My wife and I have been tossing around the idea of buying a vacation/STR home somewhere warmer than NY. We'd love to be on/very close to the beach, but would also consider a lake. We're very early in the process and right now we're basically seeing if it's even doable. Any recommendations for reasonably priced areas? $300k or less range. I've tried searching different areas using zillow and realtor.com, but apparently a lot of realtors don't know what water views are. There are some places 10+ miles from the water that are listed as "water views." Our plan is to use the house 3-4 weeks a year and then AirBnB it the rest of the time. Or do a 6 month or so rental during winter months. We don't want a condo or any place that has HOA's. I'm going to have a million more questions about it, but for now we'd like to narrow it down to a possible location. Also, any general tips are also appreciated.Thanks!

Hi @Chris Szepessy ! Cool project, I went to school in Boston so know how cold it gets out there in the northeast. Im a Texas investor so probabaly biased but you might want to look into the lakes around Dallas (Austin will be too price prohibitive). Dallas is a growing city with reasonable home prices in some areas. You might have some luck there. Use AirDNA and other methods to check the validity of the market before purchasing once you narrow it down. Best of luck! 

Originally posted by @Noah Weitzman :

Hi @Chris Szepessy! Cool project, I went to school in Boston so know how cold it gets out there in the northeast. Im a Texas investor so probabaly biased but you might want to look into the lakes around Dallas (Austin will be too price prohibitive). Dallas is a growing city with reasonable home prices in some areas. You might have some luck there. Use AirDNA and other methods to check the validity of the market before purchasing once you narrow it down. Best of luck! 

 I've been to Texas before and I loved it, but we're looking to stay within driving distance of where we are now. Plus, my brother lives in NC, so it'd give me a reason to go see him more often. 

@Chris Szepessy Cool man! Well best of luck.