Real estate in Kill Devil Hills is diverse, thanks to its interesting mix of oceanfront vacation homes, condo communities, and soundside residential communities. As a result, buyers will find a wealth of properties to choose from that range from quiet wooded lots to opulent 10 bedroom investment homes.

REALTORS in Kill Devil Hills

Buyers who are interested in the Kill Devil Hills region will be best served by enlisting the assistance of a REALTOR or buyer's agent. A REALTOR is a real estate sales agent that has been licensed by the state of North Carolina to help buyers and sellers with selling or purchasing a home.

On the Outer Banks, there are several hundred licensed REALTORs working in property sales, giving buyers ample options to choose from.

Buyers can find licensed REALTORs to assist with the purchase of a property in any of the following ways:

  • Contacting their property management company of choice (which features a separate real estate department) and asking to speak with an agent on duty.
  • Consulting Realtor.com, which is a national resource and features both licensed agents and MLS sales listings.
  • Calling or emailing an Outer Banks real estate company that deals exclusively in real estate sales.
  • Consulting local Outer Banks real estate magazines like Homes and Land and Home Tour.
  • Consulting the local Outer Banks Association of REALTORs at http://outerbanksrealtors.com/

Real Estate Listings in Kill Devil Hills

While a small handful of properties for sale are FSBOs (For Sale By Owner) the majority of listings are represented by a REALTOR and are easily found on the Outer Banks Multiple Listing Service (MLS.)

Virtually any property management company in Kill Devil Hills that has a real estate component of their business has a link to the MLS on their website, and buyers can also find MLS listings on national sites, like Realtor.com.

At any given time, Kill Devil Hills has roughly 50-100 condos for sale, 200-400 homes for sale, 100-200 lots for sale, and a few dozen commercial businesses for sale, which gives buyers a wide range of properties to choose from.

Kill Devil Hills is unique in that the town itself has distinctive area locations, which also says a lot about the type of properties available in these regions. Buyers will want to review the following locales when searching for Kill Devil Hills listings.

Oceanside - These listings are typically oceanfront, on the eastern side of the Beach Road (NC Highway 12), and with very few exceptions are vacation rental homes.

Between the Highways - These properties are located in between the Beach Road and the Beach Bypass and are roughly all rental homes and smaller beach cottages, with a few full-time residences thrown in. The majority of oceanside and between the highways properties are on pilings and have the classic beach cottage look.

Westside - These properties are located on the western side of the 4-lane Beach Bypass, and are typically residential homes with no pilings, and which are situated in primarily year-round neighborhoods. The exception to this rule are soundfront homes, which are often vacation rentals.

Colington - These properties are located west of Kill Devil Hills in the Colington Island communities, and are almost all year-round residential homes. Many are canalfront or waterfront, and there are also a large number of mobile homes for sale in this region.

Because of the far-reaching mix of mobile homes, vacation homes which earn rental income, and year-round properties, prices in Kill Devil Hills range greatly from around $75,000 for a modest mobile home to $1.5 million for an opulent oceanfront vacation rental.

Lots have a diverse price range as well, and generally range from $25,000 for a smaller lot in Colington to $700K for an oceanfront lot.

Most website searches have filters for price, type, location, number of bedrooms, and other filters, making it easy to narrow down the 500+ properties that are currently for sale to a manageable list of properties that fit a buyer's criteria.

Viewing Properties for Sale in Kill Devil Hills

Buyers can view properties for sale in Kill Devil Hills by scheduling an appointment with the listing agent, or through their buyer's agent.

Summertime buyers, especially for rental homes, will have to submit a request to view properties well in advance. The majority of rental homes and condos are rented from Saturday to Saturday, or Sunday to Sunday, and accommodations for buyers to "stop by" and view the home will have to be made with the current tenants. As such, weekends are often the best time to view rental properties for sale in the summer, when the homes or condos are in between weekly guests.

Winter is the opposite, as the bulk of rental homes are empty for the season. As a result, it is much easier to view rental properties last-minute in the winter months, generally from November (excluding Thanksgiving week) until March.

The average buyer usually views 8-10 properties before finding the "perfect fit," so plan plenty of time to look accordingly

Kill Devil Hills-Specific Considerations

Buying real estate in the Outer Banks is different than virtually any other market in mainland North Carolina, and buyers will want to keep the following considerations in mind when purchasing Kill Devil Hills real estate.

  • Flood Insurance may be required, depending on the property's elevation above sea level. With the exception of special flood zones and / or larger estates, flood insurance is typically just a few hundred extra dollars a year for a typical 3-4 bedroom beach cottage.
  • Westside homes that are at a higher elevation may not require flood insurance.
  • Condo complexes often have annual or monthly association fees for owners, which include maintenance and upkeep for the "common areas," like the condo grounds, community amenities, and other condo-specific services.
  • Some communities and subdivisions have association fees as well. These communities often have "extras" for owner and their guests, like community pools, tennis courts, gated security, or all of the above.
  • Rental homes may be subjected to an annual extra Dare County Occupancy Tax, in addition to the annual Kill Devil Hills property tax. Both costs are tax deductible at the end of the year.
  • Buyers of rental homes will also want to factor in property management commissions, regular maintenance fees, advertising, and other costs for the upkeep of the property.
  • The good news is that owners of rental homes can also often deduct the maintenance, utilities, and fees that are associated with running an investment home. Trips to Kill Devil Hills to perform maintenance on the property may be able to be deducted as well.
  • Kill Devil Hills is popular with year-round Outer Banks residents. A great and central place for relocating OBX newcomers, the Westside neighborhoods and Colington are quieter than the bypass and beach neighborhoods, and have an inherent sense of community.
  • Whether it's an investment home, a condo to enjoy summer escapes, or a year-round residence, it's hard to beat the sheer selection of Kill Devil Hills. As a result, it's a good starting point for OBX buyers who want to get an introduction to the Outer Banks real estate market.

 

American Pie

American Pie

Discover the best homemade ice cream and authentic made-from-scratch New York Style pizza the Outer Banks has to offer at American Pie in Kill Devil Hills. An Outer Banks favorite for lunch, dinner or a delicious scoop of scrumptious ice cream after a day at the beach.

 

It was 1978 when Eddie and Lou Miller first opened Miller’s Seafood and Steakhouse. As a teenager, their son Brian spent his summers working in the restaurant, getting familiar with the family business. After college, Brian and his wife Beth came back to Kill Devil Hills and began working together at Miller’s. Brian and Beth officially purchased the restaurant from Eddie and Lou in 2007. A few years later they opened American Pie together, and both restaurants now carry on the Miller family tradition of quality, excellence and hospitality.

 

“I learned everything about the restaurant business from my parents,” Miller says. “They ran the business together for all those years, and now my wife and I are doing the same. “Throughout the summer, we’re feeding around 2,000 people a day in our two restaurants. It’s a challenge we embrace every season, and we get a lot of fulfillment from making it all work.”

 

The Millers focus on two main specialties: high quality foods and unparalleled service. Seafood at Miller’s is fresh and locally caught, and they serve high-quality Angus beef, fresh pastas and homemade desserts. At American Pie, guests enjoy hand-tossed pizzas and homemade ice cream.

 

“We put a lot of time and effort into ensuring the products we bring in are top-notch,” Miller says. “Our customers know that when they visit our restaurants, they’ll be getting the quality and consistency they’ve come to know and love.”

Super Wings

Super Wings

Best store on the beach! Everything you need for your vacation. The newest ladies' and girls swimsuits, 20% off every day! Largest selection of beach supplies and the best deals on T-shirts, sweatshirts and mens, ladies, and kids, apparel, swimwear and resort wear. Get all your souvenirs, suntan lotions, beach towels, floats, kites, and more. The only 1 stop shop on the beach.

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Pigman's Bar-B-Que

Pigman's Bar-B-Que

You haven’t experienced North Carolina until you’ve experienced North Carolina BBQ, and Pigman’s Bar-B-Que offers excellent North Carolina BBQ meals served with southern hospitality. Pigman’s offers traditional eastern North Carolina style BBQ, a vinegar-based variety smoked on site. All bar-b-que is cooked slowly with hand-crafted sauces to perfection. Pigman’s offers a tomato or “ketchup-based” BBQ option as well. Choose from Pork BBQ, Beef BBQ, Turkey-Que and Tuna-Que all perfected with incredible sauces.  It’s hard to choose among the many sauces and options. Aside from the regular sauce, there’s Hot Sauce, Grilln’ Sauce, Rib Roarin’ Sauce, Rub-a-Dub Rib Rub options. And if you really love a sauce, Pigmans will share their sauce recipes with you! 

Brew Thru

Brew Thru

No trip to the Outer Banks is complete without cruising through Brew Thru, the Outer Banks’ original drive thru convenience store. Whether you’re looking for a refreshing cold beverage of Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks on the go, stocking up your cooler with refreshments to enjoy at the beach or piling up on beer and wine for a party, Brew Thru is a fun and unique experience all vacationers need to see for themselves.

Drive-Through Beer & Gear

Brew Thru is Your One-Stop Shop at the Beach

The year was 1977, and Dana and Becky Lawrentz were chatting with friends over brews in their hometown of Akron, Ohio. They got to talking about a gas station convenience store in the area that had built a makeshift drive-through. Everyone agreed it would be pretty great if you could actually drive through a convenience store and pick up everything you needed without getting out of the car. But what would you call a place like that?

Well, you’d call it a Brew Thru.

It was an idea they couldn’t shake, so the Lawrentzes moved to the Outer Banks and built the first Brew Thru with the help of a partner. The idea was that people could come buy everything they would need for their trip to the beach—beer, wine, soft drinks, snacks, ice—without getting out of the car. That same year, a t-shirt salesman visiting the store and talked them into adding t-shirts to their product line—and 44 years later there are now more than five million Brew Thru t-shirts out in the wild.

The Lawrentzes’ daughter Brandy and her husband Philip Foreman purchased the business from them in 2002, and they now operate five locations across the Outer Banks.“We love being the one-stop shop for folks on the way to their beach house,” Foreman says. “Our car tenders are the friendliest people at the beach. We’re here to greet you, get you everything you need for your trip, load it up in the trunk for you, and have you leaving with a smile on your face.”

The store is quite expansive, featuring more than 100 brands of beer, dozens of wines and even a vast selection of cigars—not to mention all the snacks, t-shirts and other gear. To make ordering a little easier, customers in line get a menu—fondly known as the Summer-y—that outlines everything available at the store. These Summer-ies are also available in many of the beach rentals, which allows vacationers to decide what they want before driving through.

For customers who would like to get out and stretch their legs, there’s the Brew Thru Shop in Kill Devil Hills, where you can find their world famous t-shirts and other gifts. New t-shirt designs are created each year, making a yearly Brew Thru t-shirt a favorite of locals and annual visitors to the Outer Banks.

The Foremans both grew up in the Outer Banks, and they love that Brandy’s parents’ vision for a friendly and convenient place for people to grab their brews and other beach stay essentials is continuing to flourish.

“Our family has been welcoming people to the Outer Banks since 1977,” Foreman says. “We love this beautiful place, and we want everybody to get to enjoy it.”

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