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One last bump.. we're going to drive through some areas this weekend and would love specific neighborhood recommendations as per my last post. Or any other suggestions! TIA
For those partial to Matthews, do you have any recommendations for areas you suggest we look in specifically? Our budget is 250k max and we would really like to get as much square footage as possible for our dollar. In addition, we don't want a huge yard, but would like at least a small space for the dogs. We are not huge fans of newer developments where the houses are built right on top of each other. We love having neighbors, but would like perhaps some mature trees for privacy. Lastly, are there any basement homes in Matthews? Coming from NY, we have never known a house without a basement and attic and know things are a little different here... we would love a basement again, but it is not a deal breaker. When visiting Matthews, we were able to drive through one neighborhood, Brightmoor and we liked what we saw, but would love more options. Proximity to 485 is somewhat important.
Thanks!
Sorry can't really help ya with specific neighborhood suggestions, but you won't find many homes with basement in the entire Charlotte metro. Depending on the size a lot of homes will have bonus rooms though.
Doing a quick search I only see 2 homes in all of Matthews under $275K with a basement. So as you can see that will really limit your search so if it's not a deal breaker I'd probably not look too hard for it.
Thanks! It's one of those "would be nice, but not necessary" features.. if we can get an extra bedroom or bonus room, we'd probably be okay. We have just been spoiled with our old NY homes with full basements and attics.
Sorry to not respond sooner - I'm actually on vacation right now so am not coming on the internet much. I would focus my search in Matthews on the triangle bordered the the roads Weddington Rd, Pleasant Plains Rd into more downtown Matthews on St Trade St. There are mostly older subdivisions close to downtown, but there is one called Greylock that is very new (that's close to I-485), but it might be a little higher than your price point. Also in the 10-15 year old range is Matthews Estates which is actually 5 distinct sections (all different price points) - none of them attach - it's a strange little subdivision that could have all attached, but when it was being built people in old downtown Matthews fought against that to prevent cut-through traffic - a wise thing. I do know for a fact that there is one very small section of Matthews estates with basements - I can't tell you exactly where though and houses don't go for sale in that neighborhood much. Greylock might have some houses with basements - not sure though, but the terrain makes me think maybe. Other subdivisions - Hampton Green, Brightmore, Ashley Creek, Willowmere, Thornblade, Chesney, Chaphin, Winterbrooke - there are definitely more, but I can't think of names. Most of the ones that I can't think of names are newer. I would just drive aroound those areas - like I said - John St to S Trade St to Weddington Rd to Pleasant Plains (S Trade ends in a fork and Weddington Rd goes right and Pleasant Plains goes left).
I love it in Matthews - love the small town feel - love the downtown - even love the government (all of our elections are non-partisan - mayor, town council - everything - so there isn't any of that partisan nonsense going around. Sure, each member identifies with a party privately, but it's not on the ballots). I love that we're close enough to downtown Charlotte for anything we want, but I've really also don't have to drive more than 5 miles to get to pretty much anything I want on a daily basis. We don't have a mall, but I can get to 2 different malls in 15 to 20 minutes.
Good luck - and if you have any questions you'd like to ask me privately, feel free to ask. Like I said, I am on vacation now, but will be home soon. I also don't check on these forums daily, but when I go, I'll see a message. I have a son who lives in Charleston, and that section actually is what brings me to the city forums more often - just to see what's happening in his neck of the woods. But I glance over in Charlotte every now and then. But direct messages pop up no matter which section they come from.
Thanks for your advice... looks like we still have a lot of work to do to research. My hubby has plans next weekend, but I think I may venture into Matthews for Beachfest and see how the locals do it
I will PM you, but in case anyone else has input, what is the general consensus on the Callonwood community? We drove through today and really liked the feel of the neighborhood.
Beachfest is a relatively new festival in Matthews so it's not quite as big as some of the others. But if yoou like Beach Music, you'll be happy with what is offered on stage. The carnival is smaller than what is at Matthews Alive (although both use the same ride operators, they just don't bring as much). And the arts & crafts and food offering is not as much. But it's still a fun time. I responded back to your message - I'll try to find out more.
Is Indian Trail much further from 485 than Matthews proper? We would both likely take 485 to work so proximity to that route would be preferred. It didn't look much further on the map, but you guys are the experts.
Appreciate the advice so far and will definitely look more into Indian Trail when the house hunt offically starts. An ad for Callonwood in one of those home magazines is actually what brought Indian Trail to our radar, ironically, so that would be on the list! We will check out Willomere as well, as we really did love Matthews a lot and being in the Union County part would be ideal.
Can anyone speak to the feel of the neigborhood/downtown area of Indian Trail? Is it similar to Matthews?
Let me address your commute question: It takes forever to get from Indian Trail to 485 in the mornings. Forever.
My husband and I used to work in Matthews, 11 miles from our house. It would routinely take us at least an hour to get to work before 8am. An hour. Eleven miles.
Monroe road is a parking lot, as is Independence. The lights are not scheduled to help the flow of traffic, and it is just a nightmare.
If you don't have kids, I have no idea why you'd want to live out here and endure that commute!!!
And, downtown Indian Trail doesn't really exist like you'd think. There's a little downtown area with a couple of strip malls that are pretty run down, and a hardware store that is strictly 9-5 M-F. (Saturdays I think they stay open until noon) Then there is the Walmart area, and finally there is the new Sun Valley area with a new movie theater and some bars and stuff. It's all very haphazard and poorly planned. Indian Trail grew so fast in the 00's that they just didn't know how to manage the growth, and now it's a bit of a cluster*****.
I think we've pretty much crossed Indian Trail off the list as the times we've driven out to look at houses it just felt so far removed from everything. Thanks for the advice -- we are still focusing on Matthews and don't feel (for us) like being in Union County over Mecklenburg would be a deal breaker for us. I would ideally like to be as close to downtown Matthews as possible so that we are near SOMETHING and not just out in the middle of nothing.
If you're still interested in Matthews, I know of a couple of houses in Matthews Estates that are not on the market yet, but people are moving so they will be. When homes go for sale in this neighborhood (the second off Country Place Dr across from Matthews United Methodist Church), they do not last long. In fact, many times, word of mouth comes about and the houses never go on the market - I know of 2 where this happened. One is having some work done before it goes on the market - the moving van was at the house last week and they are gone. No real estate signs have gone up, but there is a keybox on the door. Another one - I have just heard that the family is moving in June. I haven't seen any signs either. You can't get much closer to downtown than this neighborhood.
You are my Go To Girl for Matthews knowledge. I've seen several posters say that you should stay south of 74 when looking for homes in Matthews. I think I read you said the opposite. Explain, por favor?
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