Cheap and on the water

December 9, 2010 1:39 PM

Where are the most inexpensive beachfront houses in the US/Canada?

Caveats: No condos, no townhouses, and I'm talking right ON the beach--no street in between.

posted by yellowcandy to home & garden (17 answers total)

Do you require "beachy" weather? That is, does it need to be warm enough or calm enough to go swimming or spend a lot of time outside? Or do you merely want to have a direct view of the water?
posted by decathecting at 1:44 PM on December 9, 2010

Michigan. But the beach is a Great Lake, not the ocean.
posted by chocolatetiara at 1:45 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Check out the South Shore of Nova Scotia. There might be some that are actually beachfront, although I would categorize most as waterfront. Beautiful weather, beautiful views, mind the fog in some spots.
posted by fso at 1:48 PM on December 9, 2010

Northern Maine, above Bar Harbor.
posted by Miko at 1:50 PM on December 9, 2010

South West Nova Scotia. If $49.000-169,000 is cheap
posted by Gungho at 1:51 PM on December 9, 2010

Newfoundland is cheap.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 2:08 PM on December 9, 2010

e.g.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 2:10 PM on December 9, 2010

Try Zillow for Mississippi.
posted by lukemeister at 2:10 PM on December 9, 2010

Long Beach and Ocean Shores, Washington.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:10 PM on December 9, 2010

Parts of humboldt if you don't mind tsunamis. Or meth.
posted by fshgrl at 2:24 PM on December 9, 2010

Southwestern Ontario won't be very cheap. Sudbury area maybe?
posted by GuyZero at 2:39 PM on December 9, 2010

Another vote for Newfoundland for cheap beachfront property and all around awesomeness. Bonus if you enjoy rain, drizzle, and fog.
posted by futureisunwritten at 3:42 PM on December 9, 2010

WNY, Lake Erie or Ontario.
posted by Blake at 6:45 PM on December 9, 2010

One method is to look at the Trulia house price heat maps, which will give you median house prices by county if you click on the name of the state. It doesn't tell you for sure about beachfront (eg some of the cheap areas that adjoin water may be cheap because they don't have beaches at all).

But as an example, here are some counties to look at in the Great Lakes area:
Ohio: Ashtabula and Lucas counties ($112-134K) - on Lake Erie
New York: Orleans county (below $145K) - on Lake Ontario
Michigan - everything on UP except Schoolcraft and Marquette Cos is below $215K (eg Luce Co is $92-115K); several counties on Huron side of lower peninsula too
Wisconsin - the Lake Michigan side is around $150K
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:31 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

These are great. Any more--specifically, any more in warmer climes?
posted by yellowcandy at 7:41 AM on December 10, 2010

Warmer: Try Trulia for Harrison County, MS or maybe Brazoria County, TX (although Surfside Beach is washing away). I can think of a few other coastal counties -- maybe Cameron Parish, LA, although that's mostly swamp.
posted by Robert Angelo at 2:49 PM on December 10, 2010

Pretty sure there's not much if any beachfront property in Cameron Parish (I grew up somewhat nearby and have never heard of anyone going to the beach there) , but Grand Isle might be worth a look. The Bay St. Louis and Gulfport areas of Mississippi are also worth looking into.
posted by Sara C. at 8:36 AM on December 11, 2010