A buyer comparing two homes on the same Lake Norman peninsula will often start with the HOA fee, because it is the one club-and-community cost that shows up cleanly on the MLS sheet. In The Point, that number is modest, often quoted in the low thousands per year. Right next door, in The Harbour at The Pointe, the HOA fee can look similar or even higher depending on the section. If a buyer stopped there, the two communities would look like a rounding error apart.
They are not. The real gap between these two neighborhoods, which sit on the same stretch of Brawley School Road within sight of each other, has almost nothing to do with the number on the listing sheet. It has to do with a second obligation that does not appear on most MLS printouts at all, because it is not administered by the HOA. It is administered by a private club, and in one of these two communities, it is not optional.
The Fee You Can Find
The Point Owners Association handles the parts of ownership that feel familiar from any planned community: street maintenance, common area landscaping, the Village Green, neighborhood trails. That assessment is public in the sense that it shows up in listing documents and can be confirmed with Hawthorne Management, the community's management company. It is a known, budgeted, comparably small number.
That is where the resemblance to a typical HOA ends.
The Fee That Lives In The Deed, Not The Budget
Every lot in The Point carries a recorded obligation tied to Trump National Golf Club Charlotte, the private club built around the neighborhood's Greg Norman designed golf course. Ownership in The Point automatically enrolls the owner in the club's Social Membership tier. This is not a marketing add-on or a suggestion at closing. It is written into a recorded amendment to the community's governing documents, and unpaid dues under that membership plan can attach to the lot as a lien, in much the same way an unpaid HOA assessment would.
This matters at three specific points in a transaction. First, at contract, because a buyer's true carrying cost includes a mandatory club obligation that a standard HOA disclosure does not always spell out in dollar terms. Second, at title search, because a lien from unpaid club dues behaves like any other lien on the property and needs to be cleared before closing. Third, at resale, because the obligation transfers with the lot, not with the seller, so the next owner inherits the same requirement automatically.
Why The Public Numbers Don't Agree
Ask three different sources what the club actually costs and you will get three different answers, and the spread is wide enough to matter. One account, citing the club's general manager, put a golf membership at a one-time fee of $60,000 with monthly dues of $550. A separate golf-course guide published roughly a year later listed initiation in the $50,000 to $75,000 range with monthly dues between $500 and $1,000. A third source put initiation as high as $80,000 to $100,000 with dues exceeding $1,000 a month.
None of these figures are necessarily wrong. They likely reflect different points in time, different membership tiers, or both. But the spread itself is the useful fact here, not any single number inside it. A club membership fee is not filed with the county, published in a budget, or locked into an MLS field the way an HOA assessment is. It is a privately negotiated figure between the buyer and the club's membership office, and it moves without a public paper trail. Treating any number found online as a firm budget line is the mistake. The only number that matters is the one the club's membership director puts in writing for a specific buyer on a specific date.
The tier a buyer needs also changes the math entirely. Social Membership, the minimum required of every owner, covers access to the club's dining rooms, the Family Activity Center, and children's playgrounds. It does not include the golf course, the pool, or the tennis courts. A Sports Membership adds tennis, swimming, and fitness facilities on top of the social tier. Full Golf Membership is a separate, larger commitment that includes everything, including the course itself. A buyer who assumes the mandatory membership means access to the pool or the golf course, simply because homeownership requires joining something, is working from the wrong assumption. The required tier is the smallest one. Everything else is an upgrade the buyer chooses and pays for separately.
The Neighbor That Solves This Differently
The Harbour at The Pointe sits adjacent to The Point on the same peninsula, and the contrast is instructive precisely because the two communities are so close geographically and so different structurally. Established in 1994, The Harbour contains 336 homes across more than 40 acres of shared open space, with its own marina, boat ramp, swimming pool, clubhouse, courts, and gated storage for boats and RVs. Residents there are not required to maintain any membership at Trump National Golf Club Charlotte. Anyone who wants golf, private dining, or additional club recreation can pursue membership independently, but nothing about owning a home in The Harbour obligates it.
Neither model is better in the abstract. A buyer who wants the club built into daily life, and who values a level of shared social infrastructure that gets organized for you, will find that The Point delivers it by design. A buyer who wants boating and neighborhood recreation without a recurring club obligation attached to the deed will find that fit in The Harbour instead. The point is that these are genuinely different financial commitments wearing similar looking HOA fees on the surface, and a buyer comparing the two on fee alone is not comparing the same thing.
Before Writing An Offer In The Point
A few steps turn this from a surprise into a known cost:
- Request the recorded amendment establishing the club membership obligation from the closing attorney or title company, and read the actual language rather than relying on a summary.
- Contact the club's membership office directly for a current, written fee schedule for the Social tier and any tier the buyer actually wants to use, rather than relying on a number found on a general information site.
- Ask the seller or listing agent whether club dues are current, since any lien tied to unpaid dues needs to be resolved before closing.
- Confirm with Hawthorne Management what is included in the standard POA assessment versus what is billed separately for boat slips, septic inspections, or section-specific costs.
- If comparing The Point against The Harbour or another peninsula community, request each club's or association's fee schedule side by side rather than comparing HOA numbers alone.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Directly
Can an owner in The Point decline the club membership entirely? No. The recorded structure requires at least the Social Membership tier as a condition of ownership, regardless of whether the owner plans to use the golf course, pool, or tennis facilities.
Does the club fee show up as part of a mortgage payment? No. It is billed separately by the club, not escrowed by a lender, which is part of why it is easy to overlook during a quick budget estimate.
If dues go unpaid, does that follow the house or the seller? It follows the lot. That is the entire reason the recorded amendment matters at resale and why a title search should confirm dues are current before closing.
Buying into The Point means buying into a genuinely well organized version of Lake Norman living, one where the golf course, the dining rooms, and the Village Green are part of daily rhythm rather than something a resident has to seek out. Getting the club obligation confirmed in writing before an offer is submitted is what keeps that experience from arriving with an unexpected bill attached.
If you are weighing The Point against a neighboring community, or trying to understand what a specific membership tier would actually cost before you write an offer, Marzia Mazzotti can help you get the real numbers directly from the right people. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
