OSM03: Sweet Carolina

August 2022. 9 adults & 3 children under the age of six. This is our second experience with Village Realty. On short notice, (less than 6 months) I very quickly contacted Village Realty and explained our dates and requirements. I reserved this property without any research. The agent very quickly met our needs. That is why I put so much faith in Village Realty.Instructions for TV & components would be appreciated.Medium sized Propane Grill is on site by the pool. Grill grease trap needs to be cleaned weekly. The tools required for this are not available to the guests.Vent for clothes dryer needs a thorough cleaning. The tools required for this are not available to the guests.Several Beach bicycles are on site. The younger folks loved these!Driveway dimensions:Approximately 25 feet long and 16 feet wide. With parking available beneath the house for one more additional vehicle with a shorter roof. You can comfortably park 3 vehicles in the driveway without violating the restrictions on parking in the cul de sac. Having precise parking dimensions would be ideal for all properties. Parking in OBX is always an issue.New mattresses were great!New carpet installed throughout.There are no mops, brooms, or vacuum cleaners on site for the guests to use. It is an OBX habit to leave the property in better shape than how you find it. These tools would very much help guests with these chores.Security bar for upstairs sliding glass door would help secure the top floor. The sun room screen door doesn’t lock. The top floor sliding door doesn’t lock.Recommend Update sofas in living room.Glue or repair table & chair legs.Replace the kitchen stove.Overall I would give the property an 85%. The size, layout, and amenities were all very nice. The game room, hot tub, beach bicycles, propane grill, and pool were very popular. Not all rental properties are created equally. After you accept that these houses are approaching 20+ years old, and are used by hundreds of people each year; it is amazing that so much of this property, and others, are in very good condition. (I have developed a theory that the owners of the houses and the realty companies are in constant negotiations to make strategic decisions on precisely what updates will be done in order to keep families coming back while maintaining the maximum rental earning potential). For families who are not familiar with OBX vacations during the peak season; cooking meals at the house is essential to saving money while also enjoying the company of the group during shared meals. Bringing additional food preparation items (larger pots & pans) and spices and seasonings is recommended. (Mixing bowls, gallon sized zip lock bags, Saran Wrap, aluminum foil, serving spoons. Mixing spoons) Bringing a large cooler will also help with refrigerator space. Bringing some non perishable foods with you may save you time and money. The grocery store was mobbed. Having a rough menu idea across the adults will also save time and aggravation. There are ample plates, bowls, and silverware available. There is also a coffee maker. We found a few of the chairs had lose fittings. We discovered that the knob for the right front electric stove top element was inoperable. We had the realty technician come out to show us a work around. We found that the stovetop electric heating elements were not getting hot enough to prepare meals. We’re not sure why this happened. We were able to make use of an on site electric frying pan as well as the outdoor propane grill when we discovered that the kitchen stove was not reliable. Recommend bringing your own food prep appliances if feasible. The air conditioning in the house was good. We recommend that the bedroom doors are left open when not sleeping so the HVAC can stabilize across the East and West sides of the house. The ocean (East) side top floor heats up quickly from the windows. There are adequate exterior floodlights around the house and for the driveway.There is an abandoned (& broken) plastic pool lounge chair on the extreme eastern edge of the property on the street. We aren’t sure where it originated. It was there during the entirety of 2 trash pickups. Our family washed out the exterior trash cans. They were in bad shape. The cans were mostly full from the previous quests.We very much enjoyed this property! (I am sharing my observations out of respect to the owners and for the benefit of the next family.) We would strongly recommend this property and Village Realty! The house is cozy, charming, inviting and ample in size. The Village Realty staff are very courteous and equally responsive!

We stay at the house for one week, 6 adults 7 kids. Overall our stay was very enjoyable.Pros:- the house was clean and neat at our arrival- Location to shops, supermarket, etc is good- For the couple of items that needed to be fixed, village realty was very helpful and responsive. Their maintenance guy was there the same day or next morning to help.- Only 4 blocks to the beach, the walk is a little bit of a hassle due to the house location but manageable- pool and hot tub worked great and had some toys for the kids which is nice. The sand from the beach and the numerous trees around the house can make the pool a little dirty but there is the equipment to clean it.- parking was ok, we had 2 small SUVs and a minivan, and we were able to fit them in the house lot. It was a little tight but since we didn’t use the cars much it was ok.Things that could be improved:- have a list of the kitchen utensils and equipment sent prior our arrival. We ended up bringing some items just in case but in fact they were already there.- Appliances are old and could be updated- Same for the TVs. It didn’t bother us much because we didn’t use them but if you have a rainy day they’re going to look very small

This was our first trip to the Outer Banks. This home is very nice but you can tell it is an older home with an odd layout. The appliances could stand to be updated and the jacuzzi tub in the Master bathroom did not work. There are only 3 TV's in this home and one of those was missing it's power cord. The hot tub and pool were great with a good balance of shade and sun; however, both needed cleaned when we got there as they had lots of sand in them. There is very little parking at this home and the carport is a tight fit for a midsize SUV. You can not park on the pavement anywhere in front of the home as they consider this part of the road even though it is a dead end court and you will get a lovely warning on your car from the security guard. The location is great, it was a quick run to groceries/shopping and not too bad to get out on the main road going either direction. The walk to the beach is about 4 blocks from the Mainsail Arch access. There is a path that runs along a canal but is is not well maintained and lots of weeds. We didn't find it worth risking an animal encounter. It would be nice if there was a bridge over the canal then the walk would be 2 blocks and worth it. As it is, one must go out and around the main roads to the access but we did not find the walk difficult at all. We booked a beach setup with Corolla Beach Services so did not have to carry much with us and they setup everyday right at the access. This home could use some TLC and updating but it is a very nice home in a good location.