Strand Beachfront Apartments Advertise “Ocean Views” Requiring Specific Posture
A cluster of apartments in a recently marketed Strand development are being sold with “ocean views” listed among their primary features and confirmed in the listing as a genuine characteristic of the properties, which is technically accurate and which requires, in the case of the specific apartments in question, standing at the far left corner of the balcony, angling one’s body at approximately forty-five degrees toward the sea and looking past the corner of the building next door at a point between its roofline and the top of a mature pine tree that could, if it grows another meter, resolve the question permanently.
The view thus obtained is of the ocean. It is unambiguous ocean. It is the correct colour and has the correct motion and on a clear day you can see for a meaningful distance. It is, in the purest definitional sense, an ocean view and the listing is not wrong.
“I did ask the agent to show me the view,” said a prospective buyer who visited the show unit. “She walked me to the balcony, she stood at the left corner, she gestured toward the gap and said: there’s your ocean. I looked. It was there. I stood there for a moment really thinking about it.” He did not purchase the apartment but confirmed the ocean was visible and that the balcony, though the viewing position was specific, was “otherwise fine.”
The agent, who has sold three of the units and is partway through a fourth transaction, describes the view as “coastal” in some listings and “framed ocean view” in others, which is an evolution of the language that reflects experience. She notes that all three buyers who have purchased are satisfied and that two of them have mentioned the view positively in conversation since settling. She does not mention whether they have discovered the angle or simply enjoy the proximity to the sea in broader terms and this question was not pursued.
Property in walking distance of the Strand beach is, regardless of viewing angles, priced at a premium that the market appears to sustain. The ocean is there. The position from which you can see it is specific. This is the arrangement and it appears to be working.