Corolla, NC

To follow up on the previous post about the prices in Duck & Corolla I wanted to show 2 recent closed transactions.

Here is an example of the great deals buyers are getting now on the Outer Banks in Duck & Corolla!!

Located in Duck 1 Lot Oceanfront

MLS#55721

5 Bedroom 4 ½ Baths

2000sq ft Built 1995

Pool & Hot Tub

Fully Furnished

$42,000 Rental Income

Originally listed on 10/05 for $1,100,000

Sold 6/12/08 for $726,500- $373,500 off original list price!!!

Tax assessment on this house was $933,700!!!!!

Located in Corolla

6 Bedroom 5 ½ Bath

3326 Sq Ft

Built 2005

Almost $50,000 in gross yearly rental income

Fully Furnished

Originally Listed $925,000 in 8/05

Sold 6/10/08 $605,000-That's $320,000 off the original list price!!!

There are deals like these all over the Outer Banks in all price ranges!!!

Contact me for more information

Corolla Light: A Resort Village

Corolla Light Resort has 400 homes, some on or near the ocean and some on the sound, on 250 acres in Corolla, North Carolina. It's the only resort on the Outer Banks offering activities for your whole family, including an indoor Sports Center, outdoor and indoor pools, tennis, restaurants, and access to the beach.

Nearby local attractions include the famous Currituck Beach Lighthouse, The Whalehead Club, and Currituck Club Golf Course.

Our ResortQuest office is conveniently located at 1023 Ocean Trail, across the street from the Sports Center. We have many lovely vacation rental homes located in Corolla Light. Visit our website or call our reservations department, 800-688-2813, and start planning your Corolla Light vacation today!

I just commented on a fellow poster who is a Home Inspector and I thought I'd expound a little--I LOVE Home Inspectors!

I hear other real estate agents saying how they hate Inspectors but I know there must be fellow real estate agents out there who like them too, right?

When representing buyers, I want the buyer to hire the pickiest Inspector he can get--he's paying for it. Even on new construction, we always recommend an objective report by a licensed Home Inspector to uncover any hidden structural or mechanical defects, which, in our market, are items that if the buyer requests be repaired, the seller must either comply or remediate in monetary form, or the buyer may terminate with release/return of his earnest deposit.

This does not apply to code issues or cosmetic issues.

The seller always has this choice and he knows up front he is not required to do anything, but doing nothing might kill the deal AND subsequently anything discovered then becomes a material fact.

So when representing sellers, I tell them FIX THE IMPORTANT STUFF to sell the property to his under-contract buyer who has money on the table to close, who actually wants to buy the property at the price you both agreed upon (getting rare these days, huh?)...or risk paying one way or the other later.

Better yet, sellers would do well themselves to hire a licensed Home Inspector prior to listing and marketing the property to discover these sames issues early, fix them ahead of time, be proud of the fact and not be surprised later.

It is well worth the several hundred dollars it costs to have a licesned professional check out the property either way--before or during the sale.

See--Home Inspectors ARE our friends!

Outer Banks area Home Inspectors

I just commented on another post and ended with the above quote, a favorite old restaurant saying that I learned as a stressed young hostess juggling waiting lists of angry, hungry would-be diners waiting (too long) for their tables.

I can't cite my source because it was 20 years ago and I can't remember who I first heard say it, but it certainly helps make a point.

The quote's genius is that it rings true for many business ventures--better to lose someone's business very early on in the relationship because they don't like what you have to say, rather than later after you have already done a lot of unappreciated work for them with no reward.

I'll bet lots of agents around the nation have done unappreciated and unrewarded listing work, and blamed themselves for not finding buyers for their sellers. AND many sellers who have blamed their Realtors for the same, when both together never put a proper price on the property.

FAIR MARKET VALUE IS DICTATED BY BUYERS, PERIOD. It's what a buyer will pay and what a lender will lend, and it fluctuates. Deal with it constructively:

This article continues at Outer Banks Community Forum

Our market centers on a tiny strip of sand bordering the Atlantic Ocean called the Outer Banks of North Carolina. You could say we are part of "hurricane central" which can mean occasional flooding.

Here, as you can imagine, we live by the FEMA special flood hazard zones.

The flood insurance coverage we carry (or not) is dictated by lenders of federally-backed or federally-insured loans and the lenders are the entities who dictate what kind of insurance we must carry and can obtain.

One of the most popular destinations for vacationers and thusly investment/rental property buyers here is the area of Corolla in the northern Outer Banks. Corolla lies in Currituck County, which after about 20 years adopted FEMA's new flood maps in December of 2005.

You would be shocked at how many owners never knew about these flood zone changes and subsequently, we are now finding out just how many owners currently for sale have no clue what their current flood zones are. Admittedly, these are largely absentee owners...but that is no excuse for not being on top of something as important as flood zones.

To view the rest of the article go to Outer Banks Community Forum.