I am about to head off on a two-hour drive to play the controversial Granite Links in Qunicy, MA.  Pete Blais, the editor of Boomer Golf News, and I are meeting there to give the course a go but mainly to discuss our two enterprises.  Pete, whom I featured in this space (click here for the article), is a former journalist in Maine.  He started his blog site within the last year, and I like his style.  His features at the site range from golf course reviews to golf equipment and even a bit of fashion news.  He doesn't take himself too seriously which means this will be an enjoyable day even if his one-eyed partner for the afternoon -- I am having cataract surgery next week -- plays like a dweeb.
    Look for some photos and a few comments on Granite Links here in the coming days.

In other news...

    A new ferry terminal that serves Bald Head Island, NC, will open on June 2 at 10 a.m.  The 40,000 square foot Deep Point Marina will provide arrivals and departures on two different levels, as well as expanded food operations and indoor and outdoor viewing areas of the adjacent Cape Fear River.  BHI guests will check-in for their rental properties at the terminal, and Island Properties will also maintain a sales and information office there for those who might be considering more permanent residency.
    No vehicular traffic is permitted on Bald Head Island, except for service vehicles.  For me, that makes Bald Head an especially underrated summer destination (and a clean-smelling one as well).  (Note:  I spent a night there in late November and things were quiet and a bit disorienting in my golf cart, but the golf was fine the next day.)  Surrounded by water and about a 20-minute ferry ride from Southport, NC, the island's central focus in the warm weather months is the beach, although you can find just about every other amenity on the island and the links-like golf course, by George Cobb, is a delight to play.  The ocean breezes help make for a different challenge every day, although the course itself is not overly tough.  A trip on the ferry and a round of golf on the publicly available Bald Head Island Club makes for a pleasant day.
    As for those who may want to make Bald Head their full-time home, or who want to purchase a home to rent out most of the year and stay themselves for a few weeks, prices are well off their highs of four years ago.  I wrote a golf course review of Bald Head, as well as some comments about the real estate, in my newsletter a few years ago.  If you would like a complimentary copy or any other information about Bald Head, let me know.

    I wrote here the other day about a 3,900 square foot new home in a golf community near Charlotte, NC that was listed for less than $300,000.  That comes to well less than $100 per square foot.  In my travels, I just don't see quality homes much under $150 a square foot.  I promised to track down the story behind the price, and this morning I did.
    I spoke with Gary Nagle, an agent with Plasma Realty in Fort Mill, SC, a bedroom community of Charlotte just over the state line.  Gary told me that the home near Regent Park Golf Club that I had seen listed had been sold but the online listing had not been removed.  Oops.  Gary also told me he thought the photo of the home in the listing, sporting lots of brick, was probably only "representative" at that price, and that the siding of the finished house was more likely to be vinyl.  Double oops.
    He did steer me toward a listing for another home to be built by Ryan

Claustrophobics may get over their hang-ups in a home that costs just $81 a square foot, land included.

Homes on the same cul-de-sac street, at roughly the same size (3,700 square feet) and for exactly the same price, $299,900.  However -- and isn't there always a "however" involved with a bargain? -- the home is being built on a zero lot line of less than ¼ acre.  That means the house's footprint will take up virtually the entire property, leaving a buffer of about 10 feet or so to the edge of the lot and the necessity for thick window curtains to avoid the prying eyes of neighbors a few yards away.  For those coming from an urban environment or Texas where communities are built in similar fashion, such neighborliness may not be an issue.  The more claustrophobic will have to balance proximity with the almost unheard of costs of just $81 a square foot, land included.
    Charlotte has a deserved reputation as a stable housing market, never rising too fast during the period of irrational exuberance nor falling as hard as
Charlotte's housing market never rose as quickly nor fell as hard as other urban areas.

other urban areas.  According to Gary, the housing markets in the Charlotte area and Fort Mill in particular have fared well over the last year, despite the banking debacle that deeply affected Bank of America and the now evaporated Wachovia Bank, both headquartered in the city.  Average home values had dropped to about $190,000, Gary said, mostly because builders were unloading their unsold inventory at discounts.  The average has now crept back up over $200,000.
    Besides the community surrounding the Regent Park Golf Club, other area communities offer a wide range of golfing and real estate options.  River Hills, in nearby Lake Wylie, is one of the few private courses in the area, featuring a Willard Byrd course built in 1969 and house prices from the $250s to over $1 million for a river view.  Other area communities of note South of Charlotte include Ballantyne, Springfield, Skybrook and Tega Cay, all with homes that begin around the mid $400s and range into seven-figure territory. North of the city, the golf communities along Lake Norman, including The Peninsula Club and The Pointe, are high quality and relatively high priced.

    Charlotte is a thriving southern city with all modern conveniences and services, including a large airport; you can also drive to Myrtle Beach, Charleston or Wilmington in a little over three hours.  If you would like more information about any of these communities, or want to check out the $81 per square foot home, let me know and I will put you in touch with Gary Nagle.