Second home - which beach? Help please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany but good luck getting a place in Bethany beach proper. You have to know someone AND have at least $4-6M to spend.

What is your budget op?

OP’s budget is 600k. She is priced out of Bethany for SFH. She can get a 1 bedroom condo at Sea Colony or maybe a 2bR condo/townhouse within town limits but there are not that many of those outside sea colony.

A big draw of Bethany is that it still has that quaint, small town feel. There are not a lot of hotels, condos, apts like there are in OC and Rehoboth which draws lots more crowds and also lower SES folks.

Many think Bethany is boring and that is just fine and dandy for lots of its residents.

Bethany is quaint and charming but the beach is crappy. You can live in Berlin MD and be in a quaint and charming town and drive 5-10 minutes to hang out in Assateague, which is MUCH nicer than the Bethany beaches.

Beach is not crappy. It is smaller right at the boardwalk where lots of people crowd in but if you go a few blocks north or south, much bigger beach and better. No issues with space.

Nope, Assateagye is not good and boring as heck. The only good thing about it is the day the horses run. That is when most people go and that is it.

Assateague is where the locals go from Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset counties. I've been to Assateague many times. The only negative is sometimes you get the biting flies if the wind is blowing a certain direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

[Anonymous]

[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

The Hamptons banned all short term rentals less than 30 days years ago. It drove prices through roof and restaurants make way more money. No poor renters or day trippers.

My beach house whole town is resident only parking, beach is resident only with picture ID and no rentals under 30 days. It is way richer town next door with a public beach. We have gates and fences lining our beach and it is blocked from public and our boardwalk is resident only.

Getting rid of renters and people who can only afford house by renting out is great. They spend squat. It is why Ocean City MD has crappy dumpy restaurants and bars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

The Hamptons banned all short term rentals less than 30 days years ago. It drove prices through roof and restaurants make way more money. No poor renters or day trippers.

My beach house whole town is resident only parking, beach is resident only with picture ID and no rentals under 30 days. It is way richer town next door with a public beach. We have gates and fences lining our beach and it is blocked from public and our boardwalk is resident only.

Getting rid of renters and people who can only afford house by renting out is great. They spend squat. It is why Ocean City MD has crappy dumpy restaurants and bars.

I just wrote my response to the PP that outlines exactly this. When vacation towns become too affluent and there is a critical mass of people who do not rely on rental income, they want to restrict others from renting their homes. I am not saying that Delaware is going to be another Hamptons in the degree of restrictions, but those people who bought long ago and had been able to rent their homes out and paid them off are just lucky to have entered early. Their examples may not be repeated. For people entering the market today, I still stand by my opinion that a beach house is a folly for the rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

This is just a bunch of BS. Of course, people buy these houses to spend summers there or part of their summers, especially the wealthy who do not need rental income and can afford to travel in the summer in addition to using their summer homes. UMC who cannot afford these homes without peak season rents are investors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

You are missing picture. It will eliminate zero tourist related jobs. Look at Hamptons, they have very high end restuarants, beaches are packed, ciubs are packed. It is packed with owners or people in full summer leases. Who are way richer than tourists.

Did you know full summer rentals in the Hamptons now run up to 2 million to just rent for summer? People all the time spend 100K on ouse parties. There are high end gyms, Ferrai and Mercedes dealerships.

Staying at a cheap holiday inn cramming 5 in a room, going to beach for free and buying pizza and ice cream in Ocean City is what Tourists do. People in Southampton spend a ton more. In Easthampton non resident beach sticker (they sell no daily passes ) are $750 a summer. Ocean City gives it a way for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does it have to be a beach?

I grew up in a beach town and love the beach but when it came time to buy a second home decided to look west of the DMV and not east.

Why?

First, I'd only want a beach house that's actually ocean front. If I can't look out my front window and actually see the ocean, it just wouldn't do it for me. And ocean front in DE and MD cost millions and millions and just isn't worth that much to me.

Second, for several months around here the beach is too cold even to take a pleasant walk on, then again actually sit on. And the beach towns themselves are dead, with the majority of the shops and restaurants largely if not entirely closed down and the majority of the year round residents being either old AF or MAGA or both.

We ended up buying a 5000 SF house with a pool on seven acres less than two hours west of downtown DC (even on a bad traffic day) for well under $1 million. On top of that, we can walk in about 15 minute into a quaint but perfectly big enough downtown where good and varied bars and restaurants are open year round and where you'll see people of every age and not just the blue heads. And it's not MAGA. It went 80 percent for Harris in 2024.

Had you asked me back in the day if I could ever be happier with a second home to the west of the DMV than to the east I'd say no way. But now I know I made the right decision.

You’re amazing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

You are missing picture. It will eliminate zero tourist related jobs. Look at Hamptons, they have very high end restuarants, beaches are packed, ciubs are packed. It is packed with owners or people in full summer leases. Who are way richer than tourists.

Did you know full summer rentals in the Hamptons now run up to 2 million to just rent for summer? People all the time spend 100K on ouse parties. There are high end gyms, Ferrai and Mercedes dealerships.

Staying at a cheap holiday inn cramming 5 in a room, going to beach for free and buying pizza and ice cream in Ocean City is what Tourists do. People in Southampton spend a ton more. In Easthampton non resident beach sticker (they sell no daily passes ) are $750 a summer. Ocean City gives it a way for free.

We own a home in Water Mill, but I’m also very familiar with OC/Bethany. I don’t see the latter ever becoming like the former. There just isn’t any demand for it—not from residents, homeowners, or business owners. And as for parking, the nature of beach access in the Hamptons is different—it’s not a barrier island where most of the homes are within easy walking distance to the beach. The parking areas are generally small, and taking measures to discourage public parking is a way to keep spots available primarily to residents, most of whom need to drive to get to the beaches and pay $50 a year for parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

You are missing picture. It will eliminate zero tourist related jobs. Look at Hamptons, they have very high end restuarants, beaches are packed, ciubs are packed. It is packed with owners or people in full summer leases. Who are way richer than tourists.

Did you know full summer rentals in the Hamptons now run up to 2 million to just rent for summer? People all the time spend 100K on ouse parties. There are high end gyms, Ferrai and Mercedes dealerships.

Staying at a cheap holiday inn cramming 5 in a room, going to beach for free and buying pizza and ice cream in Ocean City is what Tourists do. People in Southampton spend a ton more. In Easthampton non resident beach sticker (they sell no daily passes ) are $750 a summer. Ocean City gives it a way for free.

We own a home in Water Mill, but I’m also very familiar with OC/Bethany. I don’t see the latter ever becoming like the former. There just isn’t any demand for it—not from residents, homeowners, or business owners. And as for parking, the nature of beach access in the Hamptons is different—it’s not a barrier island where most of the homes are within easy walking distance to the beach. The parking areas are generally small, and taking measures to discourage public parking is a way to keep spots available primarily to residents, most of whom need to drive to get to the beaches and pay $50 a year for parking.

You are most likely younger than me. But the Hamptons in the 1970s and 1980s was a lot diffeernt that today. It was closer to NJ/DE/MD beaches that high end. We had Boardy Barn with 4 beers for a dollar happy hour, Ed's Bay Pub a dive bar packed everynight weekend, CPI dance club full of young people renting cheap houses. And Neptune Beach Club, Hot Dog Beach, Summers bleach clubs with happy hours full of Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens people.

Hampton Bays have tons of "grouper" share homes with kids paying $500 for a half share $900 a few share and keg parties at these rundown rentals felt like frat parties.

It started shedding that image in early 1990s and today it is far richer and fancy. I spent every summer from 1984 to 1996 in the Hamptons. From 1984 to 1996 the change was crazy.

I do own a beach house in NY. I live in DC. Mine is in Atlantic Beach NY. And we have crazy strict summer rules so much that most people dont even know it exists as if you are not a resident you cant park anywhere in town in summer or get on the beach. I the 1960s and 1970s it was folks going to beach for day from Brookyn and Queens and cops and firemen with little shacks they bought for almost nothing that were there mainly only in summer. In 2026 they have homes up to 10 million and "cheap" homes from 1.3 million to 1.6 million will sell in a matter of days. If I do take someone there they are always suprised it even exists as town keeps its existance a secret. Kinda like Point Lookout NY and Fire Island and Shelter Island they dont want day trippers or renters.

Water Mill is my dream location by the way. The windmill the whole thing I love. That town last time it was even remotely affordable was around the time of the Savings and Loan Crisis. I almost bought a place from Resolution Trust Company in 1991. Since then it has been straight up. And Water Mill never ever went for low brow crowd even in the 1980s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

You are missing picture. It will eliminate zero tourist related jobs. Look at Hamptons, they have very high end restuarants, beaches are packed, ciubs are packed. It is packed with owners or people in full summer leases. Who are way richer than tourists.

Did you know full summer rentals in the Hamptons now run up to 2 million to just rent for summer? People all the time spend 100K on ouse parties. There are high end gyms, Ferrai and Mercedes dealerships.

Staying at a cheap holiday inn cramming 5 in a room, going to beach for free and buying pizza and ice cream in Ocean City is what Tourists do. People in Southampton spend a ton more. In Easthampton non resident beach sticker (they sell no daily passes ) are $750 a summer. Ocean City gives it a way for free.

We own a home in Water Mill, but I’m also very familiar with OC/Bethany. I don’t see the latter ever becoming like the former. There just isn’t any demand for it—not from residents, homeowners, or business owners. And as for parking, the nature of beach access in the Hamptons is different—it’s not a barrier island where most of the homes are within easy walking distance to the beach. The parking areas are generally small, and taking measures to discourage public parking is a way to keep spots available primarily to residents, most of whom need to drive to get to the beaches and pay $50 a year for parking.

You are most likely younger than me. But the Hamptons in the 1970s and 1980s was a lot diffeernt that today. It was closer to NJ/DE/MD beaches that high end. We had Boardy Barn with 4 beers for a dollar happy hour, Ed's Bay Pub a dive bar packed everynight weekend, CPI dance club full of young people renting cheap houses. And Neptune Beach Club, Hot Dog Beach, Summers bleach clubs with happy hours full of Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens people.

Hampton Bays have tons of "grouper" share homes with kids paying $500 for a half share $900 a few share and keg parties at these rundown rentals felt like frat parties.

It started shedding that image in early 1990s and today it is far richer and fancy. I spent every summer from 1984 to 1996 in the Hamptons. From 1984 to 1996 the change was crazy.

I do own a beach house in NY. I live in DC. Mine is in Atlantic Beach NY. And we have crazy strict summer rules so much that most people dont even know it exists as if you are not a resident you cant park anywhere in town in summer or get on the beach. I the 1960s and 1970s it was folks going to beach for day from Brookyn and Queens and cops and firemen with little shacks they bought for almost nothing that were there mainly only in summer. In 2026 they have homes up to 10 million and "cheap" homes from 1.3 million to 1.6 million will sell in a matter of days. If I do take someone there they are always suprised it even exists as town keeps its existance a secret. Kinda like Point Lookout NY and Fire Island and Shelter Island they dont want day trippers or renters.

Water Mill is my dream location by the way. The windmill the whole thing I love. That town last time it was even remotely affordable was around the time of the Savings and Loan Crisis. I almost bought a place from Resolution Trust Company in 1991. Since then it has been straight up. And Water Mill never ever went for low brow crowd even in the 1980s.

I'm not likely younger, but I grew up going to the beaches in DE and MD. I didn't get out east until the early 90s, when DH and I did summer shares in Southampton in a decidedly unglamorous house. We made it to the Boardy Barn more than once back in the day! Westhampton and Hampton Bays definitely had a bigger frat party vibe than east of the canal . . . it still does, but all of it has changed so much.

My parents have a place in Bethany, and when my DCs were young I would take them there and spend most of the summer. Those were good times, but we live in NYC, and as the kids got older it became more difficult to get there as often. We decided a few years ago that buying in the Hamptons made the most sense for the next phase of our lives, and we absolutely love being in Water Mill. It's like being in the country and at the beach at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

You are missing the point. You are all saying how DE beachfront because so $$$$ that it's no longer middle class anything, not even upper middle class. This means you may reach critical mass of truly wealthy owners who do not want too many tourists and transients near them and they start changing the politics and residential rules in their favor, which is limiting access to the public beaches (they consider "their" beaches) and roads, residential parking, etc. Yeah, this happened in the Hamptons long ago, but apparently DE beaches is another "hamptons" in the making. It's what you all say.. I didn't say it.

For the working class people who live further inland and commute to work in beach front tourism there is more benefit from multifamily and hotels than from the fewer more $$$ homes, so eventually taxes to own these homes may go up. We live in the times where counting on things remaining the same no matter where you live is impossible. People are worried about being priced out or "built out" of their primary homes these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During Covid we bought a place in Hilton head and would "sneak" there during the kids schoolweek bc of online capability. We have 3 kids that were in elementary or middle school then. It was about 250k for a 3 bedroom house and a 15 minute walk to the beach. As covid diminished and the kids got older we went less and less and now it's just used maybe for 1 week out of the year and a couple of long weekends. My wife usually drives down on Thursday and I fly down Friday night--and we drive back together Sunday evening. 8.5 hours! This year will be the first we rent it out--for a long term rental. The kids had fun when they were younger but now have school activities and seem less interested in going to the same restaurants and same beaches each trip. There was a huge,huge price jump--to over 1 million right after Covid but now the price has settled down to around 650k. I don't think I'd buy today at 650k bc the yearly mortgage on 250k was less than a nice vacation for the 5 of us---650k would be a 5 plusstar vacation and then another 2 or three after that. The annoying part is that the house is still your house--have to deal with fallen trees, squirrels in the attic space, hoa upset that the pine needles are in the driveway or that the paint looks too moldy due to moisture so the house has to be power washed 2x each summer... etc. I'm kind of excited to finally just rent the place out and have a change of scenery at different beaches. There's something nice about going to your own home but it gets kind of boring after a while too.

This. Beach houses are a folly for the rich with extra money to spend on having someone look after it when you aren't using it. People who aren't sweating all these extra expenses from natural damages and routine maintenance that requires a human to go there and take care of it are the only ones who should be looking to buy vacation homes. Ditto increasing insurance fees, RE taxes and whatever local rules nonsense changes come about.

Airbnb allowed middle classes to "afford" much nicer vacation properties (beyond your dumpy cabin in the woods or by the lake or a small beach condo), and it's still an option as you cover a lot of these expenses I mention above with rental income. But a lot of vacation towns started to impose limits and make it difficult to rent shorter term, which is something to consider.

You can mitigate alot of the above expenses and maintenance expenses if you rent out your place and have income.

Our beach house at DE beaches, we put down 200k 10 years ago, rent it out every summer which paid mortgage, maintenance, and still a little extra left over. We use it for weekend getaways year round and maybe a week in the summer. Lots of happy family memories together which are priceless.

We now have about 1.2-1,3 million in equity and only about 100k left on mortgage.

If you bought down at the beaches, esp before Covid. esp within tien limits, the value of your place has gone way up that 10-15k a year on maintenance is nothing compared to equity you have built up.

So it depends on location and market demand. Market demand is not going to go down at DE beaches if you are anywhere within tien limits. Very limited inventory and much more demand.

None of this is helpful for anyone who wants to buy today. The reality today is also restrictions on short term rentals that many HCOL towns are starting to impose. The more expensive the town is the higher the likelihood they will restrict your ability to make income. If you were able to rent out your place easily and accumulated all this equity, this may not be the case today or tomorrow. Also, personally I wouldn't need a beach house in the NW if it's essentially a weekend home for the off season weather months.

The whole point of a beach house is to be available to you at least 1 month during summer, but if you rely on rental income, you may be tempted to rent it during the most $$$ in demand times and be content with a few warm weekends in May and Sept. instead.

There is no way the DE beaches or OC will put any restrictions on short term rentals - none. They make too much money, millions and millions (rental tax, parking, tickets, restaurants, etc…) from them and the tourists. They rely heavily on this income. It’s probably their biggest income generator in the whole area for the year.

It’s very obvious you don’t know the DE beaches well, because there is a ton to do on the weekends spring, summer, and fall besides go to the beach. Also our favorite time to go to the beach on weekends is actually May and Sept, not the summer. We travel internationally in the summer.

We don’t need to rely on rental income but why not rent it when not in use. Not interested in spending the summer there but can if we want.

What you don’t obviously get is that the UMC families and wealthy are not buying beach houses to spend summers there. Best beaches are the Caribbean in the winter. Summer is international travel. The DE house functions solely as weekend getaway. If you make money on top of that, great.

Lastly, it absolutely depends on location and demand which is why my example above. Sure with prices today, you might not have as much equity but if you know anything about real estate, these are the top 2 things that drive a good investment and money to be made anytime. You don’t have to be rich to make money buying a 2nd home or beach house. That is false. Save for down payment and rent it out when not using it.

Never say never for restrictions. We were looking in FL where we were able to rent places short term for our vacations on airbnb over the years, and restrictions had tightened. Places that allowed 1 month rentals, for example, switched to 3 months rentals, which dramatically reduces available clients. Some condo towers switched to 1 year lease only making it impossible to use the place. And being able to rent 1-2 weeks at a time literally came to a halt in a lot of places around the country. I don't think that Delaware is forever exempt. The sentiment to put restrictions doesn't just come from some socialist government or the pressure of working-class people who live there. It comes from hotel industry in some places, and ironically, from homeowners themselves who want more control of their surroundings, exclusivity and fewer transient people around. They want to also price out middle class investors who rely on rental incomes. The latter problem is not uncommon in places that become too affluent.

Nope. DE is poor state. So many locals work in tourism. No way they are getting rid of rentals. It’s not like DE can make money off property taxes since there is basically none. Tourism at the beaches is their biggest income.

A few miles inland, it’s actually lower middle class and poor.

You are missing picture. It will eliminate zero tourist related jobs. Look at Hamptons, they have very high end restuarants, beaches are packed, ciubs are packed. It is packed with owners or people in full summer leases. Who are way richer than tourists.

Did you know full summer rentals in the Hamptons now run up to 2 million to just rent for summer? People all the time spend 100K on ouse parties. There are high end gyms, Ferrai and Mercedes dealerships.

Staying at a cheap holiday inn cramming 5 in a room, going to beach for free and buying pizza and ice cream in Ocean City is what Tourists do. People in Southampton spend a ton more. In Easthampton non resident beach sticker (they sell no daily passes ) are $750 a summer. Ocean City gives it a way for free.

You are forgetting that areas around Hamptons are also closer to the NYC area job market than DE is close to any job markets. People living around Hamptons don't just rely on tourism and wealthy Hamptons owners. The people who work service jobs there are often seasonal workers who move in for the summer only and then leave. There were multiple articles about how people who work in the businesses serving the wealthy of the Hamptons cannot afford to live anywhere near even renting the shabbiest places, because there is also dearth of multifamily by design. They are apparently living in their cars or camp grounds or various trailer parks that still exist.