Head-to-Head
The three markets’ best representative live deals, run through the identical pro-forma (7.0% rate, 18% management, market-specific taxes, full cost stack). This one table is the report in miniature.
The comparison
Section titled “The comparison”| Duck | Corolla | Nags Head | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property | 110 Station Bay Dr | 1469 Ocean Pearl Rd | 6927 S Va Dare Trail |
| Tier | 4BR oceanfront | 10BR oceanfront | 8BR oceanfront |
| Price | $1,799,000 | $2,250,000 | $2,550,000 |
| Gross rent (proj.) | ~$120,000 | $215,000 | ~$271,000 |
| ERP | 6.7% | 9.6% | 10.6% |
| Cost stack | −$64.4k | −$96.5k | −$107.3k |
| NOI | $55.6k | $118.6k | $163.7k |
| Unlevered yield | 3.1% | 5.3% | 6.4% |
| vs. 8.0% constant | deep negative | negative | mild negative |
| Cash flow @ 20% down | −$4,940/mo | −$2,100/mo | ≈ +$70/mo |
| Down for cost-neutral | ~61% | ~34% | ~20% ✅ |
HIGH on prices/taxes (verified live) · MED on gross-rent projections (advertised, not booked actuals; Duck’s is a market estimate).
What the table says
Section titled “What the table says”-
The verdict tracks ERP almost perfectly. As ERP climbs 6.7% → 9.6% → 10.6%, the down payment for cost-neutral falls 61% → 34% → 20%. Yield is destiny.
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The most expensive house is the easiest to break even on. The $2.55M Nags Head home is cost-neutral at ~20% down; the $1.8M Duck home needs ~61%. Price is not the obstacle — yield is. A newcomer’s instinct (“buy cheaper to break even”) is exactly backwards.
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“Nice place to be” has a price. Duck’s premium — the very thing that makes it lovely — is what buries its yield. You’re paying, in required equity, for quiet and prestige.
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Only the value-market, high-bedroom oceanfront clears the bar at normal leverage. Everything else is a “bring more equity or subsidize it” decision.
The honest asterisk
Section titled “The honest asterisk”Nags Head’s near-neutral result rests on a $271k agent projection — haircut it 15% to ~$230k and the down payment for neutral rises toward ~30%. That’s still dramatically better than Duck, and it’s the right way to underwrite: the ranking is robust even if the absolute numbers soften. Buy yield, demand real booking history, and treat projections as sales copy.
Dig into any of them: Duck models → · Corolla models → · Nags Head models →.