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If you have visited the two communities or currently live in one, I'd love to hear your observations.
I has visited both communities, and I prefer the visual appearance of Waterford. BF seem a little stark and lacking in trees. However, I believe that BF has better amenities, including an indoor pool.
You might also consider a new home in Compass Pointe or a resale in Magnolia Greens.
We just returned from our first visit to the area, and love it. Our thoughts -
Compass Pointe - Newest and more costly, we are not golfers so the new course doesn't interest us. Lower HOA fees because most amenities are not built yet. Expect them to go up once they are. Not a fan of gated communities.
Waterford - Best looking, we like the planned landscaping and canals. Best bet if you want a resale, houses all have a brick theme which we also like. Best pool IMO, gym and meeting rooms fine for our needs. Lower HOA doesn't include mowing, but that's easy enough to contract.
Brunswick Forest - Most amenities, and we liked the layout. Waterford has more landscaping between houses even better if you border a canal. BF houses are closer like in a regular community, but has plenty of natural areas separating each section.
Didn't bother looking at Magnolia Greens. We have friends in Carolina Shores near Calabash that like it and is cheaper, but we wanted to be near Wilmington.
We are still deciding since I'm almost a year from retiring, and can see ourselves happy in either Waterford or BF.
Thanks; this is great information. We were there yesterday (sept. 25) and drove through BF and Waterford for the third weekend visit. We want to make a decision soon; leaning toward Waterford because of possibility of a canal or water view and good prices. Hoping to stay under 370K. Anyone have information about clubs, fitness classes in Waterford? I know that BF may offer more. We also hope to meet people in our age group(55-65). I appreciate the great comments from all of you.
We just returned from our first visit to the area, and love it. Our thoughts -
Compass Pointe - Newest and more costly, we are not golfers so the new course doesn't interest us. Lower HOA fees because most amenities are not built yet. Expect them to go up once they are. Not a fan of gated communities.
Waterford - Best looking, we like the planned landscaping and canals. Best bet if you want a resale, houses all have a brick theme which we also like. Best pool IMO, gym and meeting rooms fine for our needs. Lower HOA doesn't include mowing, but that's easy enough to contract.
Brunswick Forest - Most amenities, and we liked the layout. Waterford has more landscaping between houses even better if you border a canal. BF houses are closer like in a regular community, but has plenty of natural areas separating each section.
Didn't bother looking at Magnolia Greens. We have friends in Carolina Shores near Calabash that like it and is cheaper, but we wanted to be near Wilmington.
We are still deciding since I'm almost a year from retiring, and can see ourselves happy in either Waterford or BF.
We are looking at the same areas. I am why you are saying you didn't bother to look at Magnolia Green.I am wondering why. So far we like it the best. I first though you said "don't bother but I see you said didn't bother"
So glad I found this thread as the 3 areas mentioned in Leland area are the ones we are looking at BF,MG and Waterford. We want to be in neighborhood that has amenites but offers social activities so getting to know your neighbors is better
We just returned from our first visit to the area, and love it. Our thoughts -
We are still deciding since I'm almost a year from retiring, and can see ourselves happy in either Waterford or BF.
...almost a year later, and we close on our new home in Park Landing BF in July. Sold our house in NJ and we're counting the days.
Just to clarify my earlier comments, we were not commenting on Magnolia Gardens, just meant we ran out of time. We would be happy in any of these developments, just thought BF had more of what we were looking for.
One note from experience, building a new home, and especially buying land separately has many additional costs that a resale doesn't. On the plus side, NC was the only place where the builder didn't own the development. We really liked having a choice of builders, that had to be approved by BF.
Slade 51 - we would love to hear how you are doing at BF. My husband and I just returned from spending 4 days at Brunswick Forest on a discovery package. We already have a realtor who accompanied us to our tours at both BF and Compass Pointe. He also drove us thru Magnolia and Waterford. As this is our first visit to the area, we understandably have a lot to think about, many questions and planning a return trip. We heard from several people that both Magnolia and Waterford have drainage issues in the streets when it rains hard, which it did the previous weekend. And since we are prob leaning towards a new home, we are looking at BF and CP seriously. Pros and cons to both (we are not golfers at all), but generally we found the people at CP to be friendlier. Esp when we toured their pool area. No one in BF pool area, where we spent some time over 2 days, even spoke to us. Not an big turnoff, but just something we noticed. Loved the closeness to Wilmington of both places. One drawback we thought of at CP was not shopping nearby as in BF. My husband is retired, and I hope to do so in 1-2 years. Any feedback from anyone living in either BF or CP, or if you looked at those places and didn't choose them for a reason, would be extremely appreciated.
We moved into our new home (built by Hagood) in Compass Pointe seven weeks ago from the DC area. We love it. At first it was quite an adjustment not having shopping immediately accessible. But I quickly learned to plan ahead. I use my freezer more. It is not an issue at all for us now. Harris Teeter, CVS, Walmart, the library, banks, hair and nail salons, and our new dentist are 10 minutes away in BF and Waterford or the town of Leland. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, Lowe's Hardware, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Home Goods are 15 or 20 minutes away. Traffic is so much less of a hassle. I would not let shopping influence your decision re Compass Pointe. The people truly are so friendly and helpful. We have made many new friends already. You might consider another discovery weekend based in CP to experience it more fully. We sit on our front porch in the evenings and chat with people walking by, biking or driving by in golf carts. Everyone waves. Many stop to chat. It is such a welcoming and friendly place. We have no regrets at all.
So glad to see ebb these reviews of the places we want to look into very soon. We want the neighborhood to be friendly and social because at our ages 65 and 67 being able to be involved near home will be great . Thanks
Just booked a trip to see the area. Most interested in BF, CP and Waterford. Have been to BF twice to play golf at Cape Fear. An acquaintance lives in BF and we stopped briefly, liked what little I saw of the neighborhood and homes. My wife has not seen the area. I'm semi-retired (will likely fully retire once we find a place to our liking) and my wife works from home. From Long Island, looking for an active community. I like the Willmington riverwalk area restaurants etc. Putting together a list of to-do things for while we're down there. We would not buy yet, this is just to see if we think the area is right for us. Any recommendations for what to do outside of checking the amenities/activities in the communites?
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