Second home - which beach? Help please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Rich people don’t “winter” at Delaware beaches. People who are wintering there don’t have better options.

It has proximity to DC. That is the appeal.

This. They go to the Carribean.

The DE beaches are a close weekend getaway. They are not vacationing there.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have a 2nd house in the Annapolis area? I know it’s not the beach per se but seems to have the water lifestyle, cute downtown areas, etc. Plus close enough to technically commute into DC from if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would choose Sandbridge, Virginia Beach, not as far as OBX, with a stable shoreline both geologically and due to military requirements to keep it stable.

Came here to suggest this lovely place. If you want a livelier scene, you can drive a bit north to VA Beach and then return to your quiet house or condo in Sandbridge.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

OP here. Thanks for all the input from other PPs and you as well. I am thinking more about just going places for a longer time period - 2 - 3 weeks rather than buying a place. If we find a place we really connect to, then maybe that will be the choice down the road. More than anything I'm daydreaming more than planning immediately as we are in the throes of eldercare, but doing it for so many years now it's just never-ending. It's taken its toll and life is passing by. Sounds like some great options and all had me thinking (rethinking) where and how to look. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

There are always so many ultra high networth individuals on DCUM with many millions to spare on a vacation home they'd use a few weeks out of the year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a 2nd house in the Annapolis area? I know it’s not the beach per se but seems to have the water lifestyle, cute downtown areas, etc. Plus close enough to technically commute into DC from if needed.

I’ve also been thinking about this!

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

typo town not tien

[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.