Searching high (mountains) and low (coast) guarantees messy pursuit of golf home

        In searching for a golf home, or any home for that matter, the initial decision a couple should make is geographical -- where they want to live. We aren’t suggesting, for example, that Mr. & Mrs. Jones needs to decide right away between, say, the Charleston and Savannah areas, especially if they have never visited either. But those cities share a similar geography on

the coast, are less than two hours from each other and their golf communities can be scouted easily within a week. But we do fear for the husband and wife that are ready to begin their search but haven’t decided if they want to live in the mountains or on the coast, or possibly in between. With thousands of golf communities in the southern U.S., a couple that starts off with no preconceived notion of their ideal geography is destined to drive themselves nuts finding the best golf community for them, even if they know what amenities they want, how much they intend to spend and how far they want to be from a supermarket.

        In the February edition of Home On The Course, our free monthly newsletter which will be emailed to our 1,000 subscribers later this week, we tackle the issue of putting your best feet forward as you begin the search for a golf home in the southern U.S. Consider it a modest lesson in geography.

        Although our connection to many real estate professionals has helped provide us with an early warning on the rebound of the housing market in the South, it is a great comfort to find reliable experts on the economy as well. One blogger on the housing market has been getting all kinds of bouquets from Wall Street, government officials and others smart enough to follow his objective advice. If you are shopping for a golf home, or wondering whether your primary home might be worth more or less a few months or a year from now, check out our review of Bill McBride’s Calculated Risk Blog in the February edition of Home On The Course.

        Also in our February issue, if you live in the North and need any extra incentives to do a little on-site research in the South this winter, we include comparisons of the high temperatures on Super Sunday in selected cities above and below the Mason-Dixon Line. Imagine watching next year’s Super Bowl in shirtsleeves, on your screened-in porch, after a leisurely 18 holes in the morning.  We can.

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