The plot at Dominion Club in Richmond, VA, thickens. A bankruptcy judge has given the go ahead to the golf club’s owners to reorganize and pay off member initiation deposits with pennies on the dollar. Needless to say, some members are not happy. Read all about it in our free November/December issue of Home On The Course (to subscribe, see above).
We also report on new ownership at the high-end mountain aerie of Balsam Mountain Preserve in Waynesville, NC. It is a story of financial rescue in which the lender foreclosed on the property and then decided to run it itself. Now an experienced operator of golf communities and golf clubs has taken over and is hoping to attract more people to the high life.
Since its prices for homes start in the $200s, Brunswick Forest outside Wilmington, NC, does not fit the description of “high-end” but its success in a lousy market is the stuff other golf communities dream of. It is reportedly the fastest selling development on the east coast, and some of that success is alimentary: The golf community has determined that for some prospects, the shortest path to a down payment is through the stomach. Learn how Brunswick Forest has perfected the Art of the Meal in its selling process.
Finally, we can’t let a good thing go and, therefore, once again, we make the case for those of you with homes on the market to consider lowering your prices. It seems to us that in just the last couple of years, the delta between costs of living north and south has widened. In other words, a lower selling price could be made up in a few years of relocating to a lower cost area. I go back to my New Jersey hometown to compare the cost of living there with more than a dozen prime golf community areas of the south. For their sake, I hope my old friends and neighbors are reading.
The November/December issue will be distributed sometime tomorrow. Sign up today so you don’t miss it. (Pssst, if you sign up late, I will personally send you a copy.)