Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you took a place near Wilmington, say Kure Beach, Carolina Beach or Wrightsville, you could send your kids to the summer programs that UNCW run every summer. There are also children's programs through the state aquarium at Ft. Fisher. The Cameron Art Museum also does children's programs. Depends on your kids' interest and ages.
The beaches at KB and CB are free, clean, and get less crowded the farther down the island you go.
It is not impossible to find a condo, townhome or even the occasional single family home for under $200K in KB or CB, depending on your needs. Wrightsville tends to be very expensive...it's closer to town and the amenities of Mayfaire, etc. and has a 'ritzy' reputation.
As well, you don't know anyone that has a place in Wilmington but live in Charlotte or Raleigh? There are tons of those that aren't right on the beach. And they don't rent them out.
No, actually, I don't. I know folks who live in Wilmington year round and I know folks who have a house at Bald Head, several people who have houses at Sunset, Ocean Isle, Ocracoke, Emerald Isle, Topsail, Oak Island, etc. I'm sure people do have places in the towns, but for whatever reason I just don't know any of them and have actually never heard anyone talk about that before. I think it is more common to have a second home actually at the beach, but whatever floats the OP's boat.
I would prefer the home on the beach myself and don't think my kids would want to leave their home for a couple of months to go live in another city. If they got to live on the beach they might be up for it, but that's just my kids. They like to hang out with their friends a lot, so it would have to be something extra special for them to be happy going elsewhere.
Pine Valley Country Club has a non resident golf rate for folks that come to Wilmington all the time...they have found that there are a number of folks that own houses or condo's in the Wilmington area that come so frequently they want to be able to play no hassle golf when they are in town. Certainly the 2nd home market has been hit in the past 5 years or so and the housing prices going up in the last decade allowed lots of folks to make good money on those second homes, but many of the affordable established neighborhoods (LL Hills, PV, LF) still have folks with second homes in these areas.
Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll check out the Oak Island rec center, and KB, CB areas.
Unfortunately, we can't afford a home on the beach and don't want to do fractional ownership which I've seen listed. So, we would have to settle for a small home 5-10 mins drive to the beach.
We used to have a condo-hotel unit in Florida but in all the 5 years we owned it, we only used it once since we had to fly out to use it. So, we want a place we can reasonably drive to.
Cost wise and having children, I'd go with the beaches and coastal towns in Bogue Banks area, and elsewhere in Carteret County like Morehead City or Beaufort. The areas in your price range around Wilmington will likely either be too expensive or conversely, too rural. Atlantic Beach, which HP91 suggested, is in that area.
There are lots, in fact the vast majority, of homes on Oak Island that are not beach front.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
