Don't buy in charlotte! (Huntersville, Cornelius: house, neighborhood, living)

[FrankTheTank2]

Just two points,

1. The topic should be changed to "Dont Buy Anywhere" until you see at least two consecutive months of existing home sales increase (at least thats what I would do).

2. For anyone who lives in the Charlotte area and thinks that the acquisition of Wachovia will not effect them, you are in for a nasty surprise. The latest reports say for every 1 Wachovia employee that is laid off, there will be 1.5 non-Wachovia persons who will lose a job. The ripple effect on everything from jobs, to real-estate, to world famous golf tournaments are in jeapordy.

Its not going to be pretty. Today Wachovia stock took another huge hit as Bernake and the Fed. failed to give investors any hope. This of course increases their attractiveness as an acquisition target.

The next few weeks should be very interesting.......

[jmm051]

Ani-you have what 70? save some salisbury steak or meatloaf for me please! i'll start leaving buckets outside to collect the rain so we can have a beverage with our stouffers!

[livingNcharlotte]

I love this city! Good job! Great house! Great people!

[eman1200]

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by jmm051

Ani-you have what 70? save some salisbury steak or meatloaf for me please! i'll start leaving buckets outside to collect the rain so we can have a beverage with our stouffers!

And I am making a few quiches tonite, several which I will freeze. The pantry is well stocked. I have a real surplus of Salmon, ROFL!!! Do you like salmon patties????

So glad to know we have a great group here . . . I suspect we can hunker down and survive the Charlotte collapse for at least a few months . . .

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by The Native 1

Forget the Stouffers... I want Ramen Noodles. Especially the chicken flavored kind.

No ramen noodles but plenty of Ziti, Macaroni, Spaghetti and plain old noodles. I have a nice hen in the freezer. I could make you some really good chicken noodle soup.

[Whytewulf]

Originally Posted by FrankTheTank2

Just two points,

1. The topic should be changed to "Dont Buy Anywhere" until you see at least two consecutive months of existing home sales increase (at least thats what I would do).

2. For anyone who lives in the Charlotte area and thinks that the acquisition of Wachovia will not effect them, you are in for a nasty surprise. The latest reports say for every 1 Wachovia employee that is laid off, there will be 1.5 non-Wachovia persons who will lose a job. The ripple effect on everything from jobs, to real-estate, to world famous golf tournaments are in jeapordy.

Its not going to be pretty. Today Wachovia stock took another huge hit as Bernake and the Fed. failed to give investors any hope. This of course increases their attractiveness as an acquisition target.

The next few weeks should be very interesting.......

I agree somewhat, but its not just Wachovia its any job lost anywhere. The problem is Wachovia has 30,000 or so people in the area, so its more dramatic. Again if they lay off 10% it's going to suck, but we can move on.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by Whytewulf

I agree somewhat, but its not just Wachovia its any job lost anywhere. The problem is Wachovia has 30,000 or so people in the area, so its more dramatic. Again if they lay off 10% it's going to suck, but we can move on.

I pray no one is going to lose his/her job. Surely not . . .

[lukepoke]

Originally Posted by massageman

Is Charlotte a dying city, in denial of the truth? Prospective home buyers- DO NOT BUY A HOUSE HERE, PRICES WILL DROP!!!! *Charlotte touting itself as a major banking center seems kind of funny now, as it may totally lose Wachovia. People that think Chase will keep or relocate a single person here are kidding themselves. They will buy the company's accounts and debts and say good bye to Charlotte. They do not need human resources, accounting, investment advisors, analysts, etc in Charlotte. Thousands of people will lose their jobs, only the branch employees will be needed. There will be hundreds of extra homes for sale, as bankers return to NY. *Charlotte could soon have Wachovia's building for sale, anybody know of a buyer that would want it in a sinking economy, in a smallish city with traffic problems? There will be thousands of former bankers looking for jobs soon, there already is, actually. They will be contracting their spending, drying up jobs at car dealers, retailers and restaurants.*Charlotte's housing market is already in freefall. Look at the prices of Hollister or Ardrey Chase or any of these partially built, empty areas of red clay, the builders know what's really happening here, prices are down 20% or more. We don't see it reflected more widely in data because NOTHING is selling. Homes are sitting on the market and their listings are expiring, so prices aren't dropping. Wait until more people have to sell, look out below! *There are thousands of homes for sale in the area from 200-500. Remember, we are back to normalized lending standards and let's suppose a couple wants to buy a house for 360k. They have 60k to put down, not bad. To qualify for a 300k mortgage, they will need to have an income of 3X or 100k a year now. Are there that many jobs that pay 100k for a single earner in Charlotte? With banking collapsing and other industries slowing, will this couple even be able to find two jobs, where they each earn 50k? When prices drop and drop, then maybe the 360k house will be 200k, the way it was in the late 90's. Only then, will the couple be able to afford it in the new Charlotte economy. Charlotte has been historically cheap and will return to that norm pretty soon. *Charlotte's quality of life has the potential to be amazing, this could be the best city in the country, between the beautiful weather and land. People still want to move here, based upon posts on here and word of mouth. People are also leaving and will be leaving in droves, though. The city planning is a joke with clogged roads and no water/sewer capacity. The bumpkins in Union County, a suburb of Charlotte, have actually said they have no idea how many water permits they'd issued. LOL!!!! Can you imagine a place where the officials have no idea how many permits they've issued? *Somehow, cities that are 3, 4, 5 times larger than Charlotte manage to get people from place to place and have water cheaply available. Charlotte seems baffled by these concepts. Charlotte's answer is to open a couple of shoulders on a couple of roads? How about building about six more lanes, which is what is needed? On 485, they aren't even extending the shoulder lane into Union County, which is already a traffic nightmare! Let's see, leave 485 as two lanes and watch traffic get worse, as all those new homes are eventually filled or build 485 into 6 lanes in each direction to promote growth for both the city and the suburbs, hmmm, what should we do? Yes, we'll leave it as two lanes, lol.*Charlotte doesn't understand that if people water their lawns, it creates business. The leaders here act like it's a desert and cheap water is a bad thing! Homeowners have to mow more often, if their lawn isn't dead. Some hire landscapers, who buy equipment and gas. When buying gas, they stop for lunch, helping more businesses. They increase income taxes and sales taxes. With watering limited, all of that extra business dries up, too. Homeowners that spend $100 a month on water would have more disposable income with cheap water, creating growth in other areas.*Charlotte doesn't understand that if people can easily get to different parts of the city, they are more likely to shop or explore the region, creating more growth overall. If you know you will be stuck in traffic, then you are less likely to try out different stores or activities in other parts of the area. Especially with gas at 4.10. Similarly, employers suffer here, as people may not be willing to work at one job vs another, based on the commute.*Charlotte has peaked and is in decline. Home buyers should offer much less than asking price, eventually someone will take the offer, as they do in other markets. I'd recommend waiting for the s to really hit the fan, though. The decline will happen very quickly, as the Fed obviously thinks Wachovia is not to big to fail. When things stabilize again in a few years, hopefully area leaders will do things to promote economic growth and not depend on being a banking center or newcomers ready to lose more equity. Obviously, some areas, like Myers Park, will not decline as much, as there's no land and a quick commute. Some of the far flung areas are going to get crushed, as there are years of inventory available and gas prices/traffic are making commuting more painful than ever.

I am a member of the York County Planning Commission in SC....with all of this knowledge about the state of the Charlotte community you definately need to check on appointment to a planning commission in your area to fix all of the obvious screw ups.** Dont just tell people "they" need to fix an issue....get in there, hog up some of that free governmental volunteer work, and offer up "change" as dictated by your frame of reference.*

[Chef Giorgio]

Originally Posted by FrankTheTank2

Just two points,

1. The topic should be changed to "Dont Buy Anywhere" until you see at least two consecutive months of existing home sales increase (at least thats what I would do).

2. For anyone who lives in the Charlotte area and thinks that the acquisition of Wachovia will not effect them, you are in for a nasty surprise. The latest reports say for every 1 Wachovia employee that is laid off, there will be 1.5 non-Wachovia persons who will lose a job. The ripple effect on everything from jobs, to real-estate, to world famous golf tournaments are in jeapordy.

Its not going to be pretty. Today Wachovia stock took another huge hit as Bernake and the Fed. failed to give investors any hope. This of course increases their attractiveness as an acquisition target.

The next few weeks should be very interesting.......

Very valid points but I would buy now and no later. If you have planned to own a home and have the means to afford it (stable income, etc), you should buy now before this whole Fannie, Freddie thing unfolds.

I truly do not know what could happen, but rates today are still low and if the aforementioned do get into trouble that could only mean higher rates as the dollar loses value and foreing investors start demanding a higher return and start increasing or adding premiums to any loan product.

Not only that, guidelines will get ultra strict, which at the end will be good for the overall economic health of the country as a lot of those people who should have stayed as renters (today's defaulters) will not be buying homes. However a lot of credit worthy people will be impacted significantly.

Buy now, if you are to stay at that home for at least a few years.