THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9511020576
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: About the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Last year, I wrote about the proposed widening of East Hayman Boulevard in Kill Devil Hills. The street, platted in 1934 to be a major thoroughfare 100 feet wide, had never lived up to its ``boulevard'' name.
When East Hayman homeowners contacted me, the street was a dead end off Route 12, less than two blocks long, unpaved and barely wide enough for two cars to pass.
Most of the street's 13 houses were modest second homes built in the 1970s. Some were still owned by the original buyers. The homeowners all loved their quiet street and big front yards. Several claimed not to know the town had a 100-foot right-of-way, although it would have been shown on any recorded plat.
The town began planning big changes for East Hayman in the late 1980s. The street would be widened to its full width and parking for dozens of cars would be added so that westside residents and tourists could use the Hayman Boulevard beach access.
The project was put off year after year raising homeowner hopes that it would be forgotten. But Kill Devil Hills was simply waiting for money: Undeveloped land was too valuable to ignore East Hayman.
Construction finally began this summer and will soon be finished. The once-sandy lane is now a 100-foot-wide paved swath for through traffic, with 44 lighted parking spaces clustered around a center island.
Homeowners are bracing for the worst. There are no public facilities at the small beach access at the end of the street or anywhere close by.
``We really have a `boulevard' now,'' wrote East Hayman homeowner Gale Crisher after the project was under way. ``But our beach area is even smaller. The quaintness of Hayman has been changed forever.''
It's too late for the East Hayman Boulevard homeowners: They've lost a lot of what they loved about their beach homes.
But others can learn from their mistakes. Before buying property, always check plats carefully for rights-of-way and easements. And never, never assume they won't be used.
There were several ways the East Hayman Street owners might have successfully warded off development of their street - or, at least, had more input into the outcome. By waiting until the town made its decision, they had to fight a defensive battle. In politics, as in war, that's not the way to win.
I recently wrote a column about hurricane-related refunds and proposed N.C. legislation that would require advance rents to be kept in escrow to facilitate such refunds.
A reader from Midlothian, Va., who owns vacation property in Nags Head, responded. ``I have no objection to refunding my rent as long as the agent refunds his commission. I worked to buy my property. We both lose.''
``Holding rent money in escrow is silly. Why hold 51 weeks in escrow for possibly one week's refund? This is a typical bureaucratic solution,'' wrote the owner. ``I've had my condo for rent through an agent for four years. This is the first time I've had to refund rent.''
In response to a column on Bob DeGabrielle & Associates and their accomplishments at Pine Island, a Kitty Hawk real estate agent had a different point of view.
``The success of a real estate project can be measured from the developer's viewpoint or from that of the buyer's,'' wrote the agent. ``We both hear the same rumors and now the mill is churning out stories of the difference between the projected gross rental incomes and the actual gross rental incomes at Pine Island.''
``The buyers that read your articles are looking forward to hearing how the customer satisfaction rating (Pine Island) looks now that some time has passed and this project has a history.''
Pine Island homeowners aren't the only ones who might feel they were promised more than the developer could deliver. I've heard the same complaint from vacation property owners up and down the beach.
But the agent brings up a valid point: It's easy to look at the volume of homes, the gross sales total, and label a development a success when, in fact, true success takes more than that.
No one really knows how a new subdivision will perform on the rental market. The market needs time to adjust to an influx of new homes; a neighborhood needs time to develop a track record.
I'd like to hear from property owners at Pine Island and other new subdivisions about their experiences with rentals during the first couple years. Did you get what you were promised in terms of rental income and weeks? If not, what would you have done differently if your actual rents had been accurately predicted? What steps have you taken to change your rental situation?
Write to me c/o The Virginian-Pilot, P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959, before Nov. 15. Please include your phone number. I'll share what I learn on this subject in my Dec. 2 column. by CNB