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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.   [/quote]

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.  [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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.  
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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.  [/quote]

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.

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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.  [/quote]

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.   [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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.                  [/quote]

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. [/quote]

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