Corolla, NC

The answer is almost always no. I would say that 90% of the time there is plenty of room to drive on the beach at high tide. There is certainly less room than at low tide. Low tide gives you enough beach for about 10 lanes of traffic where high tide gives you enough beach for about 4 lanes, and the sand is going to be looser. I usually don't worry about the tide when driving. The exeption is if I am going to be towing something behind me like a U-Haul trailer or during the other 10% of the time. The other 10% of the time the tide can come as high as the dune line depending a little on the moon and air pressure and a lot on the wind. When there is a Nor'Easter coming in that's when it is best to time your trips more carefully.

It sems to me that there is an abundance of pictures of the ocean and the shoreline but few of the other side of the beach. Maybe it's because at most beaches when you turn around and put your back to the water, all you see are houses and hotels. Not up my way. Althought there are certainly some ocean front houses, there are NO HOTELS and there are some beautiful stretches of beach where all you see when you look West is Nature's Beauty. Here are some pics that I just had to stop and take on my way home the other day.

The Corolla real estate market continues on it's downward slide. Although the number of sales has leveled off the prices are still falling.

It doesn't help when the lenders label an area as "declining" and make it harder to get a loan there than it does for borrowers just on the other side of the county line. And now the banks are dumping their foreclosures at stupidly low prices which just hurts the market even more.

If you are in the market for an Outer Banks foreclosure you can steal a property but be sure you have done your homework and are ready to move quickly because they are selling fast.

There are still plenty deals available but who knows how much longer before the high prices become the norm again. The statistics below are from the Outer Banks Association of REALTORS.

Corolla Real Estate Sold Statistics (Ocean Side)

• 2008 saw 69 residential units sell with a median price of $700,000 and an average price of $874,414
• 2007 saw 67 residential units sell with a median price of $695,000 and an average price of $966,007
• 2006 saw 89 residential properties sell for a median price of $775,000 and an average price of $1,035,958
• 2005 saw 229 residential properties sell for a median price of $829,900 and an average price of $1,004,987
• 2004 saw 276 residential properties sell for a median price of $732,000 and an average price of $875,081
• 2003 saw 240 residential properties sell for a median price of $604,375 and an average price of $760,844

Corolla Real Estate Sold Statistics (Westside)

• 2008 saw 37 residential units sell with a median price of $522,000 and an average price of $564,268
• 2007 saw 39 residential units sell with a median price of $565,000 and an average price of $657,471
• 2006 saw 31 residential properties sell for a median price of $640,000 and an average price of $638,873
• 2005 saw 71 residential properties sell for a median price of $653,000 and an average price of $712,294
• 2004 saw 114 residential properties sell for a median price of $513,750 and an average price of $558,133
• 2003 saw 97 residential properties sell for a median price of $375,000 and an average price of $403,182

Helping people buy and sell Outer Banks Real Estate.

First let me give the story behind this question.

I had this asked of me one time while trying to help some vacationeers find their way back to ther rental house during a Nor'easter. They had been following me for about a mile when I lost them going over a dune. I didn't want to drive back for fear that we would collide at the top so I had to get out and run. When I got to the other side I saw that they were trying to make it up, but would keep on bogging down about halfway. When they saw me, the driver rollded down her window and said "I can't get enough momentum". I looked at her tires and asked if she had droped their pressure. She said yes. I asked "what did you drop them down to?" and she repied "Thirty". I told her back it down to the bottom of the dune and let's drop them to fifteen. And during the depressurizing, I was asked the question.

As it turns out there is some truth to that possibility. This is an exerpt that I found on a couple of web sites.

"While it's common to lower tire pressure if you're going offroad, if you have 1/2" in the description of your wheel (i.e. 16.5x8 -- found on many newer SUVs), DO NOT reduce your tire pressure when offroad! The bead found on the 1/2" variety wheels is not deep enough to keep the tire on during 4-wheeling excursions if the pressure is lowered."

After having found this informantion I checked around on one of the 4X4 forums that I subscribe to. they all agreed that although this is possible. It would happen unless the pressure were dropped to single digits and running at 15lbs on the sand is safe but recomended.

I get this question asked from time to time and the answer is yes....well mostly.

We will not get delivery from UPS, DHL, or FedEx; but we do get mail brought up the beach from the good old USPS! The mail does get delivered up here but not to our houses. anyone wanting their mail delivered into Carova can get get a mail box assigned to them across the street from the fire station in Carova Beach. For some residents that pretty convenient, for others living in Swan Beach or North Swan Beach, it is as much as 6 miles in the wrong direction. Consequently many of these residents choose to rent a P.O. Box at the closest post office which is located in Corolla.

The Corolla Post Office is located about 1 mile south of the end of the paved road. like most post offices it is accessible 24/7, but catching someone at the window is a little more of a challenge. their hours are M-F 9:00-12:30 1:00-4:00 & Sa 10:00-12:00. Yes the post office window actually closes down from 12:30-1:00 for lunch so keep that in mind when you have to make a special stop.

Another interesting thing about the Corolla Post Office is that the number of out going runs each day changes depending on the time of year. From Memorial Day to Labor Day they have mail going out at 11:00 & 3:00. During the rest of the year, they only have the 3:00 run.

To some people this can be seen as a major inconvenience. There have been times that I needed to get something out that day only to find that I missed the pick up at the mail box and found myself driving 50 minutes round trip and going through almost a 1/4 tank of gas to make sure that it went out on time. but that is the exception, and usually I enjoy the "small town" & "good old days" feel that this post office as well as the rest of the town has.