I have received many calls and questions emailed to me from readers wanting information about Crystal Coast homes and specifically about Emerald Isle condos for rent and for sale. Most of these questions center around the local Emerald Isle real estate market, and questions about things to do in Emerald Isle.

My Personal Favorite Entries From the Crystal Coast Blog

To help provide the answers many visitors to this blog have asked, here are some of my personal favorite past Crystal Coast Blog post.

Which Type of Emerald Isle Real Estate Agent Should You Select? One Who Blogs or One Who Doesn’t?

Internet Connectivity High on the List of Crystal Coast Hotel Guest

Questions for Crystal Coast Home Buyers

Factors that Impact the Success of Selling Your Emerald Isle Property

Is There Such a Thing as a Long-term Emerald Isle Rental?

The Cool Things You Can Do With Your iPhone on Emerald Isle!

Great Coffee on Emerald Isle – Beans-N-Screens

I hope you enjoy reading these post as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know which one was your “personal fav”!
Bobby Carroll – Your Crystal Coast Blogger

I often receive phone calls from renters seeking a long-term Emerald Isle beach front home or condo. I’ve found most of these inquiries come from younger couples especially military couples stationed at Camp LeJeune who are looking for a long-term rental. A few of things occur during these calls.

Educating the Emerald Isle Renter

I feel it is my first responsibility is to help educate those who call about locating a rental property on Emerald Isle. Many renters are unaware of the higher costs associated with renting property on Emerald Isle. Emerald Isle’s location is far more desirable than a rental property located on the mainland in Jacksonville, Cape Carteret or Swansboro. Second, many callers have a dream of finding a long-term condo or single-family property rental right on the oceanfront never giving thought those situations are so few (if not impossible to find). Why? Let me explain.

Emerald Isle Property Investors Really Want Higher Rental Rates

For an Emerald Isle property owner, they prefer to have their vacation property rented for short-term rentals driving higher rental rates. Obviously, higher rentals rates occur during the desirable peak summer months. It’s a simple matter of economics. This is especially true for those properties located on or near the oceanfront or along the Bogue Sound. Move slightly away from the beach or sound and the likelihood an Emerald Isle property can be rented for a year or longer becomes more economically feasible for both the property owner and the potential renter.

Desirability and Emerald Isle Property Values Increase Rental Rates

Just keep in mind, long-term Emerald Isle rental units will always incur higher rental rates than rental properties located on the mainland. It’s all because of the law of the supply and demand, desirability and higher property values. And property on Emerald Isle is very desirable!

What has been your experience renting long-term rental property on Emerald Isle? Be the first to leave a comment.

Bobby Carroll – Your Crystal Coast Blogger

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.

Ok, I’m sure this post will get all the Blackberry “Crackberry” loving real estate agents fuming. As a former Moto Q owner, I joined the masses that crossed over to the dark side and purchased an iPhone in mid-July. According to several websites, since the introduction of the 3G generation of the iPhone, an estimated 3 million units have been sold. That’s a staggering number. Based on the many Twitter conversations I follow, a bunch of agents all over the US are new iPhone owners.

My Rational – Why Emerald Isle Real Estate Agents Should Own an iPhone!

So why would I suggest what many might think is such an outlandish recommendation that your next Emerald Isle real estate agent be an iPhone owner? It’s all about the ingenious applications this baby can provide. In fact, I point to a blog post written by Real Estate blogger Joel Burslem when he stated there are “5 APPs Every Real Estate Agent Should Have on Their iPhone“. Now Joel made no mention that agents should be iPhone owners. I believe he was simply highlighting which iPhone APPs would greatly benefit agents (and their clients) most.

4 Reasons to be Considered

Ownership of an iPhone in and of itself does not infer that your Emerald Isle real estate will be a technology “wizard”. If your agent has an iPhone and has downloaded these applications to their iPhone, more than likely, they have a basic knowledge how to use these applications and are well-informed agents. Because those individuals who own an iPhone (IMHO) tend to be ahead of the technology curve, I am convinced Emerald Isle home buyers and sellers will greatly benefit from an agent who truly understands how to maximize their iPhones and along with the other technology gear they own. Hence my 4 reasons you should think about selecting a Emerald Isle Realtor who owns an iPhone:

1. As I stated above, chances are better than average that your iPhone totin’ agent will be much more tech-savvy than his or her counterpart. This is especially true if they have surfed to web sites like Platial.com and created a profile. More to come on this in a later post!
2. More iPhone applications will be coming down the pipeline very soon to allow consumers to search for all homes for sale in the Crystal Coast towns of Emerald Isle, Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach, and Atlantic Beach. Agents with iPhones are sure to be on the lookout for applications that help them meet the needs of their clients. While I was visiting the Trulia office in San Francisco last month for the Inman connect Conference, I had the pleasure of meeting Rudy Bachraty, Trulia’s Social Media Guru. Rudy stated yesterday his company has now released an iPhone property search app. I downloaded the Trulia property search app and it’s one very cool app. Emerald Isle home buyers and sellers, I recommend you download this app and take a look at all the features and benefits it represents to your experience. To help convince you of the value of this neat tool, take a look at this video.
3. With an iPhone, an agent (and his clients) can view the Internet and see websites “formatted” correctly. When I owned my Moto Q, the Internet browser on my phone was a total mess and I could never view the site correctly. Plus, my download speeds were horrible! With my iPhone, surfing the web is a breeze! With an agent out showing homes, viewing Crystal Coast properties from an iPhone is very easy. Now that’s mobile computing at its best!
4. As more users of the iPhone visit Emerald Isle to search for homes for sale, come to the Crystal Coast for a family vacation, dine at the local restaurants and stop by a coffee shop, no doubt they will be using all kinds of apps that offer a map and social networking opportunities. Those tech-savvy Emerald Isle real estate agents who decide to embrace this technology and begin using it will surely set themselves apart.

Agree – Disagree?

Be sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think?

Until my next post,

Bobby

Great Coffee and FREE Wi-Fi!

If you are in need of a great cup of joe and a quick surf on the Internet while you’re visiting Emerald Isle, you must swing by Beans-N-Screens Internet Cafe in the Emerald Plantation shopping center. Kim Ervin and her great team of expert baristas will whip up your favorite latte or espresso in no time.

Emerald Isle Real Estate Agents – How about this Idea!

If you’re out showing Emerald isle condos or single-family vacation homes, why not stop by Beans-N-Screens and take advantage of their free WI-FI Internet access. Even better, why not schedule a regular time each week you will be “camped-out” at Beans-N-Screens to answer questions about Emerald Isle real estate and provide FREE MLS home searches for those vacation visitors who stop by for a cup of their favorite blend. Heck – why not make a big statement and give away a few cups of coffee to your guest!

Great Coffee – Even Better Service!

What I love about Kim and her staff is they know how to have fun and serve great coffee. From the finest expresso straight from Italy to the best organic grinds, Beans-N-Screens has it all!

Your Crystal Coast Blog Recommendation!

Beans-N-Screens is my personal favorite hangout for great coffee and free WIFI in Emerald Isle. In fact, I wrote this post while in this very cool Emerald Isle coffee shop and I highly recommend this local business to locals and visitors alike!

Until next time,

Bobby

P.S. Summer hours at Beans-N-Screens are Monday-Friday open 6AM, close at 8PM and weekends Beans-N-Screens opens at 7AM and they close nightly at 8PM.