I have a 4,200 sq ft home in Southport that cost $790,000. My taxes are $3,200 a year. I lived in the NE, not NJ, and my 2,500 sq ft home cost $645,000. Taxes were $7,300. You must have been looking at a very basic cottage with no tile, granite, nice appliances or amenities for under $200k in Southport. Weather is hot and oppressive 3 months a year. June, July, Aug it's hard to get into any restaurants with out a wait unless you get a reservation many days ahead. Shopping - if it's not at Wal-Mart you will need to drive 35-40 miles to Wilmington. Oak Island Beaches (no swimming beaches with Southport address) have free parking, wide sand, warm water and are mostly uncrowded compared to NJ. Nice fishing piers in Southport and Oak Island. Oak Island has a number of restaurants, small shops and resale stores and 1 arcade and mini golf. Downtown Southport has some good small shops and boutiques, antique stores, a surf shop, is fun to walk around. Lots of porch type swings in public places. A couple of good burger joints, great BBQ at Smoke House and lunch restaurants. It does have McDonalds, Bojangles, Jersey Mikes, Subway and Wendys being built. Plenty of grocery stores, gas stations and big box hardware. Winters are mild with ice and snow on rare occasions the past few years.
Lyn | Boiling Spring Lakes, NC | Report Abuse

Totally agree, Southport is a beautiful place. Very quaint and inviting. It is one of our favorite places to visit. All the chain restaurants are built outside of the town which keeps the town so nice. Walking around Southport is like a visiting a mini Charleston S.C. I hope their planning boards keep it this way. I noticed one reply to your comment was very negative about Southport and stated that to shop in Wilmington you would need to drive 35-40 miles that is hogwash, all the shopping you could ever want in Wilmington is only 18-21 miles depending on which side of the city you choose. I will say that the beaches on Oak Island are not my favorite, the silt traveling down from the Cape Fear River make the ocean in that area silty and cloudy. The sand on the beaches is a very course brown sand. All and all I think it is a fun place to visit. And, I wouldn't mind living there !
CactusLadySouth | Woodruff, SC | Report Abuse