Beach/Lakefront in VA, SC, NC

[Chris Szepessy]

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!