obx real estate Archives - Scott Team Realty, Inc.

OBX Market Report Fall 2023

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Have we found the market?

A friend recently expressed concern about his vacation home rental income. He told me that he had raised all his weekly rates 15% every year since 2020. In those past years, he was fully booked for the next year by November 1. This year he still has a few weeks available and was concerned. Could he have asked more for those 2020 and 2021 weeks and still booked the entire summer? An argument could be made that he had below market rates those two years since they booked up so quick. This year I … 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...

Vacation Rental Homes on the Outer Banks

Not everyone looking to buy a home in the OBX is looking for their forever home. Many are looking for a rental property. When buyers decide to look for a rental property specifically, there are many additional aspects to consider. These aspects are different than a typical home buying process. The OBX vacation rental market is unique. Therefore, it is important for prospective vacation rental owners to understand the market and their options before making the investment. While Airbnb is … 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...