Moving to Leland-How is the town? (Wilmington, Magnolia: estate, house, rent)

[Kvela]

Thank you so much for the reply. My husband will be working at the Naval Operational Support Center by Legion Sports Complex. We were looking in to Ogden area as well. I dont know if you have any information on that area. I show that in one of the previous post that Monkey Junction was a good area??? What areas of town should we avoid? That will help us out on looking for a place to live. Thank you for the help we greatly appreciate it.

[NCSC]

Ogden is on the north side, right outside of Wilmington city limits. It has lots of nice neighborhoods, but there are really only two routes into Wilmington from there -- Military Cutoff and Market -- and both can be real headaches, traffic wise (see other posts).
If your husband is working in the Legion Stadium area, Monkey Junction would be much more convenient. I'm not too familiar with it, but do know there is lots of developement everywhere in Wilmington, including MJ area.
I would recommend looking in 28409, 28412 and 28403 areas. The area most people would tell you to avoid is from 5th to 17th in downtown, which is in 28401. Other than that, it's really specific to the neighborhood, but I don't really know any to avoid. I do know that one of the best elementary schools is Parsley, which is in 28409 area.
Hope this is helpful.

[pebbless316]

Does anyone think about working in Brunswick County? If you would just make sure you have a job over on that side, then no one would be jamming up traffic going over the bridge! I hate the traffic, if you don't get to the bridge before a certain time in the morning, you are backed up for 30 minutes or so, and GOD forbid there is an accident!

[sheena]

Originally Posted by pebbless316

Does anyone think about working in Brunswick County? If you would just make sure you have a job over on that side, then no one would be jamming up traffic going over the bridge! I hate the traffic, if you don't get to the bridge before a certain time in the morning, you are backed up for 30 minutes or so, and GOD forbid there is an accident!

I work in Brunswick county and I work with many that live in the Wilmington area.

[MaureenP]

Hi, We just purchased (2 months ago) a garden home in Brunswick Forest and can't wait to move down. We currently live in CT and originally lived in NY. We originally bought a new home in Wilmington but have since sold because those expenses were getting a lot higher than we wanted and the house a lot bigger than we needed. Anyone who knows the NY/NJ/CT areas knows between taxes, utilities, insurance and home prices it's an expense area in which to live. Brunswick utilities might seem a bit on the high side but believe me they're not compared to other areas. Our electrical bills have increase by 70% in CT with both United Illuminating and CT Light & Power each phasing in the increases half in July and the next half in Dec. We pay close to $200 a mo just for elec. for a 1 BR apt and try not to use AC or heat unless absolutely necessary. Apt rentals around us are from $1,500-$2,100 for 1BR so it's all relative. Brunswick Forest just has everything we're looking for - walking trails, pools, gym, garden club, river club, eventually shopping in front of complex - and at half what we had to pay before we sold our house in CT. In my estimation there aren't too many places left that are really inexpensive-unfortunately it's just the way the economy is going. Good luck with your decision.

[MJinNC]

MaureenP, we also bought a garden home and are waiting to move in april. we have lived in southport for the past 12 years. Which lot # did you buy?

[dean minnich]

We have bought in Parkview - close to the garden homes. We hope to build in the spring-

Have you moved in? How do you like it
sallie/dean

[southernlady5464]

There are two roads into Wilmington presently from Leland and they both have draw bridges.

There IS a bypass further up without a drawbridge. It's 140. My husband uses it every morning to get from Leland to Castle Hayne. However, he still has to get TO the exit to get there and that means getting into that mess.

Last week, we spent an hour going 5 miles (from just in front of Waterford) to the bridge itself where the traffic eased up. Apparently there had been an accident just before the bridge and caused it to slow down.

You do have to plan ahead going into town. But at the rate Leland/Belville is growing, it won't be long before we won't need to go across the bridge for much any more unless you really WANT to go.

We live in a subdivision in Belville right next to Leland. We are off 133 between it and Hwy 17 where all the newer subdivisions have gone in at Magnolia Greens, Waterford, and Brunswick Forest. We are NOT in an HOA, thank goodness.

Our property tax bill for our house is less than $650.00. Our typical water bill is $35.00. Trash pickup is included in our property taxes. Electric bill is @ $150-160.00 a month. We have a house that's about 1500 sq ft. Liz

[NCretire]

Originally Posted by FranM

Thanks for the info....I feel better about the move to Leland. As far as the draw bridges....isn't there the new bypass that you can use to get into Wilmington...that isn't a draw bridge is it? As far as the crime rate...what are we talking about...murders, burgulary...I know every area has their crime, but we were hoping for a simpler lifestyle...no stress, etc., and as far as the traffic, coming from NJ, whereever you go and whenever you go you have lots of traffic...maybe it's not as bad down here, but seems to be alot more since you moved 20 years ago.
Hope to hear from you again, you've been a big help.

There's a community called the Bluffs on the Cape Fear in Leland that is going to be just down the road from the bypass when it is completed. (I'm not sure when that's supposed to be.)

I don't have any sepcifics on crime data, but an agent I've been working with sent me some info indicating that Brunswick COunty, NC is the 14th fastest growing county in the entire US. I think that puts it in the top 2%. That makes me feel pretty confident that the area is on an upswing. Thousands of people aren't going to move to an area at that rate if there's something terribly wrong with it. I've also got friends in Wilmington who recommend Leland for the prices. Historically, the best time to get a good deal on up and coming areas is while people are still bickering about the reputation. Clearly, these nice new developments and businesses would not be popping up if there was something seriously scary.

As always, have a wonderful and blessed day.

Jim

[mandy3131]

Hi to MaureenP and MJinNC. I am a NATIVE of Wilmington, NC and my husband and I built our home in Parkview at Brunswick Forest. We moved in in mid September and LOVE it. Where are you building in Parkview. We are Lot 11. It is nice here but will be much nicer once we get some neighbors, street lights and alot of the building is complete. As far as the cost to some of the other posts and users. Being a NATIVE of Wilmington, I really have a full insight regarding the Real Estate Market around Leland and Wilmington. I am actually in the Real Estate business as well. Yes utilities can be high depending on how you conserve energy, which we should all do anyway. You can def. build/get more of a home for your money in Leland than Wilmington. We sold our condo that was in the Monkey Junction area and paid the exact same in taxes for our condo as we do for our 2600 square foot house, so it really is better for your money. As far as the traffic, if you can at all arrange your commute times to avoid morning and evening rush hour, then traval really is not bad. Not to mention your gas will go much further since it is mostly highway miles versus the stop and go traffic in Wilmington. Hope this post helped someone.