Whether you are buying a vacation home for fun or profit, knowing where to buy is key.

If you choose to use it primarily as an investment property, you may want it near a popular travel destination. If you need a playhouse during your down times, you may want an easy-to-access retreat that comes with nearby activities, events and attractions you enjoy.

And there are always a of host of personal considerations and decisions to make when choosing your vacation home.

Helping remove some of that initial legwork, Woonsocket, RI-based NeighborhoodScout is the latest online service to come up with some top spots that could narrow your list of locations.

The Net-based neighborhood matching service's "2004 Top Towns To Buy A Vacation Home" whittled down 23,000 coastal and Rocky Mountain locations to find emerging vacation home locales and came up with a set of 30 towns -- 10 in each of three regions.

"People often want to buy a vacation home, but finding a top-quality area that's still affordable, yet promises to be a good investment years from now, can take tremendous effort," said Andrew Schiller, a geographer and president of Location Inc., NeighborhoodScout's parent company.

The finds are based on a host of factors, including peace and quiet, safety from crime, educated neighbors, excellent public schools, affordability and an enviable mix of rental properties and owner-occupied homes.

"These are the hidden gems. They are towns that combine beautiful settings with affordability and community attributes that, historically, translate into long-term investment value for homeowners," Schiller said.

Keep in mind, the list was compiled without your specific needs in mind and the list is missing many attractive locations in the nation's interior.

Because of that, some or all of these towns may not be for you.

Experts suggest buying vacation homes located within a comfortable travel time or distance. Ideally it's best to limit yourself to a few hours traveling time -- either by car or plane.

Vacation homes too far away become too expensive to reach and may not get enough use to justify the cost of an owner-occupied home. Investors looking to rent vacation homes may find properties too far away troublesome to manage and end up spending as much as half the rent on local management.

Before you buy, rent in the area for a season or travel there often to get a feel for both the task of traveling and the town. While there, check with the locals to see what they like and dislike about the area and don't forget to contact a real estate professional who lives in the area, is familiar with it and can be another set of eyes and ears.

Also check the location for the activities you personally enjoy -- shopping, night life, recreation, culture, and others. The more activities the better for you when you stay there, the better the potential for renting the property at a decent rate, and the better possibility you'll be able to sell it at a profitable price later if your plans including selling.

Finally, be sure to check the area for the type of neighborhood or community you desire. A gated community, a planned development of single-family homes or an resale urban condo, are just a few types you may want to consider.

To get you started, here are NeighborhoodScout's picks:

2004 Top Towns To Buy A Vacation Home

Atlantic/Gulf Bristol, ME Narragansett, RI Clinton, CT Somers Point, NJ Leonardtown, MD Blufton, SC Englewood, FL Cape Coral, FL Daphne, AL Ocean Springs, MS

Rockies Phillipsburg, MT McLeod, MT Craigmont, ID Wallace, ID Ten Sleep, WY Saratoga, WY Hanksville, UT Woodland Park, CO Bailey, CO Pena Blanca, NM

Pacific Juneau, AK Oak Harbor, WA Gold Beach, OR Ferndale, CA Gualala, CA Los Osos, CA Aliso Viejo, CA Cambria, CA Kaunakakai, HI Captain Cook, HI

Published: July 28, 2004

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a 30-year career in old-school journalism into a digital-age news service offering editorial content and related consulting services. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based content provider specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and consulting. An open house for news that really hits home, the DeadlineNews Group includes the umbrella website DeadlineNews.com the flagship blog Deadline Newsroom, and three Examiner.com outposts -- Real Estate News Examiner; Consumer News Examiner; and Offbeat News Examiner. Along with a decade of work here with Realty Times, Perkins also provides content for Silicon Valley based ERate.com and the new AOLNews.com, where now "You've got news....that really hits home." His current work can also be found in Californian publications, the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco's The Registry and the Salinas Californian. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News, before launching DeadlineNews Group. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Nolo.com among more than four dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins served as chief editorial consultant for "Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home."