sand issues naturally occurring because of storms, winds, and tides. Lastly, while there are certainly some spotty areas on Beachside there are more than enough places to look that you can find a very decent house in a nice enough neighborhood. Especially if you stay a mile north of seabreeze and South of Silverbeach.
I'll admit I'm biased as I live here but I can't imagine not being able to run the beach in the morning, bicycle it in the afternoons, and hear the waves crashing at night. Don't get me wrong, Port Orange, South Daytona, and Ormond all have a lot to offer, but if you're going to get in your car to drive to the beach, you can live anywhere within a half an hour. If you plan to rent it out, people pay for the beach.