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North Carolina shoreline if in the US. (Due to balance of cost, projected appreciation in that area, and ability to rent the property ). If just looking for something… fun. St Croix could be an option. Or Puerto Rico. Lima, Peru has some okay condos in Miraflores and Barranco that might fit your budget / needs.
So one idea would be to put down $40k on a $400k property and hold at least $40k in cash as reserves just in case.
If you're open to Europe, some affordable cities with beaches include Valencia or Malaga in Spain, and Antalya in Turkey.
A house on the beach in South Africa (outside Cape Town) costs about that. Aztir[0] was a bit more but it's three bedrooms and I plan to spend Northern Hemisphere winters there to get two summers a year and rent it out to nomads the rest of the time. Second part of the plan is still a WIP so can't comment as to its success yet. [0] https://aztir.com
North Carolina shoreline if in the US. (Due to balance of cost, projected appreciation in that area, and ability to rent the property ). If just looking for something… fun. St Croix could be an option. Or Puerto Rico. Lima, Peru has some okay condos in Miraflores and Barranco that might fit your budget / needs.
Are there areas of the NC shoreline that are reasonably protected from climate change effects?
The main threat to the NC barrier islands is humans' insistence on things not changing. The natural state of barrier islands is to erode, move, grow, shrink, sink into the sea, reappear. The historical and geological records are quite clear on this. The efforts we put into trying to make them stay put do far more damage than climate change ever will.
1) If you really want to, you can probably take out a loan and buy/build some kind of summer house with $100K savings. That's more than enough for a solid down payment and the needed extra expenses, or even buying something in cash if you're willing to sacrifice on the size/location of the property and quality of the house, depending on your desired living standards.
2) If your budget truly is already tight, perhaps going to buy a second house might not be the wisest move heading into a potentially very rough economy. Perhaps you can reduce those concerns by AirBnB'ing it, but take into account that in a down-economy excess travel is going to take a hit too.
3) Depending on many factors I can't possibly evaluate (age, health, relationship status, kids, life satisfaction and mental state, etc) an optimal middle ground might be to try and save more cash and evaluate where the economy is in the next couple of years. Being cash-rich when there's a downturn is a great spot to be in.
A house on the beach in South Africa (outside Cape Town) costs about that. Aztir[0] was a bit more but it's three bedrooms and I plan to spend Northern Hemisphere winters there to get two summers a year and rent it out to nomads the rest of the time. Second part of the plan is still a WIP so can't comment as to its success yet. [0] https://aztir.com
Note that South Africa has significant power shortages right now so there was also an additional cost installing a backup power system. Of course, it is also higher risk than US/Western Europe in terms of future value.
I would look at land in northern California and build a rustic cottage. Depending on how close to the sea you want, you should be able to find a an acre or two for 5OK. The other 50k would cover the cottage, a nice deck, and wood fired hot tub. Certainly a project, but if you are into that sort of thing, it is half the fun. My main consideration would be drivable access from the bay area, but your constraints may dif…
50k will barely cover sitework and utilities after buying the land, unless you plan on not having electricity/water/sewer or car access
I was thinking more along the lines of off-grid and unpermitted which is doable for 50K
For example, my parents love Cape Cod - they've vacationed there for nearly 20 years every summer for 20 years, renting each time for a few weeks. Until recently, the economics never made sense to buy - only last year did rental prices exceed basically what they could afford. Generally, I'd say rent.
That said, I also have family who own multiple beach houses in CA. Even though they're worth millions, they still rent out their beach houses when they're not using them on high-end rental sites. They've used VRBO but generally use higher end services. The key here is that even rich people view a second home as a loss-leading asset and try to have it generate income in the off season, on the east coast this is basically a lost cause if the home is in a vacation town that's dead in the winter.
With only $100k I'd say keep your money and keep renting, you keep all the upside and pay a small premium. If you really want to own something you'll just need more money.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are there areas of the NC shoreline that are reasonably protected from climate change effects?
This is a very ignorant question, although depending on your familiarity it could be forgiven. The main threat to the NC barrier islands is humans' insistence on things not changing. The natural state of barrier islands is to erode, move, grow, shrink, sink into the sea, reappear. The historical and geological records are quite clear on this. The efforts we put into trying to make them stay put do far more damage tha…
I was just wondering if there were areas on the NC coast that don’t meet that description