THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408120471
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ABOUT THE OUTER BANKS
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
It's time to answer a couple of questions that recently came in the mail:
Hard-to-sell lot. A Virginia Beach reader was interested in the Hampton Roads Real Estate Weekly cover story I wrote for May 28.
``Own a piece of the beach,'' the headline read. This reader already owns her piece of the beach and wants to sell it. She's finding out that selling is often harder than buying.
The reader owns two lots in Carova Beach, the Outer Banks subdivision just south of the Virginia state line. But you can't go directly to Carova from Virginia unless you're walking or in a boat.
You must drive through Moyock, N.C., down the Currituck County peninsula, cross the Currituck Sound to Kitty Hawk, then drive back north. The paved road stops at Corolla.
From there you drive on the beach. It's four-wheel-drive country.
As long as the only road to Carova is the sand beach, property in this out-of-the-way place appeals mostly to folks who like to be left on their own. Its beaches, though occasionally crowded by four-wheeling day-trippers, are unsullied by commerce.
``I've contacted several Realtors in Virginia Beach and am told they don't handle North Carolina property,'' the reader wrote. She had called one Outer Banks company twice and her phone calls were not returned.
Many Hampton Roads real estate companies do handle North Carolina properties, but those sites are almost always easily accessible from Virginia. Carova Beach, however close to the Old Dominion, is not.
Carova property should be listed with an agent who routinely handles the area. Visit your property and see what real estate companies have ``For Sale'' signs in your subdivision.
Selling property in the off-the-road communities north of Corolla requires the enthusiasm of agents who know the area, love it, and who have the required four-wheel-drive vehicle to get customers up there.
But before you reach for the phone, keep this in mind: Agents get dozens of calls each week from real estate shoppers. Unfortunately for those of you who are serious about doing business, most callers aren't. Agents who start out treating each call as a real prospect soon learn that it's a thankless - and unprofitable - way to do business.
If you're serious about wanting to sell - or buy - your property, make the effort to meet an agent in person before you try to deal over the phone.
The economy's impact. Another Virginia Beach reader wrote about a piece of beach that she and her husband own.
``In 1988, we bought a parcel of land in Seascape Woods. Our intention at the time was for investment or perhaps for our retirement.''
``It doesn't look like this development is doing much,'' she wrote. ``Each time we visit the Outer Banks, we take a ride by our property, but we don't see any change.''
``Can you tell us if this property will improve in the future?''
The Seascape Woods development was sold out in the early 1980s. Today, only one house stands in the Kitty Hawk development, and there is virtually no recent sales activity, realty agents say.
Across the Outer Banks, other neighborhoods face similar situations. For the most part, a sluggish economy is to blame.
The couple bought a west side lot in an area favored by year-round families and second-home owners. Their purchase came at the end of an incredibly profitable cycle for Outer Banks real estate. Then, the market took a dive.
In the past year, ``vacation homes have come back,'' but the recovery among west side properties has been ``disappointing,'' says John Myers, president-elect of the Dare County Board of Realtors. ``It's going to be gradual.''
``People just aren't buying in the woods now,'' said Sid Jordan, owner of Century 21 at the Beach in Kill Devil Hills. ``But the inventory of lots in Kitty Hawk is getting down.''
Pretty soon, people will buy in the woods or they won't be buying in Kitty Hawk, says Jordan, a past president of the Realtors board.
But there is another factor affecting Seascape Woods. The development was platted in 1971, before strict wetlands rules and other building regulations were in place. Many lots, temporarily grandfathered when regulations first changed, can't be built on now, said Kitty Hawk building inspector Chet Forrester.
The Virginia Beach couple, like many resort property buyers, probably expected their land investment to appreciate sharply. For now, they - and many others - might have to settle for less.
MEMO: Chris Kidder covers Outer Banks real estate for Hampton Roads Real
Estate Weekly. Send comments to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C.
27959.
by CNB