Thoughts or information on St James Plantation (Oak Island: upkeep, floor)
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From reading this thread (okay, I admit I skimmed some of it), it appears that many people build homes in SJP. We will be visiting the area in march, and I'm curious. Do you mean building a house from a builder subdivision list/model house with a few personal choices (front elevation, flooring, counter tops,etc) or are these houses all custom?
Are there many resale homes? Are there many homes for rent (6-12 months) so we could 'try before we buy?'
People that choose to "build" a new home have many choices, some want a 100% custom plan to live in, some may choose an existing plan with a few changes.... and there are many builders that will accomodate you either way.... in every price range. There are MANY builders that build in St James and there are a "very few" existing models / spec homes by a "few" of the builders that you can walk in and either buy that house or one like it on your lot. There are MANY house plans on architectural sites that some of the builders use.... "one" that is frequently used is www.frankbetz.com .
If you go on www.stjames.com under "real estate" you will find existing, resale homes, condos and townhomes of every size, shape and price range to choose from..... ( including resale building lots ) ..... from 1 year old to 15 years old..... another source is the Brunswick County MLS @ Brunswick County Association of Realtors - Real Estate for Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus Counties, North Carolina. The company of St James also has new, not previously owned lots in some of the newer areas...... IMHO the resale lots are usually a better deal.
There are also homes, condos and townhomes for rent both long and short term, both furnished and unfurnished .... by owners..... that is what we did for the same reasons you mentioned. The company / sales office has "some" of these listings but charge a large commision to the owner, therefore their rentals are more expensive. The quintessential source for all things in St James, for sale, rent, goings on, etc is "Just Judy", a former resident that has a newsletter that you can subscribe to ( I believe it's about $20 per year ) emailed out several times weekly with all kinds of info at St James and once per month ( first Friday of the month I think ) with listings of items, boats and real estate for sale / rent..... that is how we found our rental. You can email her at justjudy23@optonline.net and request an application form, that would be my recommendation...... it's very informative and very well read.... IMHO.
Caco54..... the very idea of that question is so ridiculous as to be absurd, but I believe it was tongue in cheek so I will move on to something more in line with reality..... which our progress as new North carolinians.
Last week we went over to Shallotte ( about 25 mins ) to take our drivers license tests.... I am relieved to say that we both passed and we are now the proud holders of our North Carolina drivers licenses. The agency is on Main Street in Shallotte and just down the road is a Mexican restaurant ( Panchitos ) also on Main Street, that we have passed a few times in our travels through the area. We decided to stop there for a celebratory lunch after passing our tests. The place is owned and fully manned by ...... yes..... Mexicans. The food was excellent, repeat, excellent. We had spicy buffalow wings which were just delicious...... I had a lunch special of a cheese and a chicken enchilada with salsa verde, spicy, very tasty and a HUGE portion...... the boss had a beef fajita, also mighty good, also HUGE..... the salsa and chips on the table were quite tasty too.... all in all a VERY nice experience and we're happy to announce yet another restaurant down here that has very good chow. We headed home and after that big afternoon chow down ( unusual for the middle of the day ) we both crashed for the rest of the afternoon...... only to be awakened at 5pm with a phone call invitation to head out for dinner at the Reserve.... which we, of course, accepted...... whew.
I miss shrimp omelets----non-existant up here. Also grouper, rarely on any menu.
Re: SJP condos-----are they populated mainly by renters, or mainly used as second homes? Is there a full-time population presence there? Just looking at all my options. Also, I'm aware of the SJP basic POA fee, what is the fee paid by the condo owners for pool and landscape maintainance? Thanks for any help.
The most recent report.... last month.... says there are 3,300 residents in occupied "units" of all types. They said approx 70% are full time residents that are not using their property for part time vacations, etc. A very small percentage ( don't recall exactly but very small in the single digits ) are rented full time. All property owners.... houses, condos, townhomes and vacant lots pay the same POA fee of $800 annually.
Last edited by Stonecreek67; 11-18-2011 at 02:36 PM..
I don't mean to be thick, but if we moved into say, Marshwinds full-time, would we have any full time neighbors? Or would this be like living in a "tourist" section? And to clarify, the condos have their own pool and do no yardwork, and this is covered under the same POA dues as everyone else? I'm kind of surprised there's no extra "condo" fee.
Let me try to make it clearer.... they tell me that 70% of "ALL" ( that means ALL ) property owners are full time residents.... as you drive through the parking lots of the condo complexes, like Marshwinds, there are many cars there all the time. Now, there are still owners of condos that are full time residents that from time to time rent out their unit on a week or weekend basis during the summer when they are on vacation themselves.... AND I would say that out of all of St James there are more condos that are rented ( long or short term ) than houses...... but I also would not call anywhere in St James a touristy atmosphere at all, it is very much a full time residential community and everything is geared to that, not all but "most" units ( condos or houses ) are for rent because they aren't being sold because of the economy ( IMHO ), some condos were bought as an investment and are always rented or for rent but they are in the minority..... as far as the POA fee, as stated it is the same for ALL properties, whatever type they are and yes the condos all have their own pools t use.... as well as the beach club and players club pool.
I don't mean to be thick, but if we moved into say, Marshwinds full-time, would we have any full time neighbors? Or would this be like living in a "tourist" section? And to clarify, the condos have their own pool and do no yardwork, and this is covered under the same POA dues as everyone else? I'm kind of surprised there's no extra "condo" fee.
The COA dues for a Marshwinds condo in St James are just over $300 a month.
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