“We see hundreds of golf clubs every month,” the younger Trump told Boykin, “and we would have put tens and tens of millions into The Point.”

        Now members are left to figure out what to do with a golf club that Crescent Resources, the developer, is set to turn over to them next month.  It remains to be seen if members who favored the deal and those who did not can work together to come up with the $3 million required to pay Crescent, or to find a more acceptable new owner.  Stay tuned.

        Donald Trump’s organization is attempting to purchase a lakeside golf community country club north of Charlotte, NC, and as in all public Trump dealings, the script reads, “There will be controversy.”

        According to local news reports and one club member who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Trump organization, with The Donald’s son Eric leading the negotiations, has been interested in The Point Golf Club

        The golf club’s advisory board is coming under fire from some members who say they have been left in the dark on details of the negotiations and that they have proof the board has secretly negotiated a deal with Trump to purchase the club.  That “proof” includes attorneys’ invoices that indicate the deal is done, according to our source, even though a majority of members must approve any sale.  The dissident members fear that a Trump purchase could result in their private club becoming open to the public, that a hotel could follow, that the club will take on a lot of debt and that members will be asked to pony up dramatically increased fees.  Without a clear understanding of Trump’s plans, the dissident members say, they will not know what they are voting for (or against) until shortly before the vote.

        According to an article in Friday’s Charlotte Observer, a statement from the advisory board indicates, "There will be plenty of time and opportunities for the members to learn about and debate these options."

        One of my current customers will be relocating to a Charlotte-area golf community in the next few months.  The Point fits most of his and his wife's criteria except one -- predictable golf fees.  "Trump would surely turn The Point into a world-class facility," my customer wrote me after I gave him a heads up about The Point, "but I would bet everything I own he would substantially increase the cost to existing members and make it available to the public, at least semi-private."

        The Point's members are considering exactly the same thing.       

        The plot at Dominion Club in Richmond, VA, thickens.  A bankruptcy judge has given the go ahead to the golf club’s owners to reorganize and pay off member initiation deposits with pennies on the dollar.  Needless to say, some members are not happy.  Read all about it in our free November/December issue of Home On The Course (to subscribe, see above).

        We also report on new ownership at the high-end mountain aerie of Balsam Mountain Preserve in Waynesville, NC.  It is a story of financial rescue in which the lender foreclosed on the property and then decided to run it itself.  Now an experienced operator of golf communities and golf clubs has taken over and is hoping to attract more people to the high life.

        Since its prices for homes start in the $200s, Brunswick Forest outside Wilmington, NC, does not fit the description of “high-end” but its success in a lousy market is the stuff other golf communities dream of.  It is reportedly the fastest selling development on the east coast, and some of that success is alimentary:  The golf community has determined that for some prospects, the shortest path to a down payment is through the stomach.  Learn how Brunswick Forest has perfected the Art of the Meal in its selling process.

        Finally, we can’t let a good thing go and, therefore, once again, we make the case for those of you with homes on the market to consider lowering your prices.  It seems to us that in just the last couple of years, the delta between costs of living north and south has widened.  In other words, a lower selling price could be made up in a few years of relocating to a lower cost area.  I go back to my New Jersey hometown to compare the cost of living there with more than a dozen prime golf community areas of the south.  For their sake, I hope my old friends and neighbors are reading.

        The November/December issue will be distributed sometime tomorrow.  Sign up today so you don’t miss it.  (Pssst, if you sign up late, I will personally send you a copy.)