Second home - which beach? Help please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a place in Bethany. I like that the beach is private.

You must be in North Bethany.

It’s the best location in all of the DE beaches and OC. Large private homes in gated communities and although beaches are technically public, there is no access to them so essentially private.

You just need the big bucks to afford it.

BTW we are seeing more and more people from NY and northern NJ buy in DE beaches because these homes are “cheap” compared to Hampton and NJ beaches and hardly any property taxes unlike high in NY and NJ

Exactly this. $4M+ is now the entry point for North Bethany.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany!

This but not many people can afford it. Plus there is almost no properties listed there ever. People are hanging onto it.

+1. Bethany for sure. Quiet, laid back but close to everything.

Properties do go up for sale sometimes but you have to vigilant and jump on it. Goes under contract fast if move in ready.

I wouldn't pick Bethany. It floods so much.

Not really. Maybe a few times a year and only 1-2 blocks in town from beach. Nowhere else in all of bethany. Houses in town are on stilts. it never floods during summer, usually only with very heavy rains with northeaster or big storms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a place in Bethany. I like that the beach is private.

You must be in North Bethany.

It’s the best location in all of the DE beaches and OC. Large private homes in gated communities and although beaches are technically public, there is no access to them so essentially private.

You just need the big bucks to afford it.

BTW we are seeing more and more people from NY and northern NJ buy in DE beaches because these homes are “cheap” compared to Hampton and NJ beaches and hardly any property taxes unlike high in NY and NJ

Exactly this. $4M+ is now the entry point for North Bethany.

It’s crazy how the prices have gone up so much in Bethany in the past 10 years, especially after Covid and besides new yorkers, DC is getting wealthier and wealthier and these people want weekend getaways.

We are not in North Bethany but within town limits, Our house has almost tripled in value in the past 10 years and I want to sell and take the profits but DH loves it down here and not interested.

[Anonymous]

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?

[Anonymous]

You can buy a condo at sea colony without having $4 million. I guess maybe OP doesn’t want condo ownership or the people on this board are all bajillionaires and can’t fathom that anyone would ever own a condo.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Bethany’s Main Street is nice but the beach you have access to is crappy and overcrowded with playground sand and brown water. No thanks.

You can buy a condo in Westhhampton for almost as much as Bethany Beach and have access to much nicer beaches and stop in NYC on your way up or back from the beach. It’s as far of a drive as OBX but much nicer and full of far fewer hillbillies than OBX or DE beaches.

https://www.redfin.com/NY/Westhampton-Beach/30-Brittany-Ln-11978/unit-30/home/195556829

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

We looked into this. Our issue was the drive. You gotta get across the Bay Bridge and that can take a long time in the summer. We have friends who do it and they time their drives so they leave at 6am to avoid traffic, but then the beach house owns you not the other way around (well..I'm not a morning person that's why).

Instead, we were looking at houses on this side of the Cheseapeake Bay, and also Western MD which doesnt' offer a beach (just the occasional lake) but does offer great mountains and outdoors.. and no bridge to cross + relatively easy traffic once you get past Frederick.

Ultimately we decided to instead do a big renovation on our house and add a pool, and for us this worked out better I think. It seems like every weekend, one kid or another has some event or activity here in our area to attend, so weekend trips away are difficult, but a few hours in our backyard pool relaxing and eating freshly grilled burgers and hot dogs is easy to fit into the schedule.

But if we did do it, we'd probably end up in western MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and how close do you need to be to the beach? Ocean View and Selbyville are fine but they are miles from the beach.

OMG no, Selbyville is way too far. Ocean view closer but you have to drive to the beach and traffic and parking is very difficult.

Ideal is to buy within town limits which is walkable to the beach. If you don’t want to walk, there is the trolley and so easy. The kids love the trolley.

You could also buy in South Bethany which is walkable to the beach but not town.

Or if you can drop 5-10 million, you can buy in North Bethany and be on or few houses to your own basically private beach.

I have a home in Bayside, Selbyville and I never go to the beach on weekends during the summer. Traffic is horrible- luckily we have a lot of amenities in Bayside and hang out there.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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 beautiful. It can get buggy, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I feel like I may just not be rich enough to understand, but what’s the point of driving to a beach house in the winter just to do the same stuff you can do here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany!

This but not many people can afford it. Plus there is almost no properties listed there ever. People are hanging onto it.

+1. Bethany for sure. Quiet, laid back but close to everything.

Properties do go up for sale sometimes but you have to vigilant and jump on it. Goes under contract fast if move in ready.

I wouldn't pick Bethany. It floods so much.

Not really. Maybe a few times a year and only 1-2 blocks in town from beach. Nowhere else in all of bethany. Houses in town are on stilts. it never floods during summer, usually only with very heavy rains with northeaster or big storms.

LOL at "Not really. Maybe a few times a year..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I feel like I may just not be rich enough to understand, but what’s the point of driving to a beach house in the winter just to do the same stuff you can do here?

DP, but I can walk by the beach there, see friends, and have dozens of different restaurants within a few blocks. And when I’m home I personally feel like I need to be productive—it’s in my head, but I don’t feel the same pressure when I’m there. We end up hanging out together more.