Outer Banks Vacation Homes

The date has been set for the 2007 Outer Banks Marathon & Half Marathon to begin on Sunday, November 11, 2007.  After a spectacular outcome for the Inaugural race in 2006, this event promises to be even better for its second season.  The limit on runners for the marathon is 2,500, and 3,500 for the half marathon.  The event is heavily sponsored and in 2006, served as the USATF North Carolina Association Marathon Championship.

For more information, contact the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau at 1-877-629-4386.

On behalf of Carolina Designs Realty, our staff would like to thank all of you for your patronage as repeat guests.  Upon your first visit to the Outer Banks, you fell in love with the pristine beauty of our island, the comforts that our amenity packed homes bring and the superior service we have to offer as a vacation rental management company.  Because of this experience, you had your vacation planned for the following year before you left, usually with a pre-reservation for the same vacation rental home.  You have come to know and expect quality from all aspects of what our company has to offer.  We strive to exceed those expectations year after year.  We are very proud of your patronage, it is a strong measuring stick to show that we are going in the right direction.  We look forward to many years of service to you on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Alfred DeMars                    1954 to 2007

 Our staff at Carolina Designs Realty regrets to inform you that one of our very valuable employees, Alfred DeMars, a.k.a. “Al”, has passed away very peacefully.  Since 1993, Al was a very special member of the family here at Carolina Designs.  In fact, Al would tell you that he was the President of our company.  He would also tell you he looked like Tom Cruise, especially with his sunglasses on.  Alfred brought out the best in all of us; he knew that he was dear to our hearts and a great asset to all.  When he was not pampering us by doing nice things for us, he was watching over the office, making coffee and tending to all of our office needs.  Al coordinated the paperwork needed for check in packets, sent out the lease packets, kept up with important supplies, and assisted with the monthly statements.  He was chosen “Employee of the Year” every year!  You will remain in our hearts forever, Al.

  After renovation of the retail space that Mrs. T’s Deli and Bo Taylor Realty vacated, a new Staples office supplies superstore will open this spring.  The store will be located between Fresh Pond Drive and 8^th Street on South Croatan Highway in Nags Head at milepost 10.5.  There is a Food Lion grocery store next to the location, as well as the Nags Head Bowling Center directly across the parking lot.

Since 1986, Staples, Inc. has lead the office supplies superstore industry.  Boasting a record year as world’s leading seller of office products with $16.1 billion in sales in 2005, Staples’ 69,000 associates ‘make it easy’ for businesses of all sizes to buy the supplies, business machines, technology and services they need to run their business. Staples operates three business segments: North American Retail, North American Delivery and International Operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Germany.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced on Monday, January 8, 2007 that the Route 12 Road Improvement Project would begin this week. Improvements to this stretch of road in Southern Shores are as follows:

* A continuous center turn lane from SR 1418 to Skyline Drive;
* Pedestrian refuge islands north of Ocean View Loop and Skyline Drive;
* Extension of the full width northbound merge lane to the end of the commercial area;
* Extension of the northbound left turn lane at Chicahauk Trail;
* Drainage improvements;

The contractor, Barnhill Construction, anticipates a completion date of May 18, 2007. Intermittent lane closures should be expected with some congestion and limited traffic delays. There will be no scheduled work on weekends or holidays. Access to all homes and businesses will be maintained at all times.

   It is very beneficial to know whom to contact regarding issues that may arise regarding a vacation rental home within a property management company.  For this reason, we are extremely fortunate to have Michelle Layne, our General Manager, available to answer any of your questions as a one-stop information shop.  Whether it is maintenance, housekeeping, reservations, upgrades, accounting or a mirage of other areas, Michelle can assist or direct your inquiries to the proper person. 

Michelle Layne is a Certified Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professional (CVRHP) and an active board member of the VRHP. The VRHP is an association dedicated to providing education for vacation rental companies that strive to increase the quality, service level, and professionalism of housekeeping to both vacation rental homeowners and vacation rental guests.  Michelle is a Real Estate Broker, bound to the ethics bestowed through the North Carolina Association of Realtors.  She has been employed by Carolina Designs Realty for over seventeen years in various positions and is committed to keeping Carolina Designs Realty a leader in the vacation rental industry.

We commend Michelle for her exceptional service, bringing the highest level of satisfaction to our guests and homeowners alike.

As usual for this time of year, the Housekeeping Department is gearing up to start spring cleaning, coordinating training sessions for cleaners and inspectors and getting systems into place to make the 2007 vacation rental season run smoothly.  All properties are cleaned and inspected according to our housekeeping guidelines by a Carolina Designs housekeeper for every rental.  We are extremely fortunate to have Deborah Stone, our Housekeeping Manager, Toni Sawyer and April Hall, our Housekeeping Coordinators, working very hard to manage 150+ housekeepers and inspectors to ensure extremely clean and well equipped vacation rental homes.

A member of our staff, Michelle Layne, our General Manager, is a certified Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professional (VRHP). VRHP is a professional association of vacation rental companies that strives to increase the quality, service level, and professionalism of housekeeping to both vacation rental homeowners and vacation rental guests.  We commend our staff for their exceptional service as they work together to bring the highest level of satisfaction to our guests and homeowners alike.

   It’s January 3^rd, most everyone has returned from holiday, refreshed and ready to go.  The phones are very busy with calls from folks in hopes of having a Carolina Designs Realty vacation rental home this year.  Many prime weeks are already reserved due to the pre-reservations taken throughout 2006, now confirmed with the first half deposit.  We stand at 9% above 2006 in confirmed reservations.  This is due to having an incredible inventory of premier vacation homes, wonderful homeowners, vendors and thousands of guests that made this all possible.  Life is good here on the Outer Banks!