During the Spring of 2006, I, along with a group of investors that included my immediate family and some friends, began to take a long, hard look at an, until recently, tucked away region of rural, but coastal, North Carolina. As a group, we were initially introduced to the area by a group of Cleveland area doctors with whom my brother, Matt was working in an unrelated capacity. The doctors, knowing Matt was a real estate agent and developer, asked him to fly to an area outside of New Bern in Craven County, North Carolina, to follow up on a land opportunity that was proposed to them by one of their relatives.
Matt, as the doctor's agent, traveled to the area, met with some local agents and developers and returned to Cleveland to deliver his analysis to his clients. Based on his advice and their own convictions, the doctors bought a lot in a development near the town of Washington. While he was in the region, Matt was able to make contacts and see a number of properties for sale through developers, landowners and real estate brokers alike. The concept, regardless of who the seller was, was the same: waterfront real estate is scarce. It is even scarcer along the eastern shores of the United States. Development of these areas has been ongoing at a pretty heady pace since the day Captain John Smith showed up in Jamestown, VA in 1607.
In the days since, I have also made trips to the region (shown within the box on the map below), most recently to take the North Carolina Real Estate Broker's Examination.
My destination was also New Bern, the former capital of North Carolina and an established town on the banks of the Neuse River (shown in the Southwest corner of the box). Directly to the west of the target area lies the Pamlico Sound and the Outer Banks, which creates a weather barrier that protects the region from hurricanes and other destructive forces that threaten most coastal regions. The target area is the land along the Intracoastal Waterway and the networks of river and creek systems that flow to and from it.
The development of the region has begun. Roads are being built; infrastructure plans are being executed in some areas and initiated in others. Owners of hundreds of acres of previously inaccessible land are sub-dividing their properties and selling the parcels to developers and end users planning on building vacation homes, retirement homes and primary residences alike. Retailers and entertainment venues are present in the more established areas and knocking on the door in others.
Since Matt's initial visit on behalf of the doctors, we have either purchased or brokered the purchase of 26 properties in Beaufort, Craven and Pamlico Counties. These properties represent a mixture of waterfront lots and interior lots with water views and water access. Some properties are in developments with year round residents; whereas others are in areas where only an access road and surveyor flags exist to define the property lines.
Visit http://www.precisionpropertiessouth.com/, a site devoted to our North Carolina portfolio. You will find information about the region as well as maps, similar to the ones above, and photos and descriptions of the properties in our portfolio.
If you are interested in learning more about the region or the possibility of investing in a portfolio or even buying a home or lot for your own enjoyment, do not hesitate to email me at rmcdonnell@p-properties.com or call my office at (617) 590-8159.