Relocating from lexington, SC. Want to be near work (Charlotte: for sale, real estate)

[Sharpcarolina]

Hello,

My family and I would appreciate any advice you can give. We are a Christian family of 4 (two daughters, 8 & 3) looking at a job transfer to Charlotte. I would want to minimize my commute time, but safety, schools and community are very important to us. We would want to be invovled in a local Baptist Church.

My office would be off exit 5 of 1-77, so we are considering cities in SC as well.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Sharpcarolina]

Hello,

My family and I would appreciate any advice you can give. We are a Christian family of 4 (two daughters, 8 & 3) looking at a job transfer to Charlotte. I would want to minimize my commute time, but safety, schools and community are very important to us. We would want to be invovled in a local Baptist Church. My wife is a big tennis player, so if anyone is informed about leagues and areas that have them, that would be great.

My office would be off exit 5 of 1-77, so we are considering cities in SC as well. We have tried to rule out North of the city. I would consider cities in SC as well as south of the city, but honestly know nothing about it.

We are a middle class family and would be looking for a neighborhood with houses 3500-4500 square feet. Schools are very important, my oldest is in the gifted program here.

We lived in Birmingham, Alabama for 12 years and Lexington, SC for 1 year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Sharpcarolina

Hello,

My family and I would appreciate any advice you can give. We are a Christian family of 4 (two daughters, 8 & 3) looking at a job transfer to Charlotte. I would want to minimize my commute time, but safety, schools and community are very important to us. We would want to be invovled in a local Baptist Church. My wife is a big tennis player, so if anyone is informed about leagues and areas that have them, that would be great.

My office would be off exit 5 of 1-77, so we are considering cities in SC as well. We have tried to rule out North of the city. I would consider cities in SC as well as south of the city, but honestly know nothing about it.

We are a middle class family and would be looking for a neighborhood with houses 3500-4500 square feet. Schools are very important, my oldest is in the gifted program here.

We lived in Birmingham, Alabama for 12 years and Lexington, SC for 1 year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You are lucky your job will be that close to the SC line, better commute than north of Charlotte

How much money can you spend on a house? Either way, check out Fort Mill for sure. Housing prices used to be a much better deal, but Charlotte's growth is catching up with it. Still, it is a great little community with GOOD schools. Also, Exit 90 (Carowinds Blvd) has nice neighborhoods off of it on Choate Circle. Where Carowinds Blvd ends at Hwy 49 you would take a left and find many neighborhoods down 49 to Lake Wylie. Homes get much more expensive the closer you get to the lake. This is the city of churches. We have more than the national average. In particular, this is the Bible belt, I'm sure you would not have a problem finding a nice Baptist church But let me know if you are interested in converting, I'm Catholic

[Sharpcarolina]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

You are lucky your job will be that close to the SC line, better commute than north of Charlotte

How much money can you spend on a house? Either way, check out Fort Mill for sure. Housing prices used to be a much better deal, but Charlotte's growth is catching up with it. Still, it is a great little community with GOOD schools. Also, Exit 90 (Carowinds Blvd) has nice neighborhoods off of it on Choate Circle. Where Carowinds Blvd ends at Hwy 49 you would take a left and find many neighborhoods down 49 to Lake Wylie. Homes get much more expensive the closer you get to the lake. This is the city of churches. We have more than the national average. In particular, this is the Bible belt, I'm sure you would not have a problem finding a nice Baptist church But let me know if you are interested in converting, I'm Catholic

Thanks. We cannot spend more than $450,000 - $500,000, and certainly wouldn't mind spending less. My wife loves old homes, historic types, but I just don't know enough about the area to know if that is a possibility.

Thanks so much for your advice, I will drive up that way next week. Catholic?, you might want to talk to me about converting. Baptist are great at being offensive and intolerant, who wouldn't want that? haha

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Sharpcarolina

Thanks. We cannot spend more than $450,000 - $500,000, and certainly wouldn't mind spending less. My wife loves old homes, historic types, but I just don't know enough about the area to know if that is a possibility.

Thanks so much for your advice, I will drive up that way next week. Catholic?, you might want to talk to me about converting. Baptist are great at being offensive and intolerant, who wouldn't want that? haha

Hi Sharp! For that kind of money you should REALLY go down to Fort Mill and check out the Baxter Village neighborhood. This preplanned development has beautiful homes built to look like an old-fashioned neighborhood with front porches and alley's behind the homes for the garages. They are so nice!! There are restaurants, shops and a library all within walking or bike riding. The schools in Fort Mill are quite good too. Best of luck to you! You made me laugh about converting - don't all religions have their downsides LOL. Thank goodness there's only one God and that all us Christians can focus on him instead of the manmade stuff

[friendnc]

As the other posts have said, Ft. Mill is a great place. Near Charlotte, lots of recreation, and great, neighborhood school. MUCH lower taxes and more house for the money.

[Sharpcarolina]

Are there any good sites, more specialized on Fort Mill area real estate? For example, down here in Columbia, removed can be searched by neighborhood, which is so helpful?

Otherwise, we will be sorting through Realtor.com

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by Sharpcarolina

Are there any good sites, more specialized on Fort Mill area real estate? For example, down here in Columbia, removed can be searched by neighborhood, which is so helpful?

Otherwise, we will be sorting through Realtor.com

I think the site you mentioned above (that starts with an R) is a good starting point (it at least gives you a feel for the prices in the area)..but is not updated as often as most of the local realtor sites (we were already in our home for many months...yet it was still showing for sale on this site). I also might mention that I stayed away from the realtor sites that wanted me to sign up first. There is a company in the Carolina's that has a very good rep. and that's also their site that I had the most luck with (I still love to look at houses...so I'm on the site alot). Good chance this will get deleted (Allen Tate)...so I will send you a PM as well.