Beach house dreaming -- where would you buy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Ocean City (MD), that place is Glen Burnie with sand. Try the VA beach area instead. Otherwise, maybe look into Ocean County, NJ.

Not really. Go north OC and mid-town you'll get a better price and nice beaches.

Yep, this. So much OC hate from those who haven’t been there in 30 years. Anything north of the 90 bridge. We embrace the quirkiness of OC, plus it has better dining, bigger beaches, and absolutely killers sunsets over the bay. Rehoboth and Bethany can’t compete.

PP here. I was actually there two weeks ago. OCMD is indeed Glen Burnie with sand. It’s the type of beach that the Woormwoods from the movie “Matilda” would go to after Zinnia hit the jackpot, and it feels stuck in the era that movie came out in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought experiment for which we'd appreciate any views. Assume you wanted to buy a vacation home on or near a beach, with a budget of around $1.5mm +/-. Considering the following criteria, where would you look?

1. Bang for buck: Ideally, for about 1.5mm, would find a reasonably nice house on/near a beautiful beach. Large enough that we could invite friends.

2. Convenience to DC: Ideally no more than 8 to 12 hours door-to-door travel time from DC, thus places with direct flights at top of the list.

3. Beauty/nature: Looking for truly beautiful setting, if can be found.

4. Year round: Would like something that could be used across winter holidays, etc.

5. Interesting amenities: Not required, but would be nice if reasonably near interesting restaurants, etc.

Where, if anywhere, might you look to try to hit those criteria? Thank you in advance!

No question with your budget and willingness to fly direct that you should get a place in Florida. The beaches are hands down so much better than anything near DC driving. We bought a place early in the pandemic and love it! We chose Melbourne Beach, which is slightly over an hour east of Orlando. For $1.5 million you can get a beautiful 3-4 bdr oceanfront condo or townhouse on the ocean. There are a lot of bad things about Florida if you live here full time, but for vacation you just can’t beat it.

[Anonymous]

Would you consider Selbyville, Delaware specifically Bayside?

My ILs bought a tiny condo there when the development was new. They bought with a couple and use it as a time share.

They go year round although underutilize and rarely join in any activities. They’ve never paid for golf or pool memberships.

[Anonymous]

I would look in Hilton Head, you can fly direct to Savannah and still somewhat manageable to drive

Otherwise I would look in gulf side of Florida, Anna Maria is nice !

[Anonymous]

We have a place in rehoboth, ocean block, that we love. Your budget will buy you house there but a few blocks from the beach. It is super convenient which will cause you to use it more, but if you want warm weather in the winter that isn’t the place. For that I’d buy in the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are direct flights and it stays in your door to door commute provided that you look in at Thomas only. Puerto Rico would be another option. Your budget goes extremely far there, but I don’t personally like the vibe nearly as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought experiment for which we'd appreciate any views. Assume you wanted to buy a vacation home on or near a beach, with a budget of around $1.5mm +/-. Considering the following criteria, where would you look?

1. Bang for buck: Ideally, for about 1.5mm, would find a reasonably nice house on/near a beautiful beach. Large enough that we could invite friends.

2. Convenience to DC: Ideally no more than 8 to 12 hours door-to-door travel time from DC, thus places with direct flights at top of the list.

3. Beauty/nature: Looking for truly beautiful setting, if can be found.

4. Year round: Would like something that could be used across winter holidays, etc.

5. Interesting amenities: Not required, but would be nice if reasonably near interesting restaurants, etc.

Where, if anywhere, might you look to try to hit those criteria? Thank you in advance!

Oak Island, North Carolina. There are a few interesting restaurants in Southport. It is striking distance to Myrtle Beach for a midweek trip to do some putt putt courses (my kids liked these).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thought experiment for which we'd appreciate any views. Assume you wanted to buy a vacation home on or near a beach, with a budget of around $1.5mm +/-. Considering the following criteria, where would you look?

1. Bang for buck: Ideally, for about 1.5mm, would find a reasonably nice house on/near a beautiful beach. Large enough that we could invite friends.

2. Convenience to DC: Ideally no more than 8 to 12 hours door-to-door travel time from DC, thus places with direct flights at top of the list.

3. Beauty/nature: Looking for truly beautiful setting, if can be found.

4. Year round: Would like something that could be used across winter holidays, etc.

5. Interesting amenities: Not required, but would be nice if reasonably near interesting restaurants, etc.

Where, if anywhere, might you look to try to hit those criteria? Thank you in advance!

No question with your budget and willingness to fly direct that you should get a place in Florida. The beaches are hands down so much better than anything near DC driving. We bought a place early in the pandemic and love it! We chose Melbourne Beach, which is slightly over an hour east of Orlando. For $1.5 million you can get a beautiful 3-4 bdr oceanfront condo or townhouse on the ocean. There are a lot of bad things about Florida if you live here full time, but for vacation you just can’t beat it.

There's also a whole lot of good things about living in Florida year round, I much prefer it to living the DC metro area and vacationing here. I'd rather vacation up there.

[Anonymous]

Habersham in Beaufort, SC

[Anonymous]

Another argument for OCMD north of the Route 90 bridge. It isn’t for the poors and it is a place that you can head out for at 8:30 am and actually be there for lunch. This is new and in your budget. We go all the time during the summer and don’t have to worry about the 8 hour drive. I love SC beaches but I just can’t do that drive for a weekend.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13423-Madison-Ave-Ocean-City-MD-21842/37736082_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Or this fixer upper in OC. This area is quiet and close to bay and ocean.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/105-74th-St-Ocean-City-MD-21842/37742170_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Ours in on Cape Cod. There are some nice houses in the $1.5m range. We’ve been there at all times of the year, although June-October is the nicest. Lots of people in our town are there for Thanksgiving/Christmas.

[Anonymous]

We got ours in Waveryly, Rhode Island, maybe two miles from the beach with ocean views? We paid just over 1M for a 4 bed, 4.5 bath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your budget gets you a 2 (maybe 3) bedroom oceanfront condo in the local beaches (Bethany, DE and OCMD).

You could afford something in Bethany West.

If you want new construction, try Ocean View or Millville, DE.

Oh please, lots of nice houses a few blocks from the beach for $1.5M in that area.

[Anonymous]

Cape Charles, VA

[Anonymous]

8-12 hr travel time?

Puerto Rico? USVI?
Near Barcelona?