A buyer scrolling listings at Badin Shores Resort will hit the same line item on almost every one: an HOA due that sits right around $2,152 a year. It shows up whether the listing is a 220-square-foot one-bedroom home on Robin Lane priced at $69,900 or a $389,900 three-bedroom house on Eagle Drive with a finished walkout basement. Same number. Wildly different houses.
That flat fee is the detail most comparison shopping skips past, and it is also the detail that explains a lot of what looks confusing about this market: why some entry-level units sell with the seller covering next year's dues, why a $70,000 unit and a $390,000 unit feel like they belong to two different conversations even though they carry the identical HOA line, and why the amenities package that comes with your lot matters more at one end of the price range than the other.
The Same Due, Three Very Different Percentages
Run the math on three real listings currently in the resort and the picture gets clearer fast.
| Listing | List price | Annual HOA due | Due as % of price |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom, 220 sq ft (Robin Lane) | $69,900 | $2,152 | 3.08% |
| One-bedroom home (Elm Street) | $139,900 | $2,152 | 1.54% |
| Three-bedroom w/ finished walkout basement (Eagle Drive) | $389,900 | $2,152 | 0.55% |
That is a fee that behaves like a regressive tax. The buyer at the entry tier is paying more than five times the effective rate, as a share of purchase price, than the buyer at the top of the range. Nobody is doing that math when they are comparing two listings side by side on price alone, but it is the math that determines your actual first-year cost of ownership once you factor in dues on top of the note.
This is not unique to any one HOA structure, but it matters more here than in most subdivisions because the price spread inside a single gated community is so wide. Badin Shores mixes travel trailers on deeded lots, park models, modular homes, and full site-built houses under one association, one due schedule, and one set of amenities. A neighborhood where every home sits in a similar price band does not run into this problem, because everyone is paying a similar amount for a similar product. Badin Shores does run into it, because the resort started as a campground and grew into a mixed-housing community over decades, without the dues structure ever splitting by property type.
What the Due Actually Buys, and Why That Cuts the Other Way
Flip the math around and the entry-tier buyer's position looks better. The due funds the same bundle of amenities and services no matter which lot you own: the pool, the putt-putt course, basketball and pickleball courts, playgrounds, horseshoe pits, a ball field, pavilion areas, the beach, picnic areas, the clubhouse, a chapel, and the waterfront restaurant. It also covers the maintenance side that keeps those things running: pest control, lawn care, pool upkeep, water system repairs, general repairs, equipment maintenance, insurance on common areas, and board and volunteer training.
A buyer at $69,900 is paying $2,152 a year for access to a swimming pool, a sandy beach, a restaurant, and organized resort activities. A buyer at $389,900 is paying the identical $2,152 for the identical list. Looked at as a straight amenities purchase rather than a percentage of home price, the entry-tier lot is the better deal in the community. The tradeoff is that the entry-tier lot is also the one where the fee eats a much bigger bite out of the total cost of owning the place in year one, which is exactly the kind of tension that makes a flat-fee HOA harder to shop by price tag alone.
The Listing That Shows Sellers Already Know This
One active listing makes the mechanism visible without any interpretation needed. A one-bedroom, deeded-lot 2017 travel trailer currently on the market is being sold with the seller covering the remaining 2026 HOA dues as part of the deal. That is a concession you see attached to entry-tier units, where a $2,152 due is a much bigger share of the total price than it would be further up the range. A seller absorbing the current year's dues on a lot priced near the bottom of the resort's range is effectively discounting the purchase by a couple of points off the price, simply by picking up a bill that barely registers at $389,900.
If you are shopping the entry tier at Badin Shores, that is worth watching for. A seller willing to cover a year of dues is offering a bigger effective discount at the low end of the price range than the identical concession would be worth at the top of it, and it costs the seller the same $2,152 either way.
The Water Project Is the Number to Watch Next
The dues structure is not static. In mid-2025, the Badin Shores board reported mailing out bids for meter installation as part of a water monitoring project, alongside a state inspector's visit that July to review records and inspect the resort's water collections system as part of routine regulatory compliance. Around the same time, the board also noted repairing a sewer leak on site.
That is the most recent public update on the project, and it is now more than a year old, so the meters could be fully installed, still in progress, or shelved. None of it means billing changes are locked in, and the association has not published a new rate structure tied to metering. But installing individual meters is usually the first step a community takes before shifting any part of water costs from a flat due to usage-based billing. If that happens at Badin Shores, it would layer a second variable cost on top of the flat HOA due, and it would land differently depending on how a lot is used. A weekend-only unit sees light water use. A unit rented out through the season, or occupied full time, sees a lot more. Anyone buying with rental income in mind should ask directly where that project stands today before assuming next year's carrying cost looks like this year's.
How the HOA Actually Runs
Badin Shores Resort's HOA is not a passive fee collector. It was incorporated as a nonprofit association in 1986, operates under North Carolina's Chapter 47F planned community statute, and is run day to day by a full-time park manager who reports to an elected board. Board meetings happen the second Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. at the clubhouse, and town meetings are held in the same session. Dues are billed quarterly, with a $20 late fee applied on the first day of the following quarter and a 3.5 percent surcharge if you pay by credit card in the office.
If you are seriously comparing lots here, sitting in on one of those Saturday meetings before you write an offer will tell you more about where dues are headed than any listing sheet will.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Before You Buy
Does the HOA due change based on lot size, home value, or home type? Based on current published figures, no. The due is a flat per-lot charge that applies whether the structure is a travel trailer, a park model, or a full site-built house.
What exactly is included in the $2,152? Access to the pool, putt-putt course, sports courts, playgrounds, beach, picnic and pavilion areas, the clubhouse, the chapel, and the waterfront restaurant, along with the maintenance, insurance, and general operations that keep those amenities running.
How often are dues billed, and what happens if I pay late? Quarterly, with a $20 late fee applied on the first day of the following quarter. Credit card payments made at the office carry a 3.5 percent service charge.
Should I ask about the water metering project before I make an offer? Yes. The board has been moving forward on meter installation and a related water system inspection. Ask the seller or their agent for the most current status before you finalize your budget, especially if you are buying with rental income in mind.
The Takeaway
The list price at Badin Shores Resort tells you what you are paying for the structure. It does not tell you what you are paying, proportionally, to belong to the community around it. Those are two different numbers, and the gap between them is widest at the entry tier, which is exactly where a seller covering a year of dues can matter more than a few thousand dollars off the price.
If you are weighing an entry-tier unit against a site-built home inside Badin Shores Resort, or just trying to figure out what your specific price tier actually costs once the due is factored in, Patty Edwards Realty has spent two decades working this exact resort with New London buyers and sellers. Schedule a free consultation and get a straight answer before you make an offer.
