| Leland, NC
Nightmare Turned Dream Come True: The Path to Cove Landing
BY Suzann Schutte-Graf
I was living in the Myrtle Grove area of New Hanover County trying to sell my house when the real estate market took a dive. My fiancé was renting in Porters Neck, so we were on opposite ends of the county.
Hoping to find an affordable home together, we decided to take a drive over the bridge and check things out in Brunswick County. We fell in love with Cove Landing in Mallory Creek Plantation. It was quiet and tucked away from the pending city annexation, traffic-pattern changes and new commercial construction I was experiencing in my neighborhood in New Hanover County. The Realtors on site were more than accommodating. We picked out a home site and a floor plan that seemed perfect for us, and we were under contract.
Shortly thereafter, my New Hanover County home went under contract, and everything seemed to be falling into place. I had never sold a home before so the experience was all new to me. But it quickly became a nightmare.
After the home I was selling went under contract we discovered that the driveway and the garage I had added in 2004 were over the property line. Not in the easement but over the property line itself (I had a crash course in real estate terms to learn the difference). My husband-to-be kept reassuring me that this would work out. Meanwhile, our new home in Cove Landing was reaching completion and our closing dates were back to back. Each day I had a new fire to put out. Reluctantly, my neighbors — the ones whose property I had put my concrete and garage on — were trying to get releases from their mortgage holder to allow me that sliver of property. Day after day I grew more discouraged and distraught over the whole ordeal. I had to pay so much money to get out of my house that we had no cushion for our new-home bonuses (such as a fence for our dogs and furniture for our bodies). I had to go before the New Hanover County Planning and Zoning Board and beg for a variance because not only was I over the property line but I was also in a zoning violation. Going before the board was extremely stressful. One of the county employees even called me a “Poster Child” for why they have zoning committees and hearings. That was a punch in the gut, especially when I had to pay the $350 filing fee. To top it all off, one of the board members was the CEO for Stevens Fine Homes, the company building our new home. He could not vote on my variance because he had a vested interest in the outcome.
Finally, it was time for our wedding. We flew to Hawaii on my birthday for our destination wedding, and it was several days before I could begin to enjoy my wedding/honeymoon because of what was waiting for me when I got back home. Of course, I settled in after a while and forgot about my problems and the time flew by. I was begging the airline to bump us from our flight to prolong coming home!
I had packed up my entire house and my new husband’s house and put everything in PODS and a U-haul. Our buyers were in need of a place to live since our closings were all back-to-back. They sold a house in the Pine Valley area on the 6th of August, they were supposed to close on my house the 7th of August, and we were set to close on our new house on the 8th of August. Of course, this did not happen.
I agreed to rent my old home in the hopes that we would be able to move into our new home. In a perfect world that might have happened, and after all of the bad luck I was having it would have been the answer to my prayers. Nope. After I signed my home over I was told that I could not move into the new construction because my contract was contingent upon the sale of my New Hanover County home. After a period of borderline insanity, I realized that I had friends who would let us live with them for nothing while this was being resolved. We were flat broke, homeless and newlyweds. Does it get any better?
I am a teacher and my husband is a City of Wilmington firefighter. He stayed at the station working 24-hour shifts and I went back to work facing the toughest year of my career. Then things began to turn around. After going before the board, we got our variance. Next was the neighbor’s release. They were so wonderful through the whole process (they even went before the board) that at this point I was hoping to take them with me. (You get clingy when you’re homeless.)
The neighbors got the releases (I paid for those), and then the buyers started stalling. They were clearly shaken by the zoning problem and the horrible market. Of course, they were not homeless. We were. We lost our new home mortgage twice and had to settle on a higher interest rate when we finally did close on Labor Day weekend. But the nightmare had finally ended! Three months after our wedding and the completion of construction, we finally got to move into our new home.
We originally chose this home because of the open floor plan and the fact that the house and home site were much bigger. Our dogs really appreciate the bigger yard. We like the brick exterior; I knew from past experience that brick was the way to go for low maintenance on the exterior of the house. Our favorite place in the house is on the back porch enjoying the pond view. And the house has enough room for us to start our family.
So many people stuck their necks out for us through this whole process. We have to say thanks to Stevens Fine Homes for extending our contract so that we would not lose our new home. We love living in Cove Landing and calling this community home. Mallory Creek Plantation offers low HOA dues and a great sense of community with just enough amenities. We are close to Leland and Wilmington but far enough from the hustle and bustle. My husband and I love the scenic drive to the beach.
I am a true believer that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I recently told my husband that I will never sell another home, so I hope Leland is ready for the long haul!
BY Suzann Schutte-Graf
I was living in the Myrtle Grove area of New Hanover County trying to sell my house when the real estate market took a dive. My fiancé was renting in Porters Neck, so we were on opposite ends of the county.
Hoping to find an affordable home together, we decided to take a drive over the bridge and check things out in Brunswick County. We fell in love with Cove Landing in Mallory Creek Plantation. It was quiet and tucked away from the pending city annexation, traffic-pattern changes and new commercial construction I was experiencing in my neighborhood in New Hanover County. The Realtors on site were more than accommodating. We picked out a home site and a floor plan that seemed perfect for us, and we were under contract.
Shortly thereafter, my New Hanover County home went under contract, and everything seemed to be falling into place. I had never sold a home before so the experience was all new to me. But it quickly became a nightmare.
After the home I was selling went under contract we discovered that the driveway and the garage I had added in 2004 were over the property line. Not in the easement but over the property line itself (I had a crash course in real estate terms to learn the difference). My husband-to-be kept reassuring me that this would work out. Meanwhile, our new home in Cove Landing was reaching completion and our closing dates were back to back. Each day I had a new fire to put out. Reluctantly, my neighbors — the ones whose property I had put my concrete and garage on — were trying to get releases from their mortgage holder to allow me that sliver of property. Day after day I grew more discouraged and distraught over the whole ordeal. I had to pay so much money to get out of my house that we had no cushion for our new-home bonuses (such as a fence for our dogs and furniture for our bodies). I had to go before the New Hanover County Planning and Zoning Board and beg for a variance because not only was I over the property line but I was also in a zoning violation. Going before the board was extremely stressful. One of the county employees even called me a “Poster Child” for why they have zoning committees and hearings. That was a punch in the gut, especially when I had to pay the $350 filing fee. To top it all off, one of the board members was the CEO for Stevens Fine Homes, the company building our new home. He could not vote on my variance because he had a vested interest in the outcome.
Finally, it was time for our wedding. We flew to Hawaii on my birthday for our destination wedding, and it was several days before I could begin to enjoy my wedding/honeymoon because of what was waiting for me when I got back home. Of course, I settled in after a while and forgot about my problems and the time flew by. I was begging the airline to bump us from our flight to prolong coming home!
I had packed up my entire house and my new husband’s house and put everything in PODS and a U-haul. Our buyers were in need of a place to live since our closings were all back-to-back. They sold a house in the Pine Valley area on the 6th of August, they were supposed to close on my house the 7th of August, and we were set to close on our new house on the 8th of August. Of course, this did not happen.
I agreed to rent my old home in the hopes that we would be able to move into our new home. In a perfect world that might have happened, and after all of the bad luck I was having it would have been the answer to my prayers. Nope. After I signed my home over I was told that I could not move into the new construction because my contract was contingent upon the sale of my New Hanover County home. After a period of borderline insanity, I realized that I had friends who would let us live with them for nothing while this was being resolved. We were flat broke, homeless and newlyweds. Does it get any better?
I am a teacher and my husband is a City of Wilmington firefighter. He stayed at the station working 24-hour shifts and I went back to work facing the toughest year of my career. Then things began to turn around. After going before the board, we got our variance. Next was the neighbor’s release. They were so wonderful through the whole process (they even went before the board) that at this point I was hoping to take them with me. (You get clingy when you’re homeless.)
The neighbors got the releases (I paid for those), and then the buyers started stalling. They were clearly shaken by the zoning problem and the horrible market. Of course, they were not homeless. We were. We lost our new home mortgage twice and had to settle on a higher interest rate when we finally did close on Labor Day weekend. But the nightmare had finally ended! Three months after our wedding and the completion of construction, we finally got to move into our new home.
We originally chose this home because of the open floor plan and the fact that the house and home site were much bigger. Our dogs really appreciate the bigger yard. We like the brick exterior; I knew from past experience that brick was the way to go for low maintenance on the exterior of the house. Our favorite place in the house is on the back porch enjoying the pond view. And the house has enough room for us to start our family.
So many people stuck their necks out for us through this whole process. We have to say thanks to Stevens Fine Homes for extending our contract so that we would not lose our new home. We love living in Cove Landing and calling this community home. Mallory Creek Plantation offers low HOA dues and a great sense of community with just enough amenities. We are close to Leland and Wilmington but far enough from the hustle and bustle. My husband and I love the scenic drive to the beach.
I am a true believer that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I recently told my husband that I will never sell another home, so I hope Leland is ready for the long haul!
