The 10 most affordable places to buy a beach home in the US

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No need to go broke chasing beachfront property. Pictured: Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The sun is shining, the days are longer, and it's finally warm enough that the bold among us are starting to bust out those cargo shorts. That can only mean one thing: Beach season is coming.

But as fun as excursions to the Hamptons and Nantucket can be, these ritzy summer enclaves can also sap your entire vacation fund in a hot minute if you're not careful.

And perhaps you're looking for a permanent fix for your ocean-air addiction? If you're not palling around with millionaires and billionaires, you might as well forget about buying property in those exclusive destinations.

But if you look beyond the traditional summer hot spots, your dream of owning a sun-drenched cottage within spitting distance of the ocean spray may not be so far-fetched.

Realtor.com dug through its database to find some scenic beachfront locales that are far more affordable for the average American and that won't have you ruing the fact that you never amassed a fortune on Wall Street.

They limited their scope to beach cities with populations between 1,000 to 100,000 and that had at least 30 properties on the market. And to ensure some geographic diversity, Realtor.com capped its list to two towns per state separated by at least 30 miles.

Read on for the 10 most affordable beach towns to buy a home in - each of which has a median home price below $250,000.