The Carolina coastal golf community development organization led by John Reed may be going up-country, according to a letter emailed to club members at The Cliffs Communities earlier this week. If negotiations are successful, Reed will manage the lush roster of amenities and own the unsold real estate in the multi-community development. Reed would engage Troon Golf to manage the golf clubs and is pledging to partner with local home builders and focus on constructing houses in the 2,500 to 4,000 square foot range, somewhat smaller than many Cliffs dwellers built before the recession.

        “The ClubCo Board has advised that they are now focused on attempting to reach agreement with Reed Development and its unnamed investment fund partner,” the letter indicated, adding that ClubCo had tabled negotiations with two other suitors.

        Cliffs founder Jim Anthony owes $64 million to club members and millions more on his real estate holdings. ClubCo, which operates the golf courses, and Cliffs Communities Inc., which controls the real estate, would

        “Reed is currently proposing a vesting of old initiation fees over five years, with less than full repayment,” according to the letter, adding that “Noteholders would receive a higher percentage payout and faster vesting than non-Noteholders.”  Although vesting rules were not spelled out in the letter, the implication is that everyone will get back less than promised originally, and those who risked their capital in loaning Anthony the money will get it back at a faster rate than others.

        On its face, the Reed proposal is good news for Cliffs residents and club members. Developers, even the good ones, are often targets for criticism by residents of their communities. But Mr. Reed has managed to

        Noteholders will meet on Wednesday at Furman University in Greenville, SC, to discuss the Reed proposal.  The following day, all members will meet for an update on the fast evolving situation at The Cliffs.  Stay tuned.

        Second-guessing is peculiar to our species.  When a hungry lion sees an appetizing zebra, does he hesitate?  Or regret it months later?

        But ever since that kerfuffle in the Garden of Eden, we homo-sapiens tend to dither over big decisions and, worse, beat ourselves up about them later.  No wonder sleep doctors are so busy.  And no decision seems to invoke mind-numbing anxiety like the selling and buying of real estate.  Was my list price too low?  Did I offer the seller too much?  Do I really like the place that much?  What will mom and dad think?

        I happened upon an article today at Trulia.com that could prove helpful to anyone who buys or sells a home.  Trulia is one of those real estate sites where you can search for homes, find an estimate of real estate values by market or even neighborhood, and occasionally read something thought provoking and useful to your personal real estate situation.

        Tara Nicholle-Nelson, a San Francisco real estate broker, has posted an article entitled “8 Remedies for Real Estate Remorse.”  She makes a strong case that both buyers and sellers feel remorse, and often over the same deal.

        “…the night the contract is signed, the buyer lies awake thinking they could have gotten the place for less,” writes Ms. Nicholle-Nelson, “while the seller does the same exact thing across town, thinking they could have gotten more.  (Both tend to ring up their agents; that’s how I know this is true!)”

        Although I am not sure each of us has the patience to adopt her eight cures, I especially appreciate her first one: “Write out your vision of the life you want to live after you close the deal.”  (I know, it can be read two ways, but she means write it out before you close the deal, not after.)   Those of us who occasionally read golf instruction pages in magazines or books should understand the concept; imagine in your mind’s eye the arc of the ball and its arrival on the putting green, and you will have a better chance of executing the shot properly –- and not regretting the swing.

        Ms. Nicholle-Nelson’s article is available by clicking here. 

        The perfect moment for an investment in a golf community home would be when prices hit absolute bottom nationwide, in every market.  But the housing market does not work that way; housing price movements are local, a consequence of many factors, employment levels chief among them.  When prices hit bottom in one market, they can be still falling or even rising in others.

        Clear Capital, a firm that uses high tech data collection to predict housing market movements, believes that U.S. housing prices will stabilize in 2012, actually rising .2% nationwide, but that individual markets will show marked differences.  According to the Clear Capital data, folks currently living in the Washington, D.C. area, for example, might not want to sell their homes and move until later in the year, since D.C. area prices are forecast to increase 8.3% year over year.  For D.C. area residents contemplating a move to Atlanta, forecasted for the biggest housing price decreases in 2012 (-14.4%), patience could be rewarded especially.

        On the other hand, folks in the Detroit area contemplating a move to Orlando should consider a hasty retreat (if they can sell their home).  Detroit’s housing market will continue to erode, according to Clear Capital, with home prices dropping another 5.6% year over year, while Orlando home prices will jump 11.7%.

        Note: On Thursday, we will release the January edition of our eNewsletter, Home On The Course, which reaffirms the case for home prices hitting bottom in most southern U.S. areas.  We also rate a few of our favorite golf communities for their investment potential.  Sign up today at the top of this page and you will receive a copy of this month’s Home On The Course and all future issues (or if you sign up after we send the newsletter, we will make sure you get a copy).