Homer Ray

Brices Creek is an area that has seen significant growth in the past several years. This "out in the country" area is not really country anymore. Several nice developments have been implimented in this area south of James City and east of the Trent River.

Some of the neighborhoods are Snug Harbor, Hunter's Ridge, Oakview, Deer Run, Hunter's Ridge, the Homeplace, Rock Creek, Lake Clermont, Pecan Ridge and others are coming.

This area is accessable by Madame Moore's Lane and Brice's Creek Road. Brices Creek Road will carry you to Pollocksville via the "back way" if you need to get to Jacksonville a little quicker than going thru New Bern.

Brice's Creek has been the setting for a popular novel written by New Bern resident, Nickolas Sparks.

Stop by Merchant's Grocery. This is a fine example of the country store concept. They have a little bit of everything from gas to a short order grill. Dwight Merchant has owned and operated Merchant's for about 30 years.

If you'd like to learn more about this area, please get me a call.

I had the pleasure of being the first "open market" real estate broker in New Bern to tour SkySail Condos located on the beautiful Trent River in downtown New Bern, N.C. on Tuesday March 25, 2008.

This is a most impressive building, which has 121 units according to Claudia Outlaw, on-site sales representative. The building has four floors.

The water views are beautiful and many units overlook the Sheraton Grand Marina. Great views of the Neuse River , Neuse River Bridge and Bridge Pointe Harbour are also possible.

Of the 121 units, contracts have been accepted on 99. There are still 22 units for sale. They range from approx. 800 square feet to around 1800 square feet. Prices range from just under $250,000K to over $778,000K for the remaining units, according to the latest price sheet I received during the tour.

Parking spaces will be based on the number of bedrooms each unit has. The project is approx. 75% complete and the developers are aiming for a mid-June occupancy date.

One unit I visited had it's own balcony, which was about 500 square feet, overlooking the pool area and the marina. This is simply going to be a beautiful property. Downtown/ waterfront location, location, location.

If you'd like to know more about SkySail, please give me a call.

Last week I had the pleasure of showing homes listed for sale in the downtown historic district of New Bern. It was picture perfect weather, a"bluebird" kind of day!

The first stop was the John Horner Hill House located on Pollock Street, not far from Tryon Palace. This home was built somewhere between 1770-1780. It is an example of Georgian architecture.

Another house visited was the Richardson House, built around 1920. It was a wedding present to Robert A. Richardson's daughter from her father and mother.

We also visited Stanley Hall, which was built somewhere around 1874. The second story was our point of interest, as it has been demo'ed and approved for conversion to condo's.

Stanley Hall has been a dance hall, court room and gymnasium at various times. This place is cavernous on the inside. This L-shaped structure faces Pollock Street and Craven Street.

The highlight of the day was the Dr. Edward F. Smallwood House. This home exhibits Federal period architecture on the exterior and Federal/Greek Revival influences on the interior. It has a side hall floor plan of the Federal period similar to the Issac Taylor house but then the Greek Revival influences are noted. Marble fireplaces, plaster cornices, wainscotings and plaster ceiling medallions are still there. In the gable ends you can see Palladian windows. She is a proud lady, but is in need of a lot of work.

I went back after the tour and tried to imagine what the owners through the years had witnessed and lived through, from the Civil War to recent occupants.

If you are interested in acquiring historic properties in New Bern, please contact me and we'll walk through history together on a sunny, afternoon.

We have started hearing more information about a new development being planned for Bridgeton, N.C. The development, known as Bridgeton Harbor, is in the works for the small town across the Neuse River from New Bern, N.C.

The developer, Jupiter USA, headquartered in Florida, has been discussing their plans in the local media for a large proposed new development. Perhaps as much as 1000 acres have been acquired to be the site of a marina, yacht club and various retail/commercial ventures . In addition perhaps as many as 800+ new residential dwelling will exist on the property when the development is finished.

Bridgeton has developed slowly in the past years relative to the brisk growth in New Bern primarily because if the old drawbridge. It was replaced in 1999. The new structure, the Neuse River Bridge was the most expensive bridge replacement project in North Carolina when it opened on September 17, 1999. This made the trip to Bridgeton/New Bern via US 17 and NC 55 much easier and only a matter of minutes. It spans the River channel allowing boat traffic to pass underneath at all times.

Several news stores came after that and improvement to NC 55 into Pamlico County has helped growth as well.

According to what we're hearing we can expect big changes in our neighbor across the River in the next few years.

If you want to know more about real estate opportunities in Bridgeton or Craven County, please contact me.

Citizens of Jones County have another reason to make a move and buy know.

As of March 05, 2008 the new limits for a single family residence in Jones County, N.C. has been increased to $271,050.00 . The former maximum was $200,160.00. This is over a 35% increase from older caps and should make many more homes available for FHA mortgages.

Jones County has three major towns with the county seat located in Trenton. The other towns are Pollocksville and Maysville.

Jones County, while mostly rural will experience growth in the coming years. U.S. Highway 17 is still mainly two- laned in Jones County while 4 lane work has already occurred in Onslow County south towards Jacksonville and north in Craven County towards New Bern. Change is coming.

It's a great time to invest in Jones County. Call me for more reasons, why now.

* Mortgage source information entp.hud.gov