Outer Banks, NC- Family reunion???
 

Good Morning all!! We are a family of about 30, from infants to seniors. We are looking to have our next family reunion (Summer '08) in the Outer Banks. We are very interested in renting several different houses within walking distance of one another. Golf is a must and needs to be near by. We're not interested in "roughing it," but we don't need 5 star accomdations either. I'm not sure about budget quite yet as I don't know how many people will be sharing a home.
We would like to have a common area for meals, whether it's a big house that everyone could eat at, or a pavillion near by.
We would also like to me near a cute "town" for possible lunches and shopping.
Many of us are fairly active and love to try to things :)
What area should I concentrate looking in? Any advice on golf courses? Towns/cities that you would rec? Finally, I'm thinking a real estate agent that works with rentals would be best- any recs?? How soon do places start booking up? Are we ahead of the game or behind?

We're in the very beginning stages of planning, so any advice is welcome!!

Thanks!

When we were in the Outer Banks this past summer, Sun Realty was a large company with a lot of listings. You can get up to 10 bedrooms. Check them out at:
http://www.sunrealtync.com/sitepages/pid40.php

Take a look at Duck. While the rentals are pricy, alot of the golfers I know who go to the OBX stay there.

I have a couple of suggestions, however we have no golfers in the family so I don't have answers about that.
First, why several houses? Our family has "done" reunions in the OBX several times, and we are happiest in one giant house - one of the reasons being that the big mansions are equipped for many people. It's no fun trying to make dinner for 30 in a kitchen for eight. The biggest houses have double refrigerators, double dishwashers, extra icemakers, lots of seating, etc. THey also have game rooms and mini kitchens, which are great for those with young children.

So, to determine how many bedrooms, here is what we do: count each married couple as needing their own bedroom. Little ones bunk with parents, older singles share one or two extra bedrooms, depending on how many there are. This year, our family of 40 is renting a house with 13 bedrooms!

Location - the busiest part of the OBX is Nag's Head/Kill Devil Hills area. That is where you'll find the Wright Brothers Monument (hang gliding), lots of shops, and most of the tourist attractions. Lots to do, including restaurants and factory outlet shopping.

Timing: to get the best selection, I'd book between September and November. The bigger realtors publish books in September outlining all the rental properties for the following summer. By Christmas the larger houses are mostly reserved. I started in January, and because we needed so many bedrooms, many of the lower priced homes were already booked. Also, I got very little help from the five realtors I called. When I realized the selection was so limited because I had waited too long, I tried asking them to find me two 7 bedroom homes adjacent to each other. Nobody called back, or was willing to do the research. I told them I had a $10K budget and they all but laughed (this was for one week in June). I finally found a house myself online (and the budget wasn't enough, had to go to $12K). Some of the realtors I've researched (they all have different listings) are Sun, Carolina Designs, Prudential, and Village:

http://www.resortrealty.com/

http://www.sunrealtync.com/

http://www.villagerealtyobx.com/

http://www.carolinadesigns.com/

Be aware that some of the northernmomst towns require a 4X4 vehicle to reach the homes (Carova etc).

Have fun looking!

You can definitely have all thirty under one room. Take into consideration the number of bedrooms and the number and types of beds. There are some great golf courses nearby, and some of the houses have a putting green. You will probably have to drive to the golf course, unless you stay at Currituck Club. But, Currituck Club is across the highway and is far from the beach. But, there are plenty of great golf courses to drive to like Duck Woods.

Consider finding a place with its own swimming pool, and pay close attention to the distance to beach access. There is no parking allowed near the beach, so you will have to hoof it from whichever house you rent. A large kitchen that could seat 30 with double refrigerator and dishwasher is a must for that large a group. Also, consider how big the grill and outdoor area around the pool is--which is where most of the cooking happens in the summertime.

Also, make sure that everyone pays the deposit when you pay it. You do not want to be stuck holding the bag.

Have fun searching for your house.

Well, I have a little different take on this as I booked in January two beachfront houses in Corolla Light for my family of 21. We don't have any small children left in our family so I needed at least 8 master bedrooms and a minimum of 10 bedrooms total. I did concentrate on Duck and Corolla Light since the other communities (Pine Island for instance) were too isolated. It was very difficult to find 1 house that suited our needs, but I guess that was mostly because I wanted to be near a lot to do even for the teens who don't drive.

Corolla Light is a great resort. Tennis, indoor pool and raquetball courts, & an oceanfront pool complex with a restaurant so that lunches can be done there if you like. It has a very small village shopping complex, but there is more shopping at TimBukTu, around 4 miles away. There are jet ski rentals and kayak tours on the sound. There is a golf course 5 or 6 miles away.

I brought up a map of Corolla Light which is interactive and clicked on houses that were right next door to each other. That tells you what realtor lists that house and you can go to the website to figure out if the house is available. I think the map can be found at
www.corollalightresort.com

Good luck!

I agree....having 30 people under 1 roof is definately do-able. Probably less expensive as well.

Suki, that is a wonderful function you shared re the Corolla Light development. I tried on my own to find adjacent properties, and we really wanted to try Duck/Corolla this year, but it's nearly impossible without a website like the one you describe.

The properties in Nag's Head area don't have a unified website where you can find homes listed by multiple realtors.

Thanks!

Thank you for all the great ideas!! As much as we *love* our family, I don't think we all want to be under one roof. We are going to try and found 2 7-8 bedroom houses near each other. Might this be possible?
We are mostly adults, with a few babies scattered in between.. so unfortunately, we need a place with master bedrooms; queens, kings (not bunk beds.) Keep the great info coming!! Many thanks!

Suki - I have to laugh that while you come from PA to the outer banks I go from Williamsburg to the Jersey shore.

Yes, Birdie, the grass is always greener, I guess. :)

joan, I have to admit that finding that map was the one time that my husband bested me on an internet search. And he didn't really tell me about it until I had logged a lot of hours on a lot of realtor's website trying to put two houses together. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it.

TXgal, it sounds as though you have the same requirements I did. Check out the map I linked above and the rest of the website has other info. If you prefer being in Duck, there are lots of places down there as well. Try the Four Seasons development. Duck is closer to more golf courses than Corolla and has more of a village feel. The beach is narrower though and not as nice as further north.

Just wanted to update!!! The following website is GREAT for finding rental homes. www.twiddy.com

Our 2008 Family Reunion is in the works; I think everyone is very excited about OBX!! We're looking mainly in Corolla and Duck. Thanks again for your help!

We have used Twiddy Realtors many times to rent in Duck and have always been satisfied. They have a nice choice of homes and their standards seem to be higher than some other realtors in the area. Good luck!

We often use Twiddy as well. This year though in order to get two houses in close proximity, I used Twiddy and Corolla Classic Realtors. They also provide excellent customer service. Another tip that I can share is that if you don't have your two houses rented by now, you might want to consider being right on the sound (they don't rent quite as fast as the oceanside places.) In Corolla Light, there are some great soundfront houses. We did this last year and really loved sitting on the deck together having drinks and watching the sun go down. We could walk to the sports center, the kayak and bike rental, the jet skis, etc. At the beginning of the week, we rented an umbrella and a couple of chairs and so they would be set up for us each day eliminating the need to cart that stuff with us. One of us would drive over with a cooler and other gear, but everyone else rode bikes or took the trolley to the beach, and could come and go as they liked. I really enjoyed it. Do check out the Corolla Light map I provided above. Good Luck!

Wondering if Thanksgiving time, 2011 is a good time to go to the Outer Banks. Where is the best place to go, looking near grocery stores, and attractions that would be open. Thanks