THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502230233
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: About the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
This week, we're revisiting two Nags Head subdivisions.
The Village at Nags Head is less than a mile down the road from South Ridge. Philosophically speaking, their common ground ends at the highway.
But these two very different communities share something else: success. When the real estate machine came to a screeching halt in the early 1990s, hammers continued pounding around Mileposts 14 and 15.
South Ridge was one of the first neighborhoods I wrote about for this column (April 1991). Westside, with no amenities or water frontage, and platted in 1910 when building codes were few and far less restrictive, many folks thought South Ridge was doomed to fail.
Lots range from 7,700 to 13,000 square feet, considerably less than current town minimums. Developer Sonny Cobb did his best to balance density with sensitivity to the lay of the land, siting houses for maximum water views. Even so, he's packed a lot of houses into a small space.
Today, 85 of the 100 homesites in Phase I and II are sold and built. Phase III, laid out for 55 lots, has been approved. Roads will be started within the next month. Two lots are already under contract.
Buyers have continued to split into three roughly equal groups: year-round residents, second-home owners who don't put their houses on the vacation rental market and second-home owners who do.
``Rental figures have been better than we ever thought they would be,'' says Doug DuVal, the Remax/Ocean Realty broker who manages South Ridge sales. ``Our owners have been getting 12 to 16 weeks per year, grossing $9,000 to 11,000.''
For a market where conventional wisdom requires amenities for success, South Ridge has proved an exception. But some owners want a community swimming pool anyway. Cobb says he'll build one as soon as enough owners agree to join a voluntary homeowners association and make it economically feasible.
What South Ridge has had going all along is price. Cobb's lot-and-house package has been priced at the low-end of the area's new housing market. The package deal, commonplace in most urban areas, is unusual here. But Cobb says the package creates economies of scale and keeps his prices down.
Cobb has stuck with his pricing strategy. He still offers a compact, four-bedroom house, including lot, for under $120,000. Prices started at $114,900 in 1991.
To keep prices low, Cobb has cut back on extras and downgraded some features as material prices have risen. Where his first model homes averaged over 1,600 square feet, his new four-bedroom floor plan is 1,500. ``I want to be able to compete with the resale market,'' he explains.
So far, there hasn't been a resale at South Ridge. ``This is our fourth season,'' says DuVal. ``All of our people are very happy.
(For more information about South Ridge, visit the subdivision's model homes, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, at milepost 14 on U.S. Route 158, Nags Head, or call 919-441-2800.)
While South Ridge seems to prove that less is best, the Village at Nags Head, developed by Ammons-Dare Corp., proves that more is even better.
``I think many people believe that we have no property left to sell because we have been around while,'' says Village Realty sales manager Rick Drumm.
After eight years of constant building, I have to admit that I thought they were close to being sold out, too. Drumm set me straight.
The community has 18 neighborhoods now on the books: seven are sold out; several others have five or fewer lots to go. More than 400 houses have been built since sales began at the Village eight years ago.
``True, we are an established community,'' says Drumm, ``but we are still growing. We have four new neighborhoods on line in 1995.
The Masters is a soundside neighborhood with 33 lots; 20 directly on the Village's semi-private Nags Head Golf Links; most with water views. Prices start at $60,000 and top out at $115,000.
Saw Grass offers eight homesites exceeding two-thirds of an acre. Two are already sold. They're separated from the sound by the 15th hole and at 100 feet wide offer the most frontage of any Village lots. Prices range from $135,000 to $160,000.
Sea Watch has 14 lots lining the first fairway and offers some of the highest elevations in the Village. Some houses will have ocean and sound views, says Drumm. Prices range from $50,000 to $105,000.
The fourth new neighborhood is Water's Edge, located on the south side of the Village near the sailing pier. Twenty-two homesites are laid out to be a ``true old Nags Head community,'' says Drumm. While strict architectural standards are enforced throughout the Village, in this neighborhood buyers must use approved plans by Outer Banks designer Kent Godwin.
Resales in this golf course community account for 30 percent of sales, says Drumm. About 40 percent of all homes are in rental programs, where weekly rents range from $725 to $4,500 (for an oceanfront home with a private pool) in-season.
Membership at Nags Head Golf Links and at the Village Beach Club (tennis and pool facilities) is optional for Village at Nags Head property owners. A summer shuttle bus links residents and guests with amenities and nearby shopping malls.
(Sales for the Village at Nags Head are handled through Village Realty, 6118 E. Baymeadow Drive, Nags Head, 919-441-8533.) MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959. by CNB