Don't buy in charlotte! (layoffs, live in, prices)

[wdavid002]

I closed in October on a beautiful home in Cureton (Waxhaw) which is a fabulous community in a wonderful area with great neighbors. I am fortunate in that I am living in Long Island New York and therefore do not need to work in Charlotte. The home will eventually be for retirement..or perhaps a few tradeups from now til then. For those of you concerned with the housing market, I would suggest you check out Trulia.com where you can see current homes on the market, recently sold homes and some stats on where prices are (both sales and list prices). As I said I am lucky that I can put money into my home as time goes on and enjoy it when I can get down there. I love Charlotte and I think if you have so many positive things going for you, then we should all count our blessings. And for those who are hurting right now, the rest of us should encourage and help in whatever way we can. Happy New Year to all......

[pink caddy]

Originally Posted by wdavid002

I closed in October on a beautiful home in Cureton (Waxhaw) which is a fabulous community in a wonderful area with great neighbors. I am fortunate in that I am living in Long Island New York and therefore do not need to work in Charlotte. The home will eventually be for retirement..or perhaps a few tradeups from now til then. For those of you concerned with the housing market, I would suggest you check out Trulia.com where you can see current homes on the market, recently sold homes and some stats on where prices are (both sales and list prices). As I said I am lucky that I can put money into my home as time goes on and enjoy it when I can get down there. I love Charlotte and I think if you have so many positive things going for you, then we should all count our blessings. And for those who are hurting right now, the rest of us should encourage and help in whatever way we can. Happy New Year to all......

I congratulate you on your plan but would caution people using Trulia as you suggested. I think their data is based on something that has something to do with the earth, sun and moon being in alignment or some other funny kinds of mining for data.

I have looked on their site for three (3) houses that I have bought and flipped. In every case their information was in left field .

[wdavid002]

I am not suggesting that Trulia or any other website is the final answer to the state of the current housing market, all I am saying is that some people seem to want to focus on all things negative, and to be perfectly honest, the real estate market in Charlotte is not so bad based on my experience in NY and especially on Long Island. My home would have sold for double what I paid for it and no matter how one wants to look at it..Charlotte is a beautiful area with great people (especially here on CD)and I would be thrilled and honored to move here permanantly.

[clavoski]

400 people getting laid off at Edc plant in Kings Mtn:
EDC to close Kings Mountain plant - Charlotte Business Journal:

[pink caddy]

Originally Posted by clavoski

400 people getting laid off at Edc plant in Kings Mtn:
EDC to close Kings Mountain plant - Charlotte Business Journal:

The OP's thread is "Don't buy in Charlotte", so I suppose this is the reason you posted this link. Why would a plant closing, one that produces cd's, whose sales are on the decline in EVERY part of the world due to downloadable music, have anything to do with a discussion that began with "Charlotte is a dying city"? I'm not being a wise guy. . . only trying to see how other mines work.

je

[Barbie1964]

I wouldn't say Charlotte is a dying city. Some cities have been hit harder by the recession. YES, RECESSION. Miami, Las Vegas and other real estate boom cities are in trouble. I sold a house in Ft. Lauderdale in April. I was lucky, but if I had sold the year prior I would have profited another $100,000+. Oh well, I still made a profit, and I sold! Friends down there still have their homes for sale after a year. They are now renting. I was just down there and the amount of empty houses is phenomenal. Short sales on every corner.
The dollar is worth less and less each day, so anytime you can take your money out of dollars, and put it into something tangible is a good idea... gold, a good house, etc.
We were fortunate to find a house on a 1 acre lot in Southern Iredell for a very reasonable price. While the prices will probably drop further, we couldn't wait. Everyone needs a place to live. I will renovate, but will probably not get my money out of the house for another 5+ years. I'm prepared for that.
Depending on how the banking situation settles out Charlotte's RE may continue to decline. Unfortunately Charlotte doesn't have another large industry. Duke has 5,000+ employees here but that is a drop in the bucket. Tourism is not a viable industry here, so we will just have to wait and see.
We will all have to ride this wave together, and unfortunately some may not come out of it very well.

[sheenie2000]

Originally Posted by Barbie1964

The dollar is worth less and less each day, so anytime you can take your money out of dollars, and put it into something tangible is a good idea... gold, a good house, etc.

Huh? The dollar is worth more. Notice how you can purchase more for your dollar now that prices have dropped?

[pink caddy]

Originally Posted by sheenie2000

Huh? The dollar is worth more. Notice how you can purchase more for your dollar now that prices have dropped?

This will only be true for another 6 months then inflation will take over. With interest rates at record low levels and the demand for borrowing so high there's no way inflation will not go full steam ahead.

That would make the statement by Barbie 1964 corect in the very near term.

[FlightAttendant]

I agree with you, Johne..stay tuned for inflation.

[sheenie2000]

Originally Posted by johne482

This will only be true for another 6 months then inflation will take over. With interest rates at record low levels and the demand for borrowing so high there's no way inflation will not go full steam ahead.

That would make the statement by Barbie 1964 corect in the very near term.

The demand for borrowing so high? Borrowing has decreased that's why interest rates keep going lower.

Her statement is incorrect as she's saying put money into a house that will decrease in value. Her dollars will buy more in the near short term.