Investment Property in Calabash, NC

This page is general information, not legal, tax, insurance, or investment advice, and I do not tell anyone whether a property will make money. Rental rules, tax law, and insurance change, so please confirm what applies to you with your CPA, your attorney, your insurance agent, and your lender. I am a real estate professional, and my part is finding properties, pulling the facts, and handling the purchase.

Brunswick County has levied a 1 percent room occupancy tax since January 1, 1998, on accommodations subject to sales tax because they are rented for less than 15 days; stays of 90 consecutive days or longer are exempt. The county's fact sheet names four towns that collect the 1 percent themselves, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Caswell Beach, and Holden Beach, and Calabash is not one of them, so a Calabash host files the county's individual return with the Brunswick County Revenue Department by the 15th of the following month, even in a month with no rentals. Before you buy for short stays, ask the town's zoning office whether that use is allowed on the parcel.

On a $400,000 rental, Calabash's 2026 total of 0.44 per $100 works out to about $1,760 a year, up from $1,600 at the 2024 total of 0.40, and the county revalues all property effective January 1, 2027. Lenders require flood insurance on a federally backed loan for a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area. The IRS treats advance rent as income when you receive it, and personal use beyond the greater of 14 days or 10 percent of the days rented at a fair price limits your deductions. For a Section 1031 exchange, identify the replacement within 45 days of transferring the property you give up and receive it within 180 days or by your tax return due date with extensions, whichever comes first. My investment property page has more, and investment property in Brunswick County covers the island rules. Call me with your budget and goal.