Second home - which beach? Help please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

7 paragraphs but can’t name the place. She is looking for a place

+1

500 sqf and 7 acres is the opposite of easy. You'll sepend your entire time there cleaning and working on the land. eff that.

Get a simple 3/2 beach box on Hatteras Island. Yeah , it's too far for a normal weekend but its a whole other planet. Life is slow and southern, At this stage of life you can always just take a Friday or Monday to travel.

Yep, sounds like a nightmare 5000 sq feet and all that land likely in the middle of nowhere.

Well, like I said we're a 15 minute walk to a quaint downtown that offers plenty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think of the drive. Pick an easy pleasant drive. When you are 75 you want easy.

Maybe by 75 they want something totally different

+1 Pick what you want right now and be open to doing something different when you're 75. It's okay for something to be what you need at the time. It doesn't have to be your forever/retirement home.

For me drive time would be important: 2.5 hours is doable, 3.5 hours feels like an eternity. So if my home base is set for awhile, I'd start my second home search within that boundary.


This is OP. I agree with this!

Good points in all the postings. The PP who went West, sounds like a lovely option too - you gave good info to consider. Thank you.

The cost of the Delaware beaches is really prohibitive. And the PPs who mentioned OC away from the boardwalk, I hadn’t thought about that. Something to consider as well.

I’ve been in the throes of eldercare, caregiving, college kids, etc… life going fast so I want an escape soon. I’m exhausted. Mostly the eldercare. Budget caps at 600k.

[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.

Where is this paradise?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

7 paragraphs but can’t name the place. She is looking for a place

Yea, sorry, I'm not gonna name the place because DCUM is too nasty and I'd don't want others here! I'm just suggesting maybe broaden the horizons a little. I do appreciate the allure of the beach, I really do -- as I said, I actually grew up near one (closer to the beach than the lady with dogs in a condo near Rehoboth who hates me lol) -- but when the time came to buy I looked deeper for all the reasons I suggested.

One other thing I left out: there really aren't super convenient beaches near the city and the more desirable DMV suburbs. Sure, in the off-season you can schlepp from downtown to Rehoboth fairly quickly -- right now, for example, a Monday morning in March, my GPS shows a clean drive of 2 hours and 40 minutes -- but typically you're talking 3 hours at least. (Cue all the posters who magically say they get there in two.) That was another factor in my decision. I didn't want to own a second home any further away than two hours, tops.

Again, I love the beach. Many of our actual vacations actually involve flying to one. But when it came to buying our second home, where we typically spend as much time or more as our first, the options around the DMV just didn't appeal to me.

Were money absolutely no object? Sure, those multi-million dollar beach front places in DE, MD and maybe NJ should would be appealing. Not gonna lie about that. But they still wouldn't be any closer, and wow for all that money the world is your oyster.

CHatGPT suggest Sheperdstown WV is the most likely place.

[Anonymous]

What is your budget, OP?
What types of homes and what are the must-haves?

[Anonymous]

I suggest looking for lakefront. Poconos lakes are 4 hours away for example; finger lakes are 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want a water view without the high price tag of beach front property, you could consider a bay town. There's a lot more to do on the bay than the beach and there are plenty of locations that aren't far from the ocean.

Where is the great bay town with lots more to do?

[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.

[Anonymous]

I recommend you plan a few weekend getaways at various beach house and condo rentals and see what each location mentioned here is like. I am like you and want to be on the beach so we just do vrbo/airbnb beach vacation rentals even though we can easily afford a second home.

[Anonymous]

If you aren't totally in love with a location such that you have it picked out, is a beach house really a good idea instead of just spending the money on long term rentals? I wouldn't want to be locked into a location unless I totally loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

7 paragraphs but can’t name the place. She is looking for a place

lol! Probably afraid that MAGa might move there with the low cost!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want the beach OP ignore the poster who sounds disgruntled and went west instead. Shecould have pointed out what she likes about it without making up stuff about the beaches.
We bought a Condo we love in Rehoboth in 2019. It’s a mile from the beach but has a pool and easy access to the bike trail.
We go a lot in the off season as well as the summer. We have dogs. So in the mornings I love taking them to Dewey Beach where they can run of leash. It’s all dog people, and has become my happy place and how I start my day down there.
The restaurants are 90% open year round. The downtown shops are about 90% open in the fall and spring and maybe 70% in Jan and Feb.
we are a gay couple and had no issues with maga anything.

LOL who's "disgruntled" exactly? It sounds like I struck a nerve! What you've described is absolutely the last thing I'd want. If you're gonna live a mile from the beach it might as well be 100. And a condo with neighbors on top of me and with a shared pool? No thanks.

Believe me, if that's what I wanted I could have afforded it.

Wow.

I merely offered an alternative suggestion for OP to think about. I did nothing to warrant an attack. But if you're gonna dish it out . . .

You do sound jealous and their condo has doubled in price since 2019. lol. Good for them!

[Anonymous]

North Beach - get a kayak or rowboat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you aren't totally in love with a location such that you have it picked out, is a beach house really a good idea instead of just spending the money on long term rentals? I wouldn't want to be locked into a location unless I totally loved it.

This is the best advice on this thread. As PP suggested, take the next year to check out various options, weekends year-round.

(I’m happy the PP who opted to buy west of DC instead of at the beach, but would point out that the bigger beach towns are not dead in the off season any more.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you aren't totally in love with a location such that you have it picked out, is a beach house really a good idea instead of just spending the money on long term rentals? I wouldn't want to be locked into a location unless I totally loved it.

This is the best advice on this thread. As PP suggested, take the next year to check out various options, weekends year-round.

(I’m happy the PP who opted to buy west of DC instead of at the beach, but would point out that the bigger beach towns are not dead in the off season any more.)

I’m down at our house in DE beaches right now and just had great sushi yesterday. Restaurants have lots of great off season specials.

Ran errands in Rehoboth today and traffic on route 1 on Monday afternoon! Lots on cars and people not working.

Anyway, if you go to the beach 1 week a year or whatever then no, beach house doesn’t make sense.

We use our beach house mainly as a weekend getaway year round from DC year round and it’s great! Quick easy getaway for 2/3 days. We might block out a week in the summer but usually traveling international then so rent it out.

Our favorite beaches that are easy to get to are in the Caribbean which we go to in the winter. We love Hawaii but too far to fly.

Lots of people like us at DE beaches that it’s a weekend home or there spend the whole summer here.