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Your editor stumbles upon bargain golf community within short drive of ocean |
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Sunday, 06 April 2008 |
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An attractive home behind the 16th green at North Shore Country Club's course is on the market for $585,000, reasonable given its location on the course and within a mile of the ocean. Annual property taxes are an incredibly low
$1,275 (2006), although insurance rates are double that because of the threat of hurricanes.
For many who love the beach and golf, living within sight of both is an unattainable goal. On one hand, relatively few places on the eastern seaboard provide those two features in one lot; I've seen it at the Ocean Club at Kiawah, Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms and at communities in Florida. But even when you find them, such properties carry price tags only the very rich can afford.
But if you are willing to live within short driving range of a beach, rather than on it, you can combine the two lifesytles. Our family has something like that in our vacation home in Pawleys So what are passionate beach nuts and golf lovers to do if they only have, say, $500,000 or less to spend?
However, that house on DeBordieu's oceanfront has a market value of $5 million. And the limited number of remaining lots on the golf courses at The Reserve and Pawleys Plantation exceed the $300,000 mark, making a total investment in a home beginning around $800,000, after construction costs.
So what are passionate beach nuts and golf lovers to do if they only have, say, $500,000 or less to spend? They could start by looking into the North Shore Country Club community in Sneads Ferry, NC, less than a mile from the ocean. The club sits literally at the foot of the bridge to North Topsail Island, and a few of the course's holes run along the attractive Intra-coastal Waterway. North Shore members enjoy access to a private beach area on the island, although they are welcome to use the many other public beach access points along Topsail's main road.
Although no one can testify truthfully that Sneads Ferry offers abundant conveniences, still it is only 40 minutes or so to Wilmington International Airport, a modern, pleasant facility that is large enough to handle fair-sized jets but small enough to have its rental cars parked just outside the terminal. (No need to take an annoying, time-consuming shuttle bus.) Sneads Ferry does not have a Wal-Mart or any other store of consequence, save for a recently built CVS pharmacy. The town's rural nature will be part of its charm for some - remote, with a classic beach atmosphere.
Charming also are the property taxes, which are levied by the county, not the town of Sneads Ferry, and run less than $2,000 annually for virtually all homes. In our post-Katrina world, annual insurance rates are double annual tax rates near the ocean.
More upscale shopping and fine dining will require the 40-minute drive to Wilmington. But Sneads Ferry and the nearby oceanfront Surf City do offer good seafood places with simply prepared dishes at reasonable prices. I had a large, fresh, well-prepared combo shellfish dinner ($17.00) at the local Green Turtle restaurant, just five minutes from North Shore and with nice views out toward the ocean and a solicitous owner who visits every table to ensure his customers are happy. They seemed to be.
The II Beauchaines in Surf City had opened for the season a few days before I visited, and I admired the restaurant's pleasant vibe, friendly servers and views out to the marsh, even if I prefer the grits in my shrimp and grits made with chicken broth and cream rather than water. But the large plate of Cajun-seared Ahi Tuna appetizer, served properly chilled, was a big winner. I watched the NCAA basketball tournament one evening from a bar stool at Rick's Bar and Restaurant in Sneads Ferry, a jam-packed, loud and convivial place with better than average food (the steak was cooked to my liking and tender, if not overly flavorful). The pre-meal salad was terrific, and the prices were modest.
North Shore, which is not gated and has three separate entrances, was developed as a series of distinct neighborhoods within the larger community; one neighborhood has its own homeowner's association, but there is one overriding association for the entire community. The higher-end homes - the vast majority selling for less than $600,000 - feature much brick, an attractive and sturdy barrier against the hurricanes Sneads Ferry endures every decade or so. Other neighborhoods sport home exteriors more indigenous to the low country, such as hardy plank. A few of the older homes in these neighborhoods are available at less than $400,000. There are no multi-family dwellings in North Shore.
Behind the 16th green, a home at the high end of the market and on a nicely landscaped 1/3-acre (see photo at top) is listed for $585,000, golf membership included (a $15,000 value). Annual property taxes in 2006 were just $1,275. As a sign of the times in a post-Katrina world, combined homeowner, wind and hail insurance runs $2,500 per year, but the total tax and insurance burden is the lowest I have encountered this close to the ocean.
Sneads Ferry is about 10 minutes from Highway 17, the main north/south route along the coast. I have established an excellent real estate contact in the area, so if you are headed that way and want to stop for a tour of North Shore and/or a round of golf, let me know. I would be happy to make the connection for you at no cost or obligation whatsoever (other than the modest green and cart fees you will pay). Use the "Contact Us" button at the top of the page.
The beach at North Topsail Island has suffered significant erosion in recent years, but there is still plenty of sand available for North Shore club members, who have access to their own sandy spot. The oceanfront Atlantis Resort is a popular place for weddings, even on a cold March day.
COMING TOMORROW: A REVIEW OF NORTH SHORE'S GOLF COURSE
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The worst run industry in the world |
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Sunday, 06 April 2008 |
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U.S. airlines are always moaning about the cost of fuel. Logic would dictate that they pass those costs along to the flying public, based on how much fuel we use per passenger (that is, how many miles we fly).
But logic has nothing to do with air travel. Today I tried to book airline tickets for four family members from Myrtle Beach to San Francisco this coming August. Myrtle Beach is an expensive airport to fly in and out of, and the costs, at more than $500 per ticket, were well beyond what I intended to spend.
We have had good luck flying out of Charleston airport, about 100 minutes south of Myrtle Beach. I checked prices from Charleston to San Francisco for the same dates in August. The best connections were on US Airways, with all flights requiring a change of planes in Charlotte, NC. The costs seemed reasonable at $362 per ticket. But then I figured that, since there were four of us and any further savings on the cost of the tickets would be compounded, maybe we would drive the 3 1/2 hours to Charlotte and take the non-stop flight to San Fran from there. It had to be cheaper, even after we paid to park the car for a week.
Yeah, right. All non-stop flights from Charlotte, including those we would have connected to from Charleston, were $160 more than the two flights combined (Charleston to Charlotte and Charlotte to San Francisco). In the twisted world of the airline business, more is less -- the more fuel you use, the less you pay.
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The end of personal responsibility? |
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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
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In 1984, my wife and I moved to Connecticut from New York City. We bought a house in a nice neighborhood 12 miles outside of Hartford at a bargain price. Two years later, after some modest cosmetic improvements, we sold the house for a tidy profit and bought a 200-year-old house 15 minutes away. I asked my wife if maybe she thought we should have sued the people who sold us that old house.
Then came the two kids, and after five years, the house, which fronted on a heavily trafficked road, became inappropriate for our family. In the teeth of a housing recession and massive layoffs in manufacturing in the Hartford area, we wound up selling the house at almost a $100,000 loss (improvements included).
Today, looking up from reading an article in the Wall Street Journal, I asked my wife if maybe she thought we should have sued the people who sold us that old house. "They should have warned us we might lose money," I said. She rolled her eyes. But, you see, I was reading in the Journal about Michael Trombley, former major league baseball pitcher who, three years ago, along with friends and family, invested $2.2 million in a condo-hotel project in Clearwater, FL. The condo-hotel concept is based on the owners of the units receiving income when the units are rented to vacationers. You can guess the rest; Trombley et al have lost on paper about 60% of their investment. His carrying costs are $14,000 a month. It is a story that sounds too familiar.
"They were always trying to preach to people that the market is hot," said Mr. Trombley of the developers. "This is a no-brainer. You'd better get in quick." Mr. Trombley, 40 years old, lives in Fort Myers just down the Gulf coast from Clearwater.
Trombley's attorney is suing the developers for securities law violations. The contention is that the developers should have registered the units as securities and, therefore, have supplied a prospectus. Presumably, the prospectus would have indicated that Mr. Trombley could possibly lose money on his investment. (My recollection from 2005 was that many news articles were already talking about an overheated market.) We are supposed to believe that Mr. Trombley and all the other investors who took a flyer on Florida and Vegas condos would have had an aha moment while reading the fine print and then backed away.
If you believe that, I have some oceanfront property in Nevada for you.
The Journal article is here.
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
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The mostly brick homes in the North Shore Country Club are well tended to and reasonably priced. Many lots are available by owners.
To the best of my knowledge, Picasso did not play golf. Let's face it, our popular notion of the artiste is that, well, he spends his time in front of a canvas or over a drawing board, not over a 7-iron shot. At Camp Lejeune last weekend in Jacksonville, NC, however, a group of young golfers from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) competing in the Marine Federal Credit Union Intercollegiate Invitational brushed past most of the field of 30 teams to finish tied for third with mighty Division III Oglethorpe University and behind 2nd place Berry College. The winners, Methodist University, destroyed the field, finishing 30 strokes clear of SCAD. One of the SCAD players, Tom Hayes, mustered the low score of the 80 players on Sunday, a gutsy 72 in 40-degree weather and a 20 mph wind with occasional sideways rain. SCAD also had the best looking golf bags...
The headline of a Wall Street Journal online article yesterday informed us that "Americans Delay Retirement As Housing, Stocks Swoon." You wouldn't know it if you talked with real estate agents in some southern cities. On Wednesday, I asked an agent who covers St. James Plantation and other communities in the Southport, NC, area if I could stop by and talk with him one day in the next two weeks. "You better give me some lead time," he replied. "We're busy." I've heard the same thing from agents in Wilmington, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Savannah and elsewhere. Yes, many baby boomers are deferring their moves south, but the generation is so large - 78 million strong - that even a small percentage can keep real estate offices hopping in key southern towns. And if the market turns around in 2009, the migration north to south, and from Florida to the Carolinas, will pick up steam once again...
If the numbers in my own hometown of Avon, CT, are any indication, some homeowners in the northeast are not exactly hurting. In the last quarter of 2007, home sales in Avon, for example, increased by 9% over the comparable period in 2006. The median price of homes that sold in the town during Q4 '07 increased by a healthy 23%. On the other side of the equation, condo sales sunk by 42% and foreclosures were up a scary 31%, albeit on a fairly low base of 17 homes. That said, if someone were to ring my doorbell and offer me 23% more than my home was worth a year ago, I'll put on a pot of coffee and sit down with Mrs. G. for a serious chat...
I may have found last week the most reasonably priced single-family homes in a golf community within a mile of a nice Atlantic beach. North Shore Country Club, just over the bridge from North Topsail Island, NC, features attractive brick homes close by an enjoyable 18 holes designed by Bob Moore, whose Chapel Ridge layout in Chapel Hill I enjoyed very much when I played it two years ago. You have to work hard to find any home in North Shore more expensive than $600,000, and some are on the market for six figures less. Membership is included in the purchase of most homes and many of the lots that are still available; members have access to the community's private beach out on the island. I was surprised to learn that 40% of the community's properties do not have houses on them; it seemed built out to me, at least from the orientation of the golf course. I'll have more to say about North Shore here this weekend, including some comments about the course.
Thirty teams and more than 140 players competed in the Camp Lejeune Invitational last weekend. The tournament, which was played on the Marine base's two 18-hole layouts, was won by Methodist University.
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