If it weren’t the law, cigarette packs, child car seats, and mutual funds (“past performance is no predictor of future performance”) would carry no safety warnings.  The most expensive pack of cigarettes, tax included, costs $14.  A home in an upscale golf community can cost $1 million and more.  And yet you won’t find any warnings posted in their sales office.

        Consider the July issue of our free newsletter, Home On The Course, your guide to some of the key questions to ask when shopping for a golf community home.  How stable is the golf club?  Does the developer have a completion plan for the community…and the deep pockets to support it?  What’s the better deal -– an equity golf membership or non-equity?   Forewarned is forearmed in our July issue, ready for mailing later this week.

        Also, Greenville, SC, is rising to a place of prominence on more and more “best places to live” lists.  We’ve been to Greenville and understand the sentiment.  With a thriving downtown restaurant and cultural scene, the city -- known to some as “G-Vegas” -- provides an entertaining respite from the quiet, remote golf communities in the upstate region of South Carolina.  In the July issue, we turn to Greenville real estate professional Lee Cunningham for a current assessment of Greenville's real estate market, including The Cliffs Communities, Thornblade Club and others.

        Use the convenient box at the top left of this page to sign-up to receive your free monthly copies of Home On The Course.  And please know that we will never share your name or email address with anyone.

        We take Lebron James at his word, that he chose to play in Miami because it offered him the best chance at an eventual championship.  But if he were a serious golfer, his choice might have been different.

        According to a chart in the Wall Street Journal today, the Miami area ranks first in the sheer number of golf courses among all the

Bethpage's Black Course is the only one to attain a perfect rating of 30 in Zagat.

cities competing for the power forward, including New York, Chicago and Cleveland.  But it sure doesn’t rank first in quality.  Only the Blue Monster course at Doral rates a score of 27 or higher –- 30 is perfect -– in Zagat’s latest edition of “America’s Top Golf Courses.”  The Journal used Zagat, which only rates publicly accessible courses, to assess the cities Lebron considered.

        Not that this week’s most famous athlete, at least until the winning gola is scored Sunday at the World Cup, will ever have to play “trunk” golf at the local public facility.  But even then, Miami was not the best choice.  New York can boast Shinnecock Hills, The National Golf Club, Winged Foot and dozens of other famous courses within a short-limo drive of Madison Square Garden.  In Miami, Lebron would need to ride all the way up to North Palm Beach and the Seminole Golf Club to find a club whose course ranked near the top.

        Just in case the star wanted to rub elbows with the common people every once in a while, Bethpage Black, a public course and just 40 minutes from the Big Apple, is the only Zagat-rated club anywhere to attain a perfect 30 rating from those who have played it.

         Lebron has made his choice and can count on one thing golf related that Miami courses have that even Shinnecock Hills does not:  They are open for play every day of the year.