The buyers: Nick Matteo, an accountant, and Sandy Matteo, a nurse, both 63.

The house: A 2,282-square-foot split-level coastal colonial with 3 bedrooms and 2½ baths built in 1993.

The price: Listed for $699,000; purchased for $650,000.

The agent: Maria Sacco Handle, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach-Margate

The ask: The Matteos were ready to sell the home in Willow Grove where they raised their family to fulfill the dream of moving year-round to the Shore. They wanted a place that their children and grandchildren would want to visit and that would combine their love of the Shore during the summer with enough year-round community appeal.

“By the time I was 58, I was trying to convince my wife to move down there full time in Wildwood,” Nick said. “That took a lot of convincing.”

The search: The Matteos shared two condos with another family in Wildwood and initially focused on the Wildwoods in their search. But people kept talking to Sandy about the charms of Brigantine.

“People were telling us that you’ll get much better value than you would in Wildwood,” Sandy said.

They were very close to making an offer on a house in Wildwood, when Sandy decided they should drive back up the Garden State Parkway, down the Atlantic City Expressway, and over the bridge to Brigantine.

“We looked at 10 houses in two days in Wildwood,” Nick said. “We found one we thought we liked, looked at it the second time, and put a bid in for $130,000 less than the asking price of $880,000. The offer never made it to the seller.”

In Brigantine, they fell immediately in love with a split-level house facing the golf course with a for sale sign out front.

“It was 5:30 p.m., and I looked on my phone and saw a couple places, and we drove by here,” Sandy said. “I said, ‘This is the one.’ ”

They called the listing agent from out front of the home, and she offered to show it to them the next day. “I said, ‘No, we’re about to buy a house. Can you show it to us, you know, any chance tonight?” Sandy recalled.

“She said, I’ll be there in 15 minutes.’”

The appeal: Although the house needed some upgrades, it immediately spoke to them, combining the Shore location, across from Brigantine’s golf course, with the sturdy bones of a year-round house. “We went from one split-level to another,” said Nick.

“We came in and I saw the staircase, and the fact that it was all split-level, I just love that,” Sandy said.

The deal: The house was listed for $699,999, and they offered $600,000. The seller came back at $650,000, which they accepted. The seller, whose sisters had lived in the house, later offered a $1,000 credit for the non-working oven.

The money: Nick says that once he was able to sell the shared condos in Wildwood, one for $450,000 and the other for $569,000, the couple cleared enough money to start their search. They started with a budget of $800,000.

Selling their family home in Willow Grove, which they’d bought in 1992 for $152,000, meant they would be able to pay off the mortgage soon after closing. But to get there, they first put 20% down, and the rest in a 6.25% mortgage. Once the money from the Willow Grove sale comes in (sale price was $640,000), Nick says they will pay off the Brigantine mortgage.

“Brigantine was economical for us,” Nick said. “It will allow us to maybe buy other things, like a pontoon boat.”

The move: They closed on the Brigantine house May 29 but didn’t make the full-time move until July 16, after their Willow Grove house sold. Sandy went down first with the movers.

Life after close: The first week after they moved in, the drains backed up with seaweed and other unappealing things, requiring an urgent visit from the plumbers from Zoom Drain. The oven needs replacing, and the Matteos are awaiting the installation of a new deck, a hot tub, and new shrubbery out back. They’d like to freshen the facade and get to some other upgrades, like central air, but have discovered the near impossibility of getting contractors down the Shore in summer.

Despite those challenges, the family is ecstatic. Their son, daughter-in-law, and 6-month-old grandson claimed a sunny upstairs room with a bay window, and everyone is raving about the view of the golf course and community garden across the street.

“My kids are elated,” Nick said. “They want to come down every weekend. My daughter-in-law said, ‘I’m going to bring the baby, and I’m going to set up shop down there.’ That was just the home run.”

They’ve been warned about Brigantine’s notorious buzzing greenheads, but otherwise think they’ve found a warm and active year-round community, with Atlantic City right over the bridge if they need any excitement. The beach is just a few blocks away.

“I love it,” Sandy said. “It’s a true community.”

Did you recently buy a home in the Philadelphia area or South Jersey? Share the story of how you did it. Email Inquirer real estate reporters at properties@inquirer.com.