Tag Archives: Surf or Sound Realty

01/14/14

Welcome to the new SurforSound.com

Surf or Sound Realty is pleased to announce the launch of our newly rebuilt website: www.surforsound.com. Since 1978, Surf or Sound Realty has offered premier family vacation rental homes to thousands of happy vacationers and homeowners. Now renting one of those vacation homes is easier than ever.

SurforSound.com

As one of the first vacation rental companies to offer real-time availability, and a few years’ later e-signature leases for seamless online booking confirmation, Surf or Sound Realty has once again positioned itself as an innovator in the vacation rental industry with its new website. It is loaded with a bevy of new features and functionality designed to provide an easy-to-use, interactive experience to discover, book, share, and enjoy the perfect Hatteras Island vacation home.

The new website provides a more robust search and real-time filtering tool for easily identifying the perfect home for your family vacation, supported by quick-photo-viewers, interactive floor plans, narrative descriptions, and satellite and road maps with integrated points of interest to help vacation planning. There is a new custom account area where guests can log-in to view saved beach bag collections, check the status of their reservations, make payments, and share details with friends and family.

The new surforsound.com was engineered by MMGY Global based in Kansas City, Missouri in close partnership with the marketing team at Surf or Sound Realty. “MMGY Global is a leader in tourism marketing and research and was the perfect partner for this redesign,” says Melvin Stone, President of Surf or Sound Realty. “We are convinced that this website with its ease of use and feature-rich functionality will become the leader in the vacation rental home industry.”

View a tour of the new website on Surf or Sound Realty’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/surforsound

Some notable features include:

      • Streamlined booking engine allows quick online reservations on one page including e-signature lease, flexible payment plans, and multiple payment methods – all making it as easy as possible for you to plan your vacation.
      • Enhanced search capability provides real-time filtering based upon various amenities including number of bedrooms, cost, features, date of stay, and location. Scroll through house photographs easily, without leaving the search results page.
      • A “Quick Quote Calculator” shows the final cost of the vacation home including tax, travel insurance, and optional add-ons. The calculator will also divide the cost per guest and per bedroom to enable guests to easily identify each group member’s cost.
      • Real-time interactive road and satellite overlay maps enable users to view vacation homes in proximity to the water, as well as show which restaurants, shops, and activities are nearby.
      • Log-in account area allows users to e-sign and print leases, view reservation details, request changes, make payments, and even invite other vacation party members to make their payments on the account – all easily online.
      • A new “Waitlist” feature enables guests to request notification in the event that an unconfirmed reservation becomes available.
      • Redesigned home overview pages feature more and larger images of the homes, interactive floor plans, guest ratings, narrative descriptions, amenities, and details.
      • Enhanced Beach Bag functionality enables users to save collections of favorite homes and share them with family members to vote and comment on their favorites.
      • PDF Mini-brochures are easy to download and print to share single or multiple vacation homes with family members.

Surf or Sound Realty, proudly in business for 35 years, manages an extensive portfolio of premier vacation homes on each of the seven charming villages of Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and has two convenient office locations: 40974 NC Highway 12, Avon, North Carolina 27915 and 26204 Rampart Street, Salvo, North Carolina 27972. Surf or Sound Realty can be contacted via phone 1-800-237-1138 or email at rent@surforsound.com.

Follow us online at www.surforsound.com; Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Flickr, and YouTube at “surforsound”; Instagram at “surforsoundhatteras”; and LinkedIn at “Surf or Sound Realty” for the latest news from Surf or Sound Realty and our team of Hatteras Island vacation specialists.

11/27/13

National Park Service to Offer Off-Road Vehicle Permits for the 2014 Season Online

The National Park Service has announced that it will begin offering 2014 Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) permits on its website starting on Sunday, December 1, 2013. This new feature will further streamline the process of obtaining the necessary permits to access the ORV routes in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

There are two easy ways to obtain a National Park Service (NPS) ORV permit:

  1. Online beginning December 1, 2013 by visiting http://www.recreation.gov/ and going to the Cape Hatteras page on the site.

  2. In person, at one of three NPS off-road vehicle permit offices:

Bodie Island at the north end of Coquina Beach parking lot – 8101 NC Highway 12, Nags Head;

Hatteras Island by the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Visitor Center – 46368 Lighthouse Road, Buxton;

Ocracoke Island by the NPS Visitor Center – 40 Irvin Garrish Highway, Ocracoke.

All three offices are open year-round from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., seven days a week, except Christmas Day.

Annual permits cost $120; with a seven-day weekly ORV permit costing $50. If you purchase a permit online, there are additional processing and shipping fees. It will cost an extra $4.50 if you order your permit online and then pick it up at one of the offices listed above. If you choose to have your permit mailed to you, it will be an additional $11.00.

Remember to plan ahead if you are ordering online since it will take 14 days to process if you choose to have your ORV permit mailed to you. You only need to order a day in advance if you plan on picking it up in person.

The 2014 annual permit can be used beginning December 1, 2013 and is valid through December 31, 2014. Weekly permits can be purchased up to two calendar months in advance.

For additional information on off-road vehicle use in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, or to obtain a permit, visit http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/off-road-vehicle-use.htm or the Cape Hatteras page on http://www.recreation.gov/.

09/26/13

What Are Your Top Five Things To Do On Hatteras Island?

We all know that there are so many wonderful things to do here on Hatteras Island. Our pristine, family-friendly beaches and quaint villages offer a variety of activities for you and your family to enjoy while visiting us.

The Huffington Post recently listed its top “5 Free Things to do on Hatteras Island.” It is no surprise that spending time enjoying the beaches of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is top on the list. There is nothing quite like a day at the beach for exploring, relaxing, and playing in the surf!

The Huffington Post list also includes: a trip to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum where admission is free, although donations are encouraged; attending programs offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge; visiting Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island Lighthouses (there is a fee to climb them, but not to walk around the grounds); and taking a free ferry ride from Hatteras to Ocracoke Island for the day.

We would love to hear what you and your family like to do while visiting us! What are your Top 5 Things to do on Hatteras Island? Please share them with us on our Surf or Sound Facebook and Twitter pages, and follow us on Pinterest to see of few of ours!

fanphoto2_01_131

 

 

 

09/16/13

Full Moon Climbs of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse This Week

Did you know that you can climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at night? The National Park Service offers full moon climbs of the lighthouse throughout the year as a special experience for Hatteras Island visitors and the local community.

lifestyles-176

The last Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Full Moon Climb of the season is on Thursday, September 19, 2013. Two tours will be available on Thursday evening; one at 7:30 p.m. and a second at 8:30 p.m. The tours are limited to 30 people each and sell out quickly. So make plans to buy your tickets early!

Tickets will go sale beginning Tuesday, September 17, 2013 from 8:15 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. at the lighthouse ticket booth. Tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for children (11 years of age and under), and $4 for seniors (62 and older).

As there are no lights inside the lighthouse, climbers will need to bring flashlights to navigate the 257 stairs to the top. Park rangers will share stories of the lighthouse keepers of old during the climb. Outside on the lighthouse balcony, climbers will experience viewing the reflection of full moon on the Atlantic Ocean and the lighthouse’s beam of light reaching out to sea (weather permitting).

For more information and things to know before you climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at night, visit the National Park Service website or give them a call at 252-473-2111.

08/17/12

On the road again…Surf or Sound's Curbside Check-out Service

It’s 10am, all of your belongings are packed away, your rental home has been tidied, the kids are tucked into their seats, and the dogs are securely situated for a long ride home. It’s time to hit the road! Oh, wait! You need to complete the check-out procedure for your rental home!

Luckily, Surf or Sound offers a fast and efficient curbside check-out service, starting at 8:30am on Saturday and Sunday. If you are checking-out with our Salvo office, simply pull onto Rampart Street and one of our Vacation Specialists will be there waiting to gather the keys to your rental home and the guest survey. If you are checking-out with our Avon office, pull through the front parking lot and a Vacation Speciailist will be there to assist you with your rental home keys and guest survey as well. At this time, donations will also be accepted for The Hatteras Island Food Pantry.

Our Vacation Specialists are eager to make your check-out as smooth and hassle-free as possible! See you Saturday or Sunday morning from 8:30 to 10:30 for complimentary curbside service!

11/9/11

Hatteras Island Girl Scouts Team Up With Surf or Sound Realty to Give Back to the Island

Surf or Sound Realty was a drop-off location for Daisy Troop 4175 in their community project to collect items for our local Hatteras Island Food Pantry. Surf or Sound was one of five locations they chose on the island to be collection spots. It is part of their “Daisy Journeys” project and this was for a community service badge. Once the girls pick up all the donated items, they are going to take it to the food pantry together and get a lesson on how the food pantry works and making the world a better place.

Three members of Girl Scout Troop 4175 collect donations at Surf or Sound Realty's Avon office.

Three members of Girl Scout Troop 4175 collect donations at Surf or Sound Realty's Avon office.

11/2/11

Cape Hatteras Welcomes Anglers for the 54th Annual Cape Hatteras Angler’s Club Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament

The best surf fishing teams on the East Coast are heading into the breakers on Hatteras Island the morning of November 3rd to kick start the 54th Annual Cape Hatteras Angler’s Club Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament.

With 120 teams, this is the premier surf fishing tournament in the United States, and Surf or Sound Realty is proud to be a sponsor!

Action continues around Buxton through Friday afternoon. The individual angler Bob Bernard Individual Surf Fishing Tournament is happening Saturday.

Anglers compete for points based on catches of various species that meet minimum points requirements. Fish bigger than the minimums earn extra points.

For a schedule of events, click here. From your friends at Surf or Sound Realty – best of luck to all of the anglers participating in the event!

10/27/11

Hatteras Island Donations accepted at Surf or Sound Realty

Hatteras Island is a strong community, but is still hurting in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Many Hatteras Island Food Pantry (run by the Buxton United Methodist Men) supplies that normally sustain the island through the winter have been depleted, going to families that lost everything from the storm.

We are grateful to have many guests and friends from all over that have expressed interest in helping out our community. Surf or Sound Realty’s Avon office is an official drop-off location for the Hatteras Island Food Pantry, as well as Irene’s Giving Tree.

When you walk into our office you will find three boxes. Two boxes are for collections for the Hatteras Island Food Pantry. One is for the Buxton United Methodist Men and the other is for Daisy Troop 4175 from Cape Hatteras Elementary School, also collecting for the Pantry.

Items accepted include: non-perishable food, pet food, toiletries, personal items and cleaning supplies. When making a non-perishable food donation, perhaps try to think in terms of a complete meal – such as a box of spaghetti, a jar of sauce, parmesan cheese, a can of vegetables and a can of fruit. All can be purchased at a dollar store totaling around $5.

Also, if you are vacationing and you have left-over non-perishable food, please do not throw it away. Bring it to our office and place it in our drop-off box. Your donations go a long way through the winter!

Monetary donations are also accepted for the HIFP and can be made by check to United Methodist Men and sent to Hatteras Island Food Pantry at P.O. Box 1591, Buxton, N.C. 27920. Your donation is tax deductible.

The third box in our Avon office is for Irene’s Giving Tree. A couple of students at Cape Hatteras Secondary School with huge hearts decided to start a community service project for families affected by Hurricane Irene. They are collecting Christmas decorations for families that lost theirs in the storm. Ornaments, tree skirts, lights, Christmas Trees, etc. can be placed in our drop-off box in our Avon office. If you would like to mail a donation, the shipping address is: Irene’s Giving Tree, 47468 Hwy 12, Buxton, NC 27920. Monetary donations can be made out to CHSS DECA and mailed to: Irene’s Giving Tree, PO Box 71, Buxton NC 27920.

The Really Really Free Market is also in need and still accepting donations for items. The following is the most recent list of needed/requested items for Hatteras Island residents:

Dish detergent and Laundry Detergent
Diapers and wipes, baby powder
Throw Rugs, Area Rugs (Carpet Remnants)
Non perishable food items, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner fixings and any kind of non-perishable (canned or dried) proteins, and children’s snacks
(Gently Used) furniture, especially beds – refrigerators, stoves **Any homeowners, especially part time property owners, who may be trading out furniture or appliances, please let us know so we can arrange for someone who needs them to use your “tradeouts”
3T Boys Clothing – jackets/sweatshirts, pants, socks
Cat Food/Kitty Littler
Plastic totes with lids
Halloween Candy and small toys for Trick Or Treat / Halloween Costumes
New pillows
Sweatshirts (especially ‘hoodies’)
Christmas Ornaments and Christmas Lights
Boys clothing, size 6 to 18
Basketball shorts, basketball shoes (kids 5-17 years old)
Tools (many tri-village and Avon residents used their tools to make a living, and lost them in the storm)
Bookcases or display racks (for Really Free Market to borrow and return)

SHIPPING ADDRESS FOR DONATIONS OF ‘ITEMS’ for the Really Really Free Market
Hatteras Island Family Medicine
Attn: Alex Hodges
50204 Water Association Road
Frisco, NC 27936

Surf or Sound Realty sends a huge THANK YOU to everyone for their care! Hatteras Island is a loved place and we are lucky to share it with you!

10/13/11

Anglers Are Heading to Hatteras Island to Participate in the 26th Annual Capital City Four Wheelers Surf Fishing Tournament

Surf or Sound Realty is a proud sponsor of the 26th Annual Capital City Four Wheelers Surf Fishing Tournament. The event is taking place in Cape Hatteras October 15th and 16th.

Capital City Four Wheelers, or CCFW, is a family-oriented four wheel drive club in the Richmond, Virginia area that formed in 1983. They hold a number of activities each year. One of their main events is their Surf Fishing Tournament, which they hold in Cape Hatteras, NC during October. It is a fund-raiser event that lets them give back to the community.

Anglers will compete for prize monies in the following categories: Red Drum, Blue Fish, Trout, Flounder, Sea Mullet, Croaker and Spot. Anglers may only win in one category. A prize will also be awarded to the child (12 and under) who catches and weighs in with a CCFW official, the largest fish by weight.

A trash pickup contest will also be held. Every year CCFW asks fishermen and their families to help keep the beaches clean and free from man-made waste. CCFW sponsors a contest where you can win a prize by gathering beach trash in a garbage bag and bringing it to the Trash Station at Ramp 44 or Ramp 34 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 15. Turn in trash, get a ticket! The winning ticket will be drawn at the weigh-in on Sunday, October 16.

Besides the Trash Pickup Contest, there will be a raffle for a custom rod and reel combo to benefit a local Hatteras Island charity. Tickets will be sold during the morning meetings Saturday and Sunday, with the winner to be drawn during the Sunday meeting.

Participants will meet at the Fessenden Center in Buxton at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, and 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. There will be a total of 600 participants. CCFW will allow late registration on a first come, first served basis in the Fessenden Center for anyone wishing to enter the tournament. For more information log onto http://capitalcityfourwheelersrva.com or email Tournamnet@capitalcityfourwheelersrva.com.

Good luck from your Hatteras Island friends at Surf or Sound Realty!

**All photos are via davidaherron.com from the 2010 tournament.