Glad I didn't buy a place in Wilmington, NC.

[Zooport]

I bought a place in Indian Trail, North Carolina and, despite being 3 hours from surf, I really like it here.  I have been considering buying a second place on the beach in Wilmington to rent out when I'm not using it as a surf shack.  Sure glad I waited.  After Florence, the place is a disaster area.

[connector14]

Might be able to pick up some "newly cleared" property pretty cheap.?   

[Zooport]

My heart goes out to those who suffered the devastation, but I plan to look into that. 

[stoneaxe]

Glad to hear you like it Zoo. Tough to see folks take such a hit.

[connector14]

Tough to compete with Mother Nature when she's pissed.  I wish everyone the best.
As we get older we think much more about every decision....especially with regards to perhaps relocating and the risks involved. I live in the Pacific Northwest (Hood Canal, WA) and I dread the Fall and Winter "doldrums" and my wife and I sometimes think about life in a warmer climate like Southern Cal or Hawaii or Florida. But it seems like every area has its own special problems...be it fires, hurricanes, rising tide levels, volcanoes...etc.
 Maybe retire to a cruise ship and stay on the move......oh wait.....everybody gets sick on those ships from some strange disease....or the ship sinks in some mysterious way.
The house is paid for.....maybe we should just stay home?! ):.........
 

[Tom]

A friend  of mine moved from San Diego to Wilmington several years ago because the windsurfing is better.  He stayed thru the hurricane with little damage.  Good for him but not for me

[supthecreek]

Jeeze.... sell your home at a market high
make a good decison on where NOT to buy
I gotta start hanging out with you!

ps.... I drive 2.5 hours to surf all the time.... sometimes 4 days a week, when Rhode Island is better than Cape Cod.
2 days last week, awesome waves!

Plus, you have a nice drive to the beach... life is good!

[Zooport]

Jeeze.... sell your home at a market high
make a good decison on where NOT to buy
I gotta start hanging out with you!

Yeah, my agent in Newport Beach said the market tanked right after I sold.  Makes me look really smart...except I'm not that smart, not sure anyone is.  I think there was a little help coming from above in that case.

Thanks for the encouragement on the drive to the beach to surf.  A couple more weeks to settle in and I'll go give it a try.  Been getting some beautiful mountain biking in the meantime. 

[Quickbeam]

Sounds like our market went in the toilet about the same time yours did. Except in our case, we can’t sell our place. Our market was going crazy for maybe a year, maybe a little longer. We made the decision to sell our townhouse and missed the market by a few weeks. Have now had our place for sale for a few months and no one is buying. Fortunately we are in a position where we don’t need to sell, but is still frustrating. We are now looking at the possibility of putting our place up for rent.

Whether it was good planning on your part, good luck, or as you say help from above, congrats to you. Sometimes things happen for a reason! 

[eastbound]

better to be lucky than smart!

[Bean]

I know from first hand experience, luck is the greatest enemy of Darwin
 

[yugi]

Your original idea of a camper van means you can go sleep on (near) beaches where it's happening and clear out for hurricanes.

[Wetstuff]

Taxes are less than I thought...  Here's a listing in Surf City near where I stayed last July.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2106-S-Shore-Dr_Surf-City_NC_28445_M59491-52769?view=qv

It's taxes are ~$3k. 

How long before you think the area would be 'desirable' if'in you decided you didn't much like shorepound and wanted to sell?  Decade?  ...and, what if another rain train decides to derail in your backyard before then?   I could also imagine, there will be a point where the Gvmt., under political pressure, will have to become the insurer-of-last-resort.  ..like Fanny and Ginnie.

You'd also probably want to review the wind history of a specific area for the last year or so; you might find 'your spot' better for poleboarders or kiters.

Jim

[eastbound]

gnma and fnma dont insure--they do require insurance for loans to conform to standards for mortgage pooling and securitization--they are implicitly backed by the us government, something that annoys the big banks who complain they cant compete--despite that the big banks in 2009 were recipients of the biggest bailout of rich guys in suits in the history of the world! and they all got their huge $$ bonuses, uninterrupted!

our fine country's national flood insurance program is a disgraceful massive freebee for wealthy folk who own pricey flood-prone waterfront real estate--most of which is anything but primary residence

we normal taxpayers pay most of their flood insurance costs (the program is nearly bankrupt!surprise!)

and the subsidy feeds beautifully on itself--cheap insurance incents that developers build more and more on stupid flood prone land--which floods, gets rebuilt at taxpayer expense, and then floods again! rinse, repeat. perfect

i wont bother mentioning the complicity of climate change in all this--since we dont believe in climate change

[SlatchJim]

ps.... I drive 2.5 hours to surf all the time.... sometimes 4 days a week, when Rhode Island is better than Cape Cod.
2 days last week, awesome waves!

I think that's the drivetime from one end of Newport Beach to the other in mid summer.