Quote:
Originally Posted by Beach4me2b
Thanks so much...a lot more to read - all delightful! We are hoping to relocate to your coast sometime soon...currently in AZ. We visited there in August, 2010. We viewed homes in Beaufort, Pine Knoll Shores and one in Atlantic Beach, as well as several in Kure Beach. We are confused as to where he best place for us is...We are hoping to make another trip soon. The last one was by car with a travel trailer - 2 dogs and 2 cats. It was interesting, to say the least. Not sure how we will travel this time. I am hoping to find property near a beach, but do love Beaufort and its charm. I love Kure Beach but don't really care to be in a HOA area. Not sure what Surf City is like...and somehow we missed most of Emerald Isle, which sounds wonderful. As I said, confusion reigns.
Posts are great so I will keep reading and hoping that we can figure this out!
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It took us lots of trips to figure out where we wanted to be and reconcile that with where we could afford to buy a home. I still love
going to Beaufort even if it for jury duty like it was this week.
Unfortunately we could not find a place in Beaufort even with the scent of water that we could manage to buy. We also wanted closer beaches, and perhaps that is one of the reasons we ended up on the western side of the county.
There we found our home with
water at our back door.
While I am not a huge fan of HOA's myself, we ended up in a small subdivision, Bluewater Cove, that has a HOA. The advantages that we got,
a pool, private boat ramp, and boat storage outweighed the disadvantages.
After four years, I can say that the HOA is mostly a tempest in a teapot. It hasn't bothered us, but perhaps we are just lucky to be in one which does not get too upset. We do have some nice pool parties as a group, and I like the quiet streets as a good spot to ride my bike.
The Fourth of July golf cart parade is also a hit. The pictures of the parade also have some pictures of the area way up the White Oak at Haywood landing. I enjoy being protected somewhat by the 158.000 acres of Croatan National Forest on one side and the remoteness of Cape Lookout National Seashore on the other side.
In the end it was location and finding the value that we expected for our money. At the time we bought we could have gotten a fourth or fifth row beach cottage for slightly less than what we paid for our home.
However, we would have gotten a home that was 1,300 square feet compared to 2,200. The beach cottage would have likely been 20 to 30 years old. For what we could pay, it would have been unlikely to find a cottage with a water view.
Also we would have been forced to trailer our boat to a boat launch or dry stack it. Now it is on
a lift behind the house (http://coastalnc.org/boatonthelift - broken link).
We also got
a brand new home.
We love living on the river three miles up from Swansboro. It gives us some protection from storms, and we only venture over on the beaches during the peak season when we know that we can enjoy the beaches which is usually late afternoon.
Getting to
Western Regional Beach Access only takes us ten minutes. When our beach loving children are here, we often take our skiff over to the Inlet to enjoy some of the very private low water beaches. That experiences trumps any beach that you can reach by foot or by car.
The trip down the White Oak River is
a wonderful experience in itself.
I also like not being tied to one beach which I think might happen if I was in walking distance of a beach. Depending on time of year, people on the beach, wind direction, and our moods, we will visit any of several beaches.
Sometimes we will go
down by the Point. Other times we might go up to
Eastern Regional Access and enjoy a little more company on the beach.
Often even in the spring we will head to one of my favorite beaches, Third Street, for
a really private beach walk.
You cannot visit an area too often when you are trying to figure out where to buy. If this is going to your permanent home, you want to make sure you visit during the winter months. If you want neighbors, you will find that some areas don't offer that comfort in the winter.
Shopping is also important, check out the areas to make certain that the stores stay open year round if you are planning to be there all year.
Then there are some weather considerations. The beach areas take longer to warm up in the spring than areas that are a few miles from the beach. I love
growing tomatoes so that is important to me since I count on having a home grown tomato by June 1 or 2.
The beaches stay slightly warmer in the winter, but this winter there was very little difference in temperatures.
Then there are some other services that are very important to us, vet care and medical services for ourselves. So far we have been pleased with the vet care we found in Cedar Point near us.
Recently I had to take my wife to the Emergency Room at Carteret General in Morehead City. She was having a gall bladder attack. We were very pleased with the care she got, and the fact that she ended up having a very successful surgery at the same hospital just ten days later.
Having almost everything we need in an area seven to thirty minutes away from us is just what we wanted.
This map will show you the general area, and you will find
lots of photos and information at this site. I am also happy that we have more than one way to evacuate the area if for some reason that should be required. I have a sixty plus year old friend who was born near us in Cedar Point. He claims to have only evacuated the area once. His experience that time was that he ran into more trouble trying to get back than it he had just stayed here. We have yet to really threatened with a storm in our four years here, but I know
the way to the Virginia Mountains very well.
I also have
another website about moving to the area. You might like to read
my Emerald Isle Travel Guide (http://coastalnc.org/emeraldislenctravelguidecd - broken link) since you missed most of Emerald Isle.
Since I have my nose in real estate, I try to stay updated on the area from Beaufort through Swansboro. I am always glad to answer questions here on the forum or find someone who knows the answer.
I feel fortunate that I grew up knowing about the area. I think I was in diapers when we first came here. I even fished on the Point at Emerald Isle when it required several miles of four wheeling down the beach to get there. That was probably forty years or so ago. My wife's family always went to Kure Beach, but our family mostly stuck to the Crystal Coast or the Northern Outer Banks.
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