The town of Emerald Isle has just announced the 2011 4th of July fireworks display will return to the Bogue Inlet fishing pier. After a two year absence, the town agreed to renew it’s partnership with the Bogue Inlet Fishing pier.

The 4th of July Emerald Isle Fireworks Launching Pad?

Which launch pad do you prefer for the Emerald Isle 4th of July fireworks display? The Bogue Inlet pier or the location at the McLean Park near mile marker 18 in Emerald Isle? Leave a comment and cast your vote?

I relish every opportunity to travel to the Crystal Coast of NC! My upcoming trip to the NC Coast will be extra special as I get to combine my visit to the Southern Outer Banks with the opportunity to do what I’m passionate about – helping Crystal Coast real estate agents understand the power of the Internet. The prospect of meeting and sharing at real estate conferences and events is something I really feel I’m made to do. In fact, I’ve been asked to speak to the local chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS®!

See You at the Crystal Coast Women’s Council Luncheon!

I want to offer a tremendous “thank you” to Kathryn V. Gorham for this terrific opportunity. As the 2010 President of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® for the Crystal Coast Chapter, Kathryn is a top notch real estate pro and blogger. If you are a member of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® along the Crystal Coast, I trust I’ll see at this event!

Bobby Carroll – Speaks for the Crystal Coast Women’s Council of REALTORS®

The luncheon is scheduled for February 24th Wednesday, at 11:30am – 1pm at the Country Club of the Crystal Coast in Pine Knoll Shores.

Internet Tools Needed to Connect With Women Buyers

What online marketing tools do you leverage when connecting with women homebuyers? Kathryn has asked me to speak on the topic “I am Woman Hear Me Roar” – Marketing to Women Buyers! In case you didn’t know, female homebuyers are a growing segment in our real estate market place.

Below is a brief summary of some of the tools Crystal Coast real estate agents should use to connect with women homebuyers. The tools I’ll discuss include:

1.    What is the “hub” of your online presence? How about your real estate website and your blog? Does your hub answer the questions female homebuyers are asking?
2.    Concerned about the time drain to maintain a real estate blog? YES! Blogging can be easy. Learn about The 5 minute blog post women love to read and agents love to write!
3.    Do you use Facebook? FB is the single largest social networking site for women. Are you using your personal profile to “listen” for “social triggers” and engage with your FB friends? Are you even aware of these opportunities to respond to these social triggers?
4.    Are using Facebook Fan Pages to connect with women homebuyers? Fan pages are FREE websites within FB! What’s the best strategy to attract women prospects and encourage them to be “your fan”?

Crystal Coast Real Estate Agents – See You Soon!

I’m so excited at the opportunity to share at this event. If you are a Crystal Coast real estate agent I trust I will see you will be at the Crystal Coast chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Wednesday, February 24th at 11:30am.

Bobby Carroll

P.S. If you are interested in having me speak at your event, be sure to complete this real estate speakers request form today!

This is one family event you will not want to miss. The Emerald Isle Parks & Rec is hosting a “Friday Free Flick”, Friday, April 17. Checkout the details below. If you are planning a trip to the Crystal Coast, don’t miss the FREE movie “Bolt”.

Crystal Coast Event

Event Date: Friday, Apr. 17, 2009
Event Time: 7:00 pm
Friday Free Flick • Join us at Emerald Isle Parks and Recreation building at 7500 Emerald Drive on Friday, April 17th at 7pm for “Bolt”. The movie is rated PG and the admission is FREE!

All children, be sure you bring your parent(s). $1 = popcorn and a drink. Remember, no outside food or beverage is allowed.

For more information on this family-friendly Crystal Coast event, contact Laura Lee Davis.

Laura is the Program Supervisor with the Emerald Isle Parks and Recreation
Phone: 252.354.6350
Email Laura: davis@emeraldisle-nc.org

Why Emerald Isle is such a Great Place to Live and Visit!

The awesome part of residing (or visiting) a small NC Coastal town like Emerald Isle is the really cool family-friendly events the crew at the parks and recreation host. Besides the obvious scenic beauty and the recreational opportunities, what other reasons would you list for living or visiting the Crystal Coast?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Bobby Carroll – Your Crystal Coast Blogger

According to local media sources, only one final permit is required from the Emerald Isle Board of Commissioners for a new Emerald Suites hotel to be built. Planned for the corner of N.C. 58, Islander Drive and Crew Drive (see map below), the hotel project is being developed by a partnership of the two long-time Emerald Isle families, Larry and Daisy Spell and Paxon Holz. Ms. Holz is the daughter of W.B. McLean. Developer Larry Spell’s uncle, George Spell, and W. B. McLean were the original developers of Emerald Isle.

Room to Spare on the Crystal Coast

Three years in the planning, the three story, 53-room hotel will provide overnight accommodations for Emerald Isle vacationers in suite-style rooms. Each hotel room offers a separate sitting area providing plenty of space for visitors to the Crystal Coast. This is the first new Emerald Isle hotel to be built here in decades. The Crystal Coast had lost several hotels over the last few years including the old Holiday Inn, the Royal Pavilion, and the Triple S Hotel in Atlantic Beach.

Lounge by the Hotel Pool or Shuttle to the Beach

Offering amenities like a swimming pool and shuttle service to the nearby #4 Western Beach Access, construction on the project could possibly begin as early as late February or March. Pending issuance of the sewer permit, construction of the hotel is anticipated to take about a year to complete. An added benefit to the project is the creation of numerous new construction jobs required to make the hotel a reality.

More Choices for Emerald Isle Visitors

If you are a frequent visitor to Emerald Isle or even a permanent town resident who could use several rooms for a special local event, this new Emerald Isle hotel is sure to fill a big void.

Until my next post,

Bobby Carroll

P.S. It will be interesting to see what impact if any this new suites hotel will have on the Emerald Isle rental market.

As a licensed North Carolina real estate broker, I receive immense fulfillment from helping my clients in real estate marketing, blogging and social media navigation. As a part of those passions, I had the pleasure of attending the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in New York last week with my son, Brad Carroll.  Brad was asked to participate as a panelist in a breakout session on “Build a World Class Agent Web Site” moderated by Bernice Ross.

What Is Inman Connect?

If you’re unfamiliar with the Inman Connect Conference, it is a semi-annual gathering of forward-thinking real estate professionals who come to learn and to share how our industry is changing and being changed. Main hall sessions typically focus on the state of the real estate industry and ground-breaking technologies plus breakout sessions that focus on Internet marketing, blogging, state of the MLS and various other “tracks”.

From the Observation Deck High Above Times Square in NYC

The primary purpose of this Crystal Coast Blog post is to offer some thoughts based on attending the RE Bar Camp, Bloggers Connect and the Inman Connect Conference. The original train of thought of this post was sent via Twitter “direct message” to a social media buddy of mine and video rock star Uncommon real estate agent in Boston, Mike Lefebvre (@MikeLefebvre). Did I get all that correct Mike? Limited to 140 Twitter characters, I decided a lengthier blog post was in order. My time in NYC triggered the following thoughts:

• Uninformed real estate agents who begin “playing” online without knowledge of “netiquette” in the social media space stand a better chance of making mistakes. Social media newbies, may I suggest you stop (before you create a profile), look (at the guidelines), and listen (before you engage).
• Many will experience social media fatigue and will probably fall by the wayside not knowing how to implement a carefully managed plan to remain focused and active in social media.
• The vast majority of real estate agents just don’t get how to use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, and blogging. Each tool is distinctive with its own personality. Suggestion, read the social media primer “Social Media is a Cocktail Party” by Jim Tobin.
• Real estate agents who were the early adopters have a huge head start over their competition and the competition will find it increasingly difficult to play catch up.
• The next phase for early RE.Net adopters of social media is maturity in it’s use of the medium. Instead of using interruption based marketing tactics such as mass spam drip email campaigns and print media, most are forgoing these strategies in favor of permission based marketing in conjunction with social media.

Passions That Intersect at the Crystal Coast of NC

Granted, Emerald Isle is a far cry from New York City, but these social media concepts still hold true no matter if you’re a real estate agent on the Crystal Coast or in a large metropolitan area. People who live in Emerald Isle participate on Facebook just like those who live in Charlotte, Pittsburgh or any other area.

Leave a Comment

Agree or disagree? I invite you to leave a comment and tell me what you think about my observations.

Bobby Carroll
Your Crystal Coast Blogger

Twitter Me: @Realestatecoach

It is painfully obvious that I have been a total slacker when it comes to posting regularly here at the Crystal Coast Blog over the last few months. I’m going to use an “excuse” I hear often from my real estate agent clients and friends, “I’ve been too busy to blog“. There, I used the excuse and it’s still a totally lame reason not to blog (IHMO).

Bloggers Need to Man-up!

What I believe we should do is “man-up” (women bloggers too) and say “I wasn’t disciplined enough to effectively manage my time to blog”. Plain and simple, that’s my reason for not blogging more frequently. So for 2009 I commit to blog more often and to offer even more value to our faithful readers. That’s one part of my “big plan” for the Crystal Coast Blog for 2009.

Big Plans – Bigger Changes!

In my next post (coming soon-I promise!) I’ll share with you a few of the big changes you will see here at the Crystal Coast Blog. Hint – it has to do with sharing more of my thoughts on the Emerald Isle real estate market, aspects of social media, real estate marketing and blogging!

In closing, I would like to wish you a joyous and prosperous New Year!

Your Feedback

If you have a topic you would like to see addressed here please leave a comment. Your feedback is always valued!

Bobby Carroll

P.S. To all my friends in the RE.Net, if you are attending Inman Connect, RE BarCamp and the Bloggers Connect in New York City next week, I’ll be there and hope to see you there as well.

This story has been the hot topic of the news media of late. In case you missed it or maybe your not a resident of North Carolina, the NC Beach plan is deemed to be underfunded. And should a major hurricane strike the coast of North Carolina, insurance companies and property owners along the coast could be in deep financial trouble. One of the ideas being batted about is to increase homeowner insurance rates statewide to build the kitty.

The NC Beach Plan

The Beach Plan is also known as the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association. The rate of growth of development along the coast of North Carolina is increasing at a rate of about $1 billion in insured properties per month. Insurance actuaries (insurance risk number crunchers) say North Carolina lacks adequate funding to cover an estimated $7 billion in claims should the state experience a major hurricane. To help offset the growing shortfall, Property and casualty insurers are requesting to implement surcharges on homeowner policies “in the residual market property insurer, the Beach Plan, and to take additional steps toward stabilizing the property insurance sector“.

History has a Way of Repeating Itself

If you live in Florida, you already know several insurance companies no longer insure properties in your state as a result of recent hurricanes that have depleted insurance funds. That similar scenario could play out in the state of North Carolina should we be hit with a catastrophic storm.

Inland Homeowners Raise Their Voice

Many inland homeowners feel those who take the risk to own coastal North Carolina beach property should bear the financial burden to pay for the tremendous shortfall.

As Coastal Carolina Property Owners, How Do You Feel?

I’d be interested in hearing your comments.

If you have been reading my Crystal Coast Blog for very long you know I am a social media junkie, real estate marketing consultant and blogging addict. Part of my job includes consulting with real estate agents all over the US and Canada. Recently one of my clients entered his Charlottesville real estate blog into a blog competition sponspored by the Virginia Association of REALTORS®. The premise of advancing from round to round is based on popular vote. The vote is open to anyone. I’m happy to report Brian Chase’s C’Ville blog has advanced to the 3rd round.

Creativity Propels the C’Ville Blog into Round #3!

During the initial round of the VAR Buzz Blog Brawl, Brian playfully “bribed” his way from round #1 to round #2. With the stakes raised for round #2, Brian crafted a masterful plan contributing $1 for every vote for his Charlottesville Blog to the Toys for Tots in Charlottesville ($200 max contribution). By crackie it worked! Now Brian’s C’Ville Blog is in round #3 of the competition.

The Giving Gets Contagious!

Our firm was so impressed with Brian Chase’s commitment to give $1 per vote last round, we agreed to match his contribution for round #3. That means each vote that is cast for Brian Chase (C’ville Real Estate Blog) we will donate $1 to Toys For Toys (max of $200)!

Hurry – Voting Ends 2pm Tuesday November 25th

To make this Christmas season brighter for a boy or girl, I ask you to cast a vote for our client’s blog. You’ll need to hurry and cast your vote for Brian’s C’Ville Real Estate Blog before the Tuesday 2PM deadline. You can visit the VAR Buzz blog or vote using the form below. Thanks for making this holiday season a little brighter for those less fortunate! Fill out my Wufoo form!

The 54th edition of Swansboro’s Mullet Festival got off to a soggy start on Saturday with dreary weather ruling the day. Even Saturday’s night events had to be canceled. Improved weather conditions greeted festival attendees on Sunday.

No – We Don’t Pay Homage to a Bad 80′s Haircut!

For my faithful readers who are not from around North Carolina’s Crystal Coast communities, no the folks in Swansboro, NC do not pay homage to the 1980′s “mullet” haircut with an annual festival. A “mullet” is a fish.

Stop Moving and You’ll be FRIED!

By 10:00am many of the food vendors had fired up the grease in preparations for doling out massive quantities of fried funnel cakes, fried blooming onions, french fried potatoes and fried fish (mullet and whiting). Please pass the fried okra. Where is my Lipitor? :>)

Where’s the Mullet Stew at the Mullet Festival?

Boy, this event was screaming for something unique and different to eat. I kept expecting to find something new at this year’s  event. Why hadn’t the menu expanded to include maybe a “Cajun Mullet Sandwich” or maybe a “Grilled Mullet Fillet”, or how about a “Mullet Stew”. Now that would have been sumptuous for Saturday’s dreary weather.

The Mullet is the Rodney Dangerfield of Fish

Obviously, the poor Mullet just doesn’t get the respect it use to (if it ever received any respect at all  – although they do host a festival in its honor!). Could it be that the Mullet as a “delectable delicacy” really is overrated? Obviously those frying up the Mullets thought so. The Swansboro Rotary Club even offended the Mullet by offering a “whiting” fish plate as an alternative to the poor Mullet. Me thinks the Mullet is the Rodney Dangerfield of fried fish.

Interesting Blend of Vendors at the Mullet Festival

I did enjoy the bar-b-que sandwich and a plate of fried fish. Later in the day as temperatures began to rise the big hit was the Hawaiian shave ice. Even the vendor was from Oahu and I noted he used the same shave ice machine the local Hawaiians used to make shave ice on the island of Maui. There were ample things to do for the children and the assortment of craft vendors made the festival interesting. Pam even purchased gifts for the children and grandchildren. Of course, we had to buy a couple of Mullet Festival tee-shirts to celebrate the occasion.

What’s Your Mullet Festival Favorite?

Be sure to leave your comment. I would love to read your Mullet Festival favorites.

Until my next post,

Bobby

Annual Crystal Coast Seafood Festival is a Big Hit!

There was no hint of a financial downturn judging from the throng that filled the Morehead City waterfront for this years’ 2008 Seafood Festival. Beautiful fall weather greeted a shoulder to shoulder crowd. Great aromas filled the sun-drenched air as the throng munched on a smorgasbord of delicious foods. A crowd favorite was shrimp on the bar-bee along with the usual fair of elephant ears and roasted corn. The kids stood in line for their favorite carnival rides and moms and dads armed with video and digital camera’s snapped memorable photos.

2nd Largest Festival in NC

Proclaimed the 2nd largest festival in North Carolina, this years’ 22nd edition featured over 150 arts and crafts vendors and 4 primary stages for talent.

What Was Your Seafood Festival Favorite?

Was it the delicious samples of seafood, the outstanding entertainment or the rides? Tell everyone what you enjoyed most about this years’ 2008 North Carolina Seafood Festival.

Until my next post,

Bobby

Photos from the 2008 edition of the North Carolina Seafood Festival