We've been coming to Topsail every summer for about 15 years, so we've seen a lot of different places for comparison.
This spot is overall a really great house! Here's my breakdown...
1) House is a good size. Kitchen is well stocked. Beds and entertainment are good. A prior visitor left their Peacock subscription logged in, so we got to watch Jaws :-)
2) Beach supplies at the house are great! Umbrellas were provided, and a couple of carts helped us get our things to/from the beach. A short walk of maybe 3-4 minutes, nothing major.
3) Good view of both the ocean and the sound.
4) This is the northernmost tip of the island, right by the New River inlet. There's signs at the beach warning about swimming during high tide and the currents, and you should follow that advice. Low tide is totally fine, and actually really cool as there's wading pools and huuuuge sandbars that let you walk 50 meters out and still be knee-deep.
5) During high tide you can't walk very far down the beach. This area was hit hard by the last hurricanes, so there's a big beach protection zone of enormous sandbags. At high tide the water comes right up to those, and some unfortunate houses now right on the waters edge, and you can't really get past it. Not a huge deal as high tide is like "beach siesta" anyway, so you just find other stuff to do.
Overall I'd put this one in the top 80% of places we've stayed for the great combo of price vs location vs beach access and layout.
Thanks to Mike!