Rebecca Fishbein

The village of Cold Spring, New York, is one of the Hudson Valley's most charming spots. The area is full of beautiful houses, with antique Victorians and contemporary residences. Consider the three-bedroom, four-bath property at 50 Mountain Brook Dr., now on the market for $865,000. The move-in ready house was built in 2001 and opens with an airy, two-story great room, complete with big windows and sliding-glass doors.

A recent Wallethub ranking concluded Charleston was one of the best cities in the U.S. for first-time homeowners, thanks to its thriving real estate market and overall quality of life. If any of that sounds appealing to you, here's a taste of what's out there.

Lahaina in West Maui has a number of condo villages where you can purchase a vacation home, use it as you please, and rent it out the rest of the year. Wallethub recently ranked Lahaina the second best beach town in the country, thanks in part to its gorgeous weather, low crime, thriving economy, and all-around high quality of life.

Certain parts of D.C. are quite pricey, it's still a more affordable city than New York, with many of its same benefits—the median sales price here is $555,700, as compared with Manhattan's $999,000, and much of the housing stock is more spacious. If any of that sounds appealing to you, here's a taste of what's out there.

Bar Harbor, located on Maine's Mount Desert Island, is one of the state's best summer destinations, thanks in no small part to its proximity to the wonderfully wild Acadia National Park, which you could spend weeks exploring. the three-bedroom, three-bath property at 15 Grason Ln., now on the market for 1,250,000. The house, which was built in 2000, is located close to the Shore Path, and boasts some beautiful water views.

The village of Watch Hill, located in the town of Westerly, is one of Rhode Island's most popular summer destinations in a state chock full of them. The three-bedroom, four-bath house at 23 Knollwood Dr. in Westerly, is now on the market for $579,000.