Anybody own a home/condo in Carolina Beach. Have been tempted to invest in something down there, but am not as familiar with the area as I am with Wrightstville. Any suggestions on streets, N vs S end of beach, etc. I should take into consideration?

10/4/2011 4:48:24 PM

Your agent should know all this.

10/4/2011 5:40:14 PM

Carolina Beach is very country, and it is isolated on the southern end of the county. Thats why it is cheap, but if you are good with that go for it.

10/4/2011 5:41:37 PM

i haven't been to Carolina Beach in years, but unless it has changed a lot, there is no comparison between it and Wrightsville Beach, haha.

10/4/2011 8:05:58 PM

Carolina Beach has really grown up. Still kinda rednecky, but no where near as bad as before.

There's a couple of areas that you should know about

Where you see Carolina Lake and Hamlet Ave to the north of it is where the Boardwalk area is. It runs on/between Carolina Beach Ave and Canal Dr

North of the Boardwalk is where you used to have the nicer homes. That area is still pretty nice.

South of the Boardwalk is where the cheaper homes used to be. Now the majority of them have been torn down and are now replaced with much nicer homes.

Past that is Wilmington Beach and same as Carolina Beach the older cheaper homes have been torn down and nicer homes built in their place.


If you keep heading south that's Kure Beach and it can best be described as a step below Wrightsville Beach home wise mostly because of the lack of a marina. The homes at Kure were always really nice and even now a lot of those where torn down and replaced with even nicer homes. Kure also had several time share types of places.

I spent the majority of my summers in Carolina Beach and still go back there every couple of years or so. It's changed with a bunch of the old homes, cheap hotels and places gone and new more expensive things in their place. Britt's is still there and hopefully that will never change.

10/4/2011 9:41:22 PM

Have fun with the hurricane and flood insurance. My grandmother used to own a hotel on Kure Beach and sold it in the 90s because back then the insurance rates had gotten insane. Can't imagine it's gotten any better in the past 20 years

10/5/2011 8:21:23 PM

What was the name of the hotel?

10/7/2011 8:19:31 AM

Docksider Inn. It was my grandparents and a buddy of theirs who co-owned it if I remember correctly. When I was a kid I used to call it the Ducksider in

10/7/2011 1:52:59 PM

I've stayed there!!! I also may have met your Grandmother unless there's another little old lady that worked there..lol I think The last time I stayed there was in 94 or 95.

Last time I drove by it wasn't there anymore, there are town homes or condos there now.

10/7/2011 2:47:51 PM

Yeah I forget when they sold it. I think it was in the late 90s. I miss having a free hotel to stay in

10/7/2011 3:39:41 PM

Quote :

"there is no comparison between it and Wrightsville Beach, haha."

10/7/2011 5:59:43 PM

there's a reason why there are still sand lots worth $1mill+.

my parents have some real estate down there. but they got it a long long time ago. its on a positive slope for change. but its still redneck and country. but its also its little ole' city as well. its one of those places where you dont want to run into the locals cuz they creep you out.

but its fun. i wouldnt recommend living there if you work in wrights/wilm just because you want to save money (unless you're saving a lot). traffic is pretty crappy from carolina beach rd onto canal and stuff. it gets really congested and unless you know the backways, you're stuck, but its gotten a little better.

10 years ago, yes, maybe it was a place to invest. but not sure about now. not much has exploded in past 2-3 years as far as i can remember. the latest explosion was that big hotel that came. not sure if you'd call the "fair" an explosion. haha

10/17/2011 9:06:51 PM

I like in Monkey Junction and goto CB alot. Its definately different than WB...which is good to me because the WB crowd is all yankees, west coast surfer types, and college idiots from UNCW. Lots more true "locals" go to CB because the parking is cheaper and to avoid said people above plus traffic/parking is HORRIBLE in WB in the summer. Most of the locals also prefer the boardwalk feel of CB vs. the urbanized "beach bar" section of WB which the yankees/hippies/18 y.o college crowd is into.

10/21/2011 2:02:36 PM

I grew up in Wilmington and lived in CB for a couple years after my parents divorced before I came to college. I love Carolina Beach, its still got a lot of small town charm, and even though plenty of tourists show up in the summer, its a lot more local friendly than Wrightsville. WB is totally different from CB, they both have their perks, but WB is a lot more uppity and preppy than CB. I lived on Harper Ave, which is close to the lake and charter/fishing boats.

One thing I would say about buying property down there is to keep in mind that during even moderate rain storms, Carolina Beach Ave N (the main road when driving down to the North End) will flood. They may have re-worked the water lines to fix the problem by now, but I know that this was a common occurance 5-10 years ago. And if there is a hurricane with any sort of storm surge, you can plan on being cut off from going in or out of CB Ave N for days. I always liked the area down towards Kure Beach and Fort Fisher, but it is a pretty long drive to get down there, especially if you have to go in or out of Wilmington often. If I were to buy property down there I would look around Dow Road (there are nice views of the sound and its a little more secluded out there) or stay around the cluster of roads on the north side of the lake.

10/29/2011 6:44:27 PM

Britt's Doughnuts

10/30/2011 2:59:35 PM

My parents have a place down there. They used to own a 2 bd townhouse in a lil neighborhood just off the bridge, then they built their own house on a lot like 2 blocks away and sold the townhouse. The area on the left of the bridge is actually pretty nice and while its no ocean views, its easy to get to the road and back into wilmington.
I love the area and I think its a lot less rednecky than it used to be about 6-7 years ago-- I think more business people are settling around there and commuting to Wilmington. I think its a nice mix of locals and tourists, unlike wrightsville which is all tourists.

Brits is great, but if you go down there, you HAVE to try the Surfhouse. Sooo tasty. And their hot chocolate is AMAZING.

[Edited on November 17, 2011 at 11:32 AM. Reason : f]

11/17/2011 11:29:12 AM

Are there any nice (but not $$$TEXAS) rental homes in the Carolina/Kure Beach area? My friends and I stayed at a great place last summer, but the owners are selling it so they aren't renting it out.

11/22/2011 3:53:29 PM

I am about to sign up for Wilmington NC MLS today!!!

2/14/2012 9:54:25 AM

All the agents down there say it is starting to bottom out down there. I would wait until fall/winter this year and see whats out there, probably some good foreclosure deals and short sales....the values may begin to stabilize soon and you miss out on your opportunity for a good deal.

5/13/2012 3:55:10 PM

wolfpackgrrr

Your grandma used to let me park for free and surf before school. Tell her thanks.

7/10/2012 1:51:19 PM

LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW. that place is a HUGE buying opportunity. it has so much goodwill among the 7millions of whitetrash north carolina people. it only died so hard because the kind of people that owned property there were so relatively poor and their vacation home had to go before their double-wide back in Highpoint or whereever the fuck they come from. Carolina Beach will come back sooo fucking hard it will even rival Wrightsville Beach in 10 years. You can look all up and down the coast of Florida and Delmarva and Virginia and see the same pattern. take a few days and just browse the online county tax records up and down the coast. Just go around the campgrounds and lakes and just ask the hicks what their ideal vacation home spot is and they mostly say Carolina Beach. The rly old-school ones that are just southern but not trash will say Topsail. Not sure why ppl always want to stay in their state. Myrtle beach is actually closer and cheaper. I guess ppl like I40.

7/11/2012 5:15:23 AM