Possible move from Chicago to Charlotte (Huntersville, Mooresville: chapel, custom home, neighborhoods)

[snow1969]

My husband is entertaining a new job in Charlotte. We are currently living in the northern suburbs of Chicago. We have 4 young children and love being near water. Can you please recommend some areas to research. Would be looking at homes in the $1.5 to 2 area. Great "Public" schools are a must. I much prefer to put the money towards their college funds than private elementary schools.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by snow1969

My husband is entertaining a new job in Charlotte. We are currently living in the northern suburbs of Chicago. We have 4 young children and love being near water. Can you please recommend some areas to research. Would be looking at homes in the $1.5 to 2 area. Great "Public" schools are a must. I much prefer to put the money towards their college funds than private elementary schools.

Do you know if the job is in Charlotte or a nearby town? If it's in Charlotte, do you know what section of Charlotte? It's a very large area.

[2GirlsR2good]

You will be very pleasantly surprised by home prices. You may want to consider putting what you save in home costs towards private school tuition. Many people here will tell you that a particular school is "great" but their definition of great is not likely to be on par with an affluent suburban IL school.

[south.charlotte&union]

Do you know where in Charlotte the job is located? Also is proximity to the airport important? that information will help us to better advise you.

[ugaillini]

There are 3 popular lakes in the Charlotte area. As other poeple have mentioned, a lot may depend on where your husband's job will be.

First (in no particular order ), there is Lake Norman. It is the biggest lake and is located north of the city. There are many different towns on Lake Norman...Huntersville, Cornelius, Mooresville, Denver, Troutman, etc. Depending on which town you choose, the commute to uptown Charlotte usually rangescfrom about 15 minutes to 45 minutes or so. I don't know much about the public schools in the area, but there are some really good charter schools. They can be a bit tougher to get into, though, because students are selected based on a lottery. One of the neighborhoods that I think is beautiful there is called Beech Tree Bay (www.beechtreebay.com) in Mooresville.

Another lake is Mountain Island Lake. This is a smaller and quieter lake that is closest to uptown Charlotte. It is also close to the airport, Northlake Mall (a fairly new mall in Charlotte), and pretty close to the Lake Norman area as well. Some waterfront neighborhoods in that area are Mt. Isle Estates and Overlook.

The other popular lake is Lake Wylie. Lake Wylie is located further south and also has some very beautiful communities. One that I like is called Chapel Cove (Charlotte Custom Homes, Charlotte NC New Homes).

I am sorry that I can't comment much on schools. My son is only 3 years old. I will say that you can certainly get a beautiful waterfront (or waterview, if you prefer) on any of the three lakes in your price range.