David Moot spent about two decades longing for an oceanfront home on Cape Cod.

This year, he’ll be spending the holidays at his dream house. Moot, 59, bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean for just under $400,000 late last year, he told The Washington Post.

The catch? It might crumble off the cliff soon.

Erosion, exacerbated by the climate crisis, is reshaping the country’s coasts. Chunks of road and pieces of patios are falling into the Pacific along California’s western edge. Landslides often block the state’s famous coastal route, Highway 1, and a major coastal railroad track is frequently closed as erosion weakens the ground beneath it. In North Carolina, 10 houses have fallen into the Atlantic since 2020 in an eroding stretch of the Outer Banks, The Post reported, including three in the last week. The area has seen some of the most rapid rates of erosion and sea level rise on the East Coast. At least a dozen more homes there are in danger of collapse.

Millions of acres of U.S. land and hundreds of thousands of homes and offices are in jeopardy in coming years, The Post has reported. Moot’s new property is among them: Experts say it could fall into the ocean within 10 years.

But where most see risk, Moot saw opportunity.

“The prices were always far beyond my reach. So this particular house came into my price range due to the erosion issue. So I said, well, let me see what I can do, if I can make it happen,” Moot said. “Life’s too short. People think I’m crazy. Well, I could walk out of the door tomorrow and get hit by a car.”

Moot, a Pittsburgh resident, first visited Cape Cod about 20 years ago, he said. He fell in love immediately.

“The ocean, the breezes that you get. Sunny days, beautiful sunrises and sunsets,” Moot mused. “The sand, the beaches. There’s just so much to take in that it’s never a dull moment.”

He casually searched for oceanfront homes, scouring small towns and checking on property listings. The dream remained unattainable until he saw a home, built in Eastham, Mass., in 1965, listed for $395,000. Two years ago, that same home was listed for about $1.2 million, he said.

“It’s the view that sold me more than the house,” he said. “Almost every room faces the ocean so you can’t miss the view.”

Sellers immediately informed Moot of the erosion problem, and the risk that the home may not be inhabitable for very long. He decided to take on the house, and the erosion that came with it, he said.

“I’m going to try and do some things to help slow the process,” he said, including consulting experts and planting beach grass along the edge of the cliff. “The beach grass has long roots and hopefully it will stabilize and keep that from eroding quicker.”

He plans to remove the part of his home nearest to the cliff’s edge, which will grant more footage between the edge of the house and the cliff. Maybe, with the right investments, the home’s viability can stretch to another 20 years, he said.

But the clock is ticking. Cape Cod’s coastline is eroding by an average of three feet a year, according to Stephen Leatherman, an earth and environment professor at Florida International University who has studied the Cape Cod coast with the National Park Service.

“It could only be a few years before that house is in danger of falling over the cliff,” Leatherman said. “Or it could be more. But its drop is imminent.”

The home is unlikely to remain standing beyond 10 years, he said, adding that beach grass won’t be sufficient to steady an eroding cliff. Ultimately, Leatherman said, any attempts to slow the erosion are only temporary. A few bad winter storms, which cause rougher waves, would quicken the cliff’s erosion.

“This guy is taking a big risk, but of course he got a big discount,” Leatherman said. “It’s like gambling. You’re not sure how the dice is going to roll. He is literally living on the edge.”

“I hope he can enjoy it,” he added.

Moot is certain that he will.

“I don’t look at it as a scary thing. It’s Mother Nature and I’m trying to work with Mother Nature, not against it,” he said. “I’m going to just enjoy it and share it with as many people as I can.”

That includes opening up the home to people with terminal illnesses, or who are in a hospice, he added, “where people can enjoy the view at the end of their life.”

Many Massachusetts residents have probably never had the opportunity to live by the ocean, even briefly, and it would be a joy to share the blessing, Moot said.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself - is this really true? I’m still baffled that this is happening,” he said. The erosion is not stopping, but at least for now, he has a gorgeous view.

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Brady Dennis and Scott Wilson contributed to this report.