Bethany Beach and Ocean City were all rented by January this year and that you’re out of luck if you procrastinated. That’s only partly true. What is the case: Since last summer, when families realized they could work and study from anywhere—yet couldn’t escape, say, to Europe—the beach rental market has thrived. “We’ve never had rentals like this,” says the owner of a seven-bedroom house one block from the beach in the Outer Banks. “We had November rentals, December rentals, lots of January rentals, February rentals.” While houses within walking distance to the beach may be leased, Sharon Palmer-Stauffer of RE/MAX Realty Group Rehoboth says rentals are still to be had, especially in big, new communities that have sprouted in recent years on the outskirts of