Imagine you are in the market to purchase new appliances. You go to Home Depot and see some that you like. Unfortunately, none of them have prices on them. Of course, you want to know what the prices are, so you pull up the Home Depot website on your phone. Perhaps prices can be found there. No prices are listed there either! This may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but this analogy is similar to what’s going on in the real estate industry right now. Agent Fees Prior to the National … Continue reading...
Buying Outer Banks Real Estate
Buying real estate on the Outer Banks is different than most areas. This category addresses many aspects of coastal North Carolina purchasing.
NAR Settlement Impacts OBX Real Estate
If you follow real estate then you are probably aware of the lawsuit that the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR), settled this spring. Most local Realtors were disappointed with the settlement and the media coverage. In many ways, news articles mislead the public about how we conduct our business and how it would impact the Outer Banks real estate industry. This post is not to explain the details of the settlement. If you are looking for that click here. The purpose of this post is to … Continue reading...
Finding an OBX Rental Gem
When you begin to look at vacation rental homes for sale on the Outer Banks, it often becomes obvious… If the property only generates the same income as it does right now, then you’ll end up having a negative cash flow. Why is that? This article will discuss reasons why and help you in the process of finding an OBX Rental Gem. Flexibility For many vacation rental homeowners, a home here is not about making money. It’s about having flexibility for OBX vacation time. Of course, these owners … Continue reading...
Southern Shores Living
Is Southern Shores, NC a good place to live? Southern Shores has the best of both worlds...great year round living and fabulous vacation living. There’s beach zone living with its smattering of classic flattop cottages and numerous classic vacation homes. A few folks reside here year round but it is mostly vacation homes. The beach zone can be roughly described as that area that is just a short walk to the ocean. And then there is many square miles of great primary residential living. Very … Continue reading...
Dare County GIS
It’s amazing today what you can find on the Internet. Dare County Government is a very good source of Outer Banks property information. The Dare County GIS (Geographical Information System) department has all kinds of good information that both visitors and locals will need at some point. So what is GIS? A large part of GIS is aerial photographs that you can manipulate on-line to see different types of information. Layers of information are placed on top of the aerial photographs of the … Continue reading...
Is the Outer Banks a good investment?
We frequently receive inquires from potential buyers who want to purchase an Outer Banks property that has a positive cash flow. It’s amazing how many people today want to become landlords! In many places of the country, you can purchase a house, possibly make some improvements, and then have a tenant pay the mortgage and expenses. This is a great way to create wealth. So is the Outer Banks a good investment? You can use our vacation rental home calculator to determine if a specific house has … Continue reading...
Outer Banks Co-Ownership Property
Co-ownership homes on the Outer Banks became popular in the 1980’s. A co-ownership home is not a time-share property. Most Outer Banks co-ownership properties (sometimes called fractional ownership), give a buyer one tenth possession of the home. It's possible to purchase more than one tenth and some owners do. The other owners could be your friends and relatives. But in most cases, it is other folks who love the Outer Banks as much as you. Each year you'll have five weeks to use the property … Continue reading...
OBX Buyers’ Closing Process
So you’ve found the OBX home, you’ve entered into an agreement with the seller, the inspections are complete and your loan has been approved. What’s next? This page will help you better understand the OBX buyers' closing process. Utilities Of course, you don’t want your utilities turned off anytime around the closing. Even if the house will be staying vacant for a few days, you don’t want the refrigerator to warm up or for extreme temperatures to affect the house. With a day or two notice, … Continue reading...
Summer 2022 OBX Take Off
Summer 2022 on the OBX is about to take off. Soon the beach will be full of people enjoying the sun, the surf, and the sand. You’ll smell folks grilling as you drive down the beach road. Families and friends will be gathering together to make memories and enjoy each other’s company. As you count down the days till your beach vacation, we will provide you with some tips on what not to forget. First, what not to forget to bring on your trip When packing for a fun-filled trip to the OBX you … Continue reading...
Making an Offer on an OBX Property in 2022
Recently we listed a home for sale in Duck. In just four days we ended up with eleven offers. Just one of them was for the asking price. The rest were higher. During the time we were receiving offers about half the agents told me that their clients had made offers on two, three or four other houses and had not been able to be the accepted offeror. This certainly is an usual market. It’s unknown how long this will last but if you are serious about purchasing an Outer Banks property now then … Continue reading...