After finishing school in 1989, I immediately started my real estate career on the Outer Banks. The other Realtors who had been working in this market for a while kept saying "You should have been here last year." Evidently, I had just missed the peak of that previous real estate cycle. New agents who enter the market today are likley to hear simliar comments. After close to three years of very busy real estate activity, the Outer Banks Real Estate Market is showing some signs of cooling … Continue reading...
OBX Market Info Spring 2023
Are home prices dropping on the Outer Banks? Opinions vary on this and it’s difficult to quantify. However, it’s clear that the number of real estate transactions has gone down significantly compared to the same period of 2022. Just because the number of sales is down does not mean values have gone down. On the other hand, fewer transactions often help cause lower values. This post will outline some recent statistics and OBX Market Info for the spring of 2023. Supply The indicator that … Continue reading...
Move to the Outer Banks?
As the great debate rages, “Should we move to the Outer Banks?” the answer is an unequivocal “maybe.” Of course there are two camps of thought. Some say absolutely not; not wishing to share what they have found. Others who welcome anyone who wants to live here. The truth is, living on the Outer Banks is somewhere in between. It’s a difficult thing to explain the pros and cons of living somewhere. It is, after all, a very broad topic and by its very nature somewhat subjective. However, by … 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...
Buying Coastal OBX Property
Days like today remind me that buying a home on the beach is different than buying inland. Hurricane Nicole is off the coast of Florida. When you have that low pressure to the south and the high pressure to our north, the winds along the Outer Banks get extremely gusty. Our marine forecast within 20 miles of the beach is calling for eight to ten foot seas. We might also have gale force north east winds. Buying coastal OBX property is unique for many reasons. This post identifies some of those … 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...
Affordable OBX Ocean Front
Frequently in the summer we’ll get calls on the little affordable OBX ocean front homes for sale. Many of these smaller ocean front homes located in Kitty Hawk, northern Kill Devil Hills and South Nags Head appear to be priced to sell quickly. Good weather makes the beaches in front of these houses very inviting this time of year. Similar to most investments the pricing of these homes follow the risk versus reward theory. In short, the more risk involved the more reward possible. This post is a … Continue reading...
Best OBX Buying Information
It’s hard to make a smart OBX real estate purchase without the best OBX buying information. It's surprising how much information my clients find from an Internet research. Buyers finding owners on Facebook is a pretty common occurrence. Some of that type of information is not very helpful in making purchasing or selling decisions. Other information can make a big difference. For example, it is helpful to see actual vacation rental income. Depending upon the time of year you might be able to get … Continue reading...