www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com
REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP
STRATEGIC MOVES & BUYER FRUSTRATION
While the rising list prices benefited sellers, knowing when and how much to list
was a calculated chess move.
“It’s been a seller’s market like no other,” says Michelle Clark-Bradley,
Intracoastal Realty.
“As a seller, once your home came on the market you needed to be instantly
ready for back-to-back showings, navigating multiple offers, and securing your next
place to live.”
There is a lot of strategic thinking behind pricing, listing a “coming soon” notice
and when to have a property become active.
Conversely, Clark-Bradley draws an accurate picture of the frustrating ordeal
home buyers faced in 2021.
“As a buyer, it was like running the Kentucky Derby every time a home came on
the market in your price range — moving as vigorously as possible, battling with
many strong competitors, and absolutely exhausting yourself. In the end, there’s
only one winner, and you’re overjoyed when it’s you,” she says.
Buyers paid cash for 45 percent of the top 20 New Hanover County sales and half
of the Pender and Brunswick top 10 sales.
“It was a frustrating year to be a buyer, as most often homes sold well above ask-ing
price, with high due diligence money, and for cash — which are difficult terms to
compete with for many people,” Clark-Bradley says. —
By Christine R. Gonzalez
63
WBM
Above and opposite: Downtown Wilmington again experienced profound activity in 2021, including the sale of the historic 1825 Dudley
Mansion at 400 S. Front St. for $2 million after 302 days on market. The residence of North Carolina’s first governor, Edward B. Dudley,
the Dudley Mansion was also owned by Pembroke Jones, a wealthy rice broker and railway investor, and later owned by cotton exporter
and philanthropist James Sprunt. U.S. presidents Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft were both guests of the Dudley Mansion.
PHOTOS COURTESY INTRACOASTAL REALTY CORPORATION
downtown sold well. The lofts are next to
the iron truss bridge — frequented in the
backdrop of One Tree Hill episodes —
that was used to carry ice via train and
is now an integral part of the upcoming
Wilmington Rail Trail project.
On South 8th Street, four two-story
homes with clapboard siding were built
on property that once housed a ranch-style
home. The home was torn down,
and the property was subdivided into
four lots, which all sold in two days
at prices ranging from $275,000 to
$279,950.
“That was an excellent infill project,”
Toconis says. “That is a National Regis-ter
area. Most homes in that area are
considered historic. The home that was
on there before was incongruous with
the area.”
Older homes updated and staged well
sold quickly, only lasting one, two or
three days on the market.