Best Areas in Charlotte??? (Huntersville, Mooresville: loans, relocating, real estate)

[SouthernGuy79]

Hi All,

My wife and I are considering relocating to either Charlotte, NC or Knoxville, TN in a year or two. I currently flip homes for a living in Columbus, OH and my main concern is being able to do that whether we decide Charlotte or Knoxville.

We'd like to learn more about the two cities. What are the best and worst areas of the Charlotte?

Things we are taking into consideration are: Job markets, quality of life, cost of living, cleanliness of the city, weather, schools, parks, attractions (or things to do) and real estate markets.

When are looking for opinions of what are the best qualities Charlotte has to offer.

Thank you!

[Scarlet1766]

I might be biased, but the center city area (Uptown, SouthEnd, Dilworth) are the hottest -- and boast some of the lowest crime rates. These comprise zip codes 28202 & 28203. There is a great magazine that you can subscribe to (free) Center City Living which tells you all about that area.

[travlingrlclt]

South Charlotte

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by SouthernGuy79

Hi All,

My wife and I are considering relocating to either Charlotte, NC or Knoxville, TN in a year or two. I currently flip homes for a living in Columbus, OH and my main concern is being able to do that whether we decide Charlotte or Knoxville.

We'd like to learn more about the two cities. What are the best and worst areas of the Charlotte?

Things we are taking into consideration are: Job markets, quality of life, cost of living, cleanliness of the city, weather, schools, parks, attractions (or things to do) and real estate markets.

When are looking for opinions of what are the best qualities Charlotte has to offer.

Thank you!

You want to come here and flip homes? Are you serious?

The days of flipping homes here are O V E R. Prices of houses are in a re-adjustment phase . . . prices are going down.

NC passed a bill Jan 1st - no more "no doc" loans, either . . . and $$ has tightened up if you are not purchasing a home as primary residence. If you have your own money . . . sinking it into properties when things are slowing down here would be a risk. Our inventory is HIGH and builders as well as homeowners are having to lower their prices to move properties.

You do not want to re-hab properties in the areas w/ foreclosures (and the "good" areas w/ any "bargains" are recently built homes in the above $700,000 range).

Don't believe everything you read about our real estate market here. There are bargains for homeowners, but flipping a house? Very 2006.

[ultraviolet*]

Originally Posted by anifani821

You want to come here and flip homes? Are you serious?

The days of flipping homes here are O V E R. Prices of houses are in a re-adjustment phase . . . prices are going down.

NC passed a bill Jan 1st - no more "no doc" loans, either . . . and $$ has tightened up if you are not purchasing a home as primary residence. If you have your own money . . . sinking it into properties when things are slowing down here would be a risk. Our inventory is HIGH and builders as well as homeowners are having to lower their prices to move properties.

You do not want to re-hab properties in the areas w/ foreclosures (and the "good" areas w/ any "bargains" are recently built homes in the above $700,000 range).

Don't believe everything you read about our real estate market here. There are bargains for homeowners, but flipping a house? Very 2006.

+1

I don't know how someone could make a living doing that around here. Maybe someone in Charlotte who does that for a living will swoop in here and tell us different, but I don't have high hopes.

[SouthernGuy79]

Thanks to all that have responded, hopefully others will join you still.

What are the average prices in the (Uptown, SouthEnd, Dilworth) and/or 28202 & 28203 areas?

[SouthernGuy79]

As far as flipping, I live in the #1 ranked state for foreclosures with Columbus and Cleveland leading the way. Bad markets usually scare most off but some of us see it as an opportunity. That is another whole forum.

I'm just trying to get a feel of the city. What there is to do? What is the job market for someone like my wife with a BA in Business Management? Do companies pay good in that area? Summer and winter activies? Weather? Traffic? Things like that.

We do plan on visiting Charlotte sometime this summer and would like to get a good feel of the city.

[kja25]

I moved from Knoxville, TN (lived there for more than 20 years) to Charlotte, NC eight months ago simply because Knoxville is tooooo small. There are things to do in both cities but Charlotte is more diverse and Knoxville is full of, to put it eloquently, very southern folks :-P I think it all depends on what you're looking for...

[lknhomesbymichelle]

Hi I lived in Charlotte for awhile and then decided to move to the north CHarlotte area - Lake Norman. Lake Norman is one of the hottest areas. It offers lake living, upscale shopping, superb restaurants and so much more. We have several famous people who live up this way as well. Lots of Nascar and NBA people, and several NFL players who I frequently see. That's always exciting for my kids. The Lake Norman area is huge - consisting of Denver, Huntersville, Cornelius, Mooresville, and Troutman. I live in the Denver area in a lake community which feels like a permanent vacation. It is only minutes to uptown Charlotte. I made the move up here because of the excellent school systems in Lincoln County. Denver was sold more homes than any of the other Lake Norman areas last year. It is growing so fast and everyone is picking up on it. The average sales price is $467,647 with and avg 127 days on the market. THe % list to sales price is 96.78%. As far as CHarlotte, Uptown (Center City) and Ballantyne are the hottest area. My friend bought a condo in Center City back when it was a new concept for the uptown area. She has already made a fortune and people are dying to get a condo there as well. They have plans to build multi-million dollar condos in the area along with more up scale shopping.

[sheenie2000]

Actually Charlotte was one of the few cities that actually saw a *gain* in the real estate market despite what was happening nationwide. I actually just bidded on a house and lost on a bidding war.

The job market here is pretty competitive but there are jobs. But there arent too many companies here which is why it's so competitive. They pay pretty well especially the big banks if you can get in (wachovia and bank of america). Most ppl in uptown work at those banks.

The weather is nice in the winter cuz you dont get much snow, the summers get a little hot but not humid. So it's bearable.

The traffic sux. On Friday it took me one hour to get to Mooresville from uptown when it takes usually only 30 minutes. If you live in the south, to go about 6 miles, takes about 20 minutes. Some days are better than others.

Hope this helps!