Marsh Oaks Celebrates 2nd Annual Marsh Oaks Day

Neighbors gathered at the clubhouse on Saturday June 28th for it's 2nd annual Marsh Oaks Day. We couldn't ask for a better day! The weather was absolutely fabulous, the food was delicious and the festivities delightful.

Children of all ages enjoyed the enormous inflatable "bouncies", and took turns riding the pony or petting the various animals in the petting zoo. Everyone was able to cool off in the pool and enjoy the sounds of the "Castaways" as they played from the porch of the clubhouse.

Hot dogs and hamburgers were served along with several dishes provided by various neighbors.

The adults gathered back at the clubhouse in the evening for an cocktail party. Various residents and business owners sponsored the event and provided delectable appetizers as well as wine and beer. Ron Cook (of Capt Cook and the Coconuts) serenated the crowd and many neighbors delighted in the door prizes they won.

Choosing Responsibility

As fuel prices continue to rise we are beginning to see a big push towards environmentally friendly construction. Builders in this area are taking note, especially the builders in Marsh Oaks. Currently, many of our homes in the neighborhood feature "green" features and shortly these features will become more and more commonplace.



In Marsh Oaks, we cherish the children that reside here. We delight in watching them play at the playground or in the pool. We encourage them to be kids and have fun, and not grow up too fast. Loving and cherishing them comes along with the task of teaching them respect and responsibility. It is our intent, as we look toward selling out Marsh Oaks, that we pass on the legacy of environmental friendliness. Join us as we travel the Road 2 Hope coming in 2009. Check back often for updates on the planning of this venture.

Please take the time to answer our poll so your voice can be heard!

Neighborhood Block Party

Probably #1 on my "Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Marsh Oaks" is the BLOCK PARTIES! This past Saturday the neighbors got together at Belhaven and Bayfield Drives to cook a pig. If you aren't "from around here", it's what we call a "pig pickin". While the men of Bayfield Drive started cooking around 9:30 Saturday morning (or at least that's what they said they were doing), the festivities really began about 5.

One of the neighbors owns the big cooker that you see here in the photo.

Other neighbors brought salads, dips, desserts and various other goodies. Children enjoyed playing together with their scooters, and ride-on toys while the adults were able to sit back and catch up with one another.

We were blessed with great weather and I'm blessed with great neighbors. This is what living in Marsh Oaks is all about!

Mid-Parade of Homes Update

We are midway through Parade of Homes 2008 here in Wilmington. Spread out over the three counties of New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick there were over 100 entries. Marsh Oaks was privileged to have 2 entries. Located at 7742 Bonaventure Drive, Murdock Building and Design entered their home, the Kylie. We entertained more than 100 visitors over this first weekend of the parade and our guests were enchanted by the use of the mixed hardwood floors, the rear entry garage and basement/playroom. The judges were also impressed with the hardwood floors as they were awarded the special feature award for the floors and another special feature ribbon for the master bath shower and with the body jets.

The second entry, just around the corner was the Spartina, built by Hagood Homes. Visitors to this home loved the use of color and the open, flowing feel of the floorplan. Special features awarded to this home were the covered porch with the stamped concrete and louvers as well as the detail of the lights in the master bathroom cut into the mirrors.

Stay tuned for updates on awards that are being presented this Wednesday night, in my book all of Marsh Oaks homes are winners!

Noble Middle School Band Wins Big

Congratulations to the seventh and eighth grade band at Noble Middle School. Recently competing against middle school bands across the state at "festival", they received all superior marks. The band performed three compositions, a march and two other contrasting pieces. They were judged on their dynamics, the interpretations, etc by three judges. After playing their three pieces on stage, they moved to a different area and were judged on their sight reading (playing a piece of music they had not seen before). Impressively, the band recieved "1"s across the board from each judge. (Judges ranked each band 1-4, 1 being the best).

The band was very proud of themselves, as they should be. They began practicing their music in January, had a guest clinician come in to critique their rehearsal, and even recorded themselves for self-evaluation.

Many members of the band are Marsh Oaks residents. Way to go Noble Eagles Band!

Money Talks...

In recent months there has been so much media attention to the housing and mortgage industry and all of it negative. There is a bright side to all this in spite of the media reports. Mortgage lending had gotten out of hand and needed to be reined in. There were individuals in the profession ,who for a nice commission check, put people in homes they could not afford. Now those homeowners have been foreclosed on and the numbers are growing every day. The mortgage loan officer is on to another "profession".
Since we are talking about housing/real estate the old addage of location, location, location is true. Our wonderful area has not been affected as other areas of the country have. Most North Carolina cities are showing growth in home sales and in appreciation and certainly the Wilmington area is one of those "survivor" cities. I have been in the mortgage profession 28 years and I don't believe there has been a better time to purchase a new home. We have an inventory of homes that offers a good selection. Builders such as the builders in Marsh Oaks are offering great incentives. Interest rates are still at record low levels, recently as low as 5% for a 30 year fixed rate.
If you are thinking about a new home, now is the time. Don't wait until interest rates and home prices go up.

BRENDA MCDONALD, VP
Lumina Mortgage Company
219 Racine Dr., Suite A
Wilmington, NC 28403
910-202-8225 Direct
910-452-0997 Fax
http://www.blogger.com/www.luminamortgage.com

When in Doubt, Throw it Out!

Many of my "future" Marsh Oaks homeowners would be present day homeowners if they could just get their home to sell. A hot topic these days is "Staging". When a listing agent mutters these words, questions are immediately raised in the homeowners mind. What does it mean? How much will I need to spend? And finally, does my home really look THAT bad?

To answer those questions I turned to Mary Virginia Freeman. Mary Virginia recently joined the Hagood Homes staff as their design coordinator. Among other accolades, she has many years experience in the real estate field in an upscale resort area in South Carolina.

For the next several weeks we will bring you a series "Staging a Home For Sale".

Enjoy!


It's a fact: over 83% of the "stuff" in our homes is completely unnecessary for sustaining life. For those of you who are collectors of stuffed bears or ceramic giraffes or books or record albums or basseball caps or whatever your passion, your percentage is probably closer to 97%. Remember the old saying, "your collections are junk and my collections are treasures"? collections tend to make a home look cluttered and rooms appear small.

Tip #1: Box up those collections, books, etc and put them in a storage unit... NOT in your garage or the closet or the extra bedroom.

If you have children at home, let them choose just enough toys to fill the toy shelf, remove the rest. Put the boxes of toys at the front of the storage unit. A trip to the storage unit to "trade out" toys every few weeks can actually be a lot of fun.

If you have more than 7 pots and pans in your pantry and you are not a caterer or chef, then you have too many. See tip #1.

There is absolutely no reason to have 36 plastic cups or 25 plastic storage containers. This excess only makes your cabinets appear inadequate and yes, buyers do look inside kitchen cabinets.

Flat surfaces in the home, such as tables and counter tops need to be free of clutter. Yes, yesterday's newspaper, bulls, coupons, homework, book bags, the button that came off of your coat three months ago and that one glove to which you cannont find the mate is... clutter! And while we are at it, that adorable collection of tteapots or salt and pepper shakers is clutter as well. See tip #1.

Don't forget the yard with all those charming gnomes or the garage. The same rules apply to these areas as it does to the interior of the home. No doubt that piece of driftwood that you have been dragging around from house to house will be needed someday, but right now it has no use and it needs to GO!

Selling a house takes your time and effort. You must be ruthless when it comes to paring down and throwing out. and this is ONLY STEP ONE!