Monday, February 17, 2014

New Bern Waterfront Lots for Sale

New Bern Waterfront Homes 



Everyone seems to want to live on the water and who can blame them. The photo above shows a boat heading out from Fairfield Harbour into the mighty Neuse River. My 2 hobbies are golf and boating so you know where to find me if I am not working.

We get a lot of inquires on our website from folks from out of the area asking about waterfront property. They see all the water front property surrounding New Bern and just assume it is all deep water and on high ground. I get emails from people looking for 5 or more acres of waterfront property on high ground and would like to keep the price around $100,000. This type of property does not exist except perhaps in a swamp.

 New Bern was settled in 1710 and so most of the waterfront property was developed years ago and what remains are waterfront lots from .3 to 1 acre. The remaining supply of waterfront lots on the Neuse and Trent Rivers  is very limited, and usually quite expensive. After all,  they are not making any more water front property.

Downtown Hilton Marina-100' Hatteras
With all that said, there are affordable waterfront properties on deep navigable canals where you can keep a large sailboat or a  motor yacht. When I say affordable I am talking about $200,000-$300,000 for a 1600-2000 square foot home. For this price you should  expect to do some remodeling to get the house into the condition that will be acceptable, and the lot will likely have around 70 feet on a deep canal. If you would like to build a home, there are some canal lots left for sale and the prices range from $100,000-$150,000.

Before you say I don't want to be on a canal, I want to be on the Neuse River where I can sip a Scotch and watch the beautiful sunsets, consider this. The Neuse River is 1 to 3 miles wide in New Bern and because of that storm winds can wreak havoc on both docks and boats. Also, much of the high land on the Neuse River is on the South side of the river which is shallow. The Neuse is consistently deep, just not on the South side. Forget keeping a sailboat or motor yacht on the South Side. You could build a concrete pier with a boat lift and keep a 22' boat but that is about it.

There are some properties on the North shore of the Neuse River with deep water. Most of them are in the town of Bridgeton. Homes on the water in Bridgeton are usually older homes and if they sell for less than $400,000 will need renovation.

The Trent River, in general,  has deeper waters near the shorelines, and is better protected from storms. There is a height limit of 44' bridge on the Trent River bridge that limits larger sailboats.

Land prices on the Trent River are quite expensive. And,  the inventory of homes for sale is usually quite small as the waterfront on the Trent is much sought after. A one acre lot on the Trent River will cost $350,000-$700,000. Homes on the Trent will run from $550,000 for a 1950's era home to well over 1 million dollars for a more modern home.

That's me with my grandson and 2 dogs taking a little kayak ride. I grew up on the waterways around New Bern and love the water.

To sum things up.

  • There is a lot of waterfront property in and around New Bern. 
  • To find the right property at the price you can afford will take a Realtor that is an experienced boater and knows the waterways. Hint-Steve Tyson.
  • Call Steve Tyson at 252 514 9157 if you have questions about waterfront properties in the New Bern or Oriental area.
For more information on waterfront properties in the New Bern area click the link below.

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