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When people talk about staying in Charlotte proper - what does that mean? When I look at a map and Charlotte is written across the city I picture anything outside of the tall building area to be "outside" of Charlotte. Clearly I am wrong here.
Generally what is considered the most desirable area is South Charlotte which is 'inside hwy 51' (pineville-matthews rd) and between providence rd and park rd. Values didn't plummet as much as the rest of Charlotte and schools are great. You won't really find new homes in that area though. Majority are older homes. (60-80s).
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I am inquiring about Union County not because I love cows (nice as they are) but because I like the schools (on paper so far). I hope this statement doesn't start another round of bashing. But then again, I seem to get the most info when the fires start!
I don't have kids but from what I heard schools are great in UC. And the best schools in Charlotte are in the Ballantyne area. You might want to check out that area as well.
I'd check out neighborhoods in Ft Mill as well. Cheaper taxes, closer to the city and schools that appear to be just as good, or better, than Union County.
I'm pro Ballantyne - got great things going on in Ballantyne. It's a little farther from uptown than I'd like but right now I'm happy with the low crime, ability to walk everywhere, newness of it all, and great school districts. Union County is even a little farther out from that. I really think that Union County will be a well desired area to live in when the economy picks back up, I really don't think it's that much of a risk if you are in it for the long run. Talking about buying a house down can mean a lot of things - if you're looking for a home to stay put in for awhile then I'd look in Union County if you like that area, but if you are looking to make money off of it anytime soon, then no, obviously it's not the best time...but there really isn't anywhere that is a "safe bet" for investment purposes right now, right? It's a gamble everywhere because we just don't know what could happen! if we did then we'd all be buying...
Believe it or not, every area including NYC was once cheap...I can't tell you how many people I know ended up making double, even triple off their homes in NY because the real estate market sky rocketed... but at the time they purchased the home they didn't know that it was a "good price". This happens everywhere....you can only control an area so much - so looking for good school districts, a reasonable commute to work, talk about the future plans for the area and the crime rate are all most important to what you need to look for....especially in a growing city like charlotte because there's just too much left to grow in a city to say whether or not "former cow fields" are going to be a bad or good place to buy...
I don't consider Ballantyne to be a walkable community at all! I have to get in my car to do anything. And there aren't enough traffic lights along Ballantyne Corporate Parkway so I have to make right turns and then u-turns into parking lots. The whole area is a pedestrian nightmare. You cannot safely walk across any of the roads down there. And everyone is driving a giant SUV and talking on their cell phone so it's especially dangerous. If you're talking about walking from Panera Bread to the Y, that's not the definition of a walkable community.
Just curious why would anyone feel that they "have to buy" now? There are plenty of rentals available, if money is not the issue, doesn't renting provide more flexibility and less hassle if things don't work out and you need to move again....
Renting isn't an option for us. We have two elementary age kids. There is no way I would relocate them twice.
If I didn't have the kids renting would be the way to go though.
Then again, if I didn't have the kids I would be posting on the Key West boards!
Renting isn't an option for us. We have two elementary age kids. There is no way I would relocate them twice.
If I didn't have the kids renting would be the way to go though.
Then again, if I didn't have the kids I would be posting on the Key West boards!
I'm renting with Elem age kid(s) - 1 just started K and the other just started 2nd. Shopping long distance adds additional risk - alot of it... So when I went through the process similar to you choosing a school district, we decided to rent a home in the district we chose first. We weren't comfortable with making such a huge decision without being here.
If everything goes as we expect it to, we'll buy in this district keeping the kids in the exact same schools - as you see there's plenty of inventory to choose from. We'll also save money as prices come down.
If things aren't quite what we thought after a year and it's possibly bad enough to warrant a school switch, we have an out to move elsewhere in the metro... Buying makes that impossible without losing significant amounts of money.
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