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Old 01-06-2010, 10:49 PM
 
6 posts, read 9,445 times
Reputation: 11

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Hello - first time poster.

I've read through some of the threads about moving to Charlotte but I still have a few questions:

1. Is the Lake Norman area desirable? I don't see it mentioned very often in the other threads. Is it fairly built up or is there still room for development?
2. If commute is not a factor, what are the best areas to move to for a house budget in the range of $200K - $300K? I have small children so good schools is a major factor. From reading the threads, it seems like the south side of Charlotte may be a more desirable area and that the east and west sides may be areas to avoid.
3. I've read a few conflicting bits of information about the job market. Several threads talk about job losses but others talk about significant development and a population boom. My wife and I deal with engineering, construction and real estate. Are these industries saturated or do you think there will be opportunities for work?
4. Also, can anyone fill me in on Lake Badin? My wife and I are selling a vacation house in a lake community in Ohio and are interested in the various lake communities in NC.

Thanks for the help!
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Old 01-06-2010, 10:55 PM
 
6 posts, read 9,445 times
Reputation: 11
Another question, would anyone know how the Raleigh area compares to Charlotte? Is it undergoing a similar population boom to Charlotte? With the description I described above, do you think it would make more sense to move to Charlotte or Raleigh?

Thanks for the input!
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Up above the world so high!
45,218 posts, read 100,316,119 times
Reputation: 40194
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiveofFive View Post
Hello - first time poster.

I've read through some of the threads about moving to Charlotte but I still have a few questions:

1. Is the Lake Norman area desirable? I don't see it mentioned very often in the other threads. Is it fairly built up or is there still room for development?
2. If commute is not a factor, what are the best areas to move to for a house budget in the range of $200K - $300K? I have small children so good schools is a major factor. From reading the threads, it seems like the south side of Charlotte may be a more desirable area and that the east and west sides may be areas to avoid.
3. I've read a few conflicting bits of information about the job market. Several threads talk about job losses but others talk about significant development and a population boom. My wife and I deal with engineering, construction and real estate. Are these industries saturated or do you think there will be opportunities for work?
4. Also, can anyone fill me in on Lake Badin? My wife and I are selling a vacation house in a lake community in Ohio and are interested in the various lake communities in NC.

Thanks for the help!
Well, Lake Norman is very high end, very desirable - you'd have a hard time finding a home in your price range there. It is too overbuilt for my tastes, but people do seem to love it so go figure.

The unemployment rate is higher here than Raleigh, mostly because we are still attracting too many newcomers looking for jobs! This city has been "booming" for more than a decade, but with the recession, banking crisis and housing market correction we are finally slowing down a bit - which is not a bad thing in my book.

Badin Lake is okay, but you should REALLY check out Lake Tillery and Lake Wylie - much nicer in my opinion. If you lived in south Charlotte you'd have good access to either. Better still, look at living in the great little town of Tega Cay, just over the South Carolina line, on Lake Wylie.

Raleigh is having some of the same issues Charlotte is with too many people, not enough jobs. I'd recommend you cast your net in both directions and see what nibbles, if any, you get Best of luck.
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:16 PM
 
6 posts, read 9,445 times
Reputation: 11
Thanks for the info.

After posting this, I saw a thread a few pages back about a contractor from New York who was planning to relocate to NC. The news about Charlotte's construction industry in that thread didn't sound too promising.

We still have a few more months before we make a definitive decision so I'll keep checking back to see if the news is getting any better.
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Old 01-07-2010, 05:50 AM
 
604 posts, read 1,300,879 times
Reputation: 215
The new construction market is just starting to pick back up, but only in the $175k-$225k range. Overall, I would say the Charlotte market price wise is about 20%-25% down from 2006 levels.

Great time to buy, especially in the foreclosure market.

We live in the Indian Land area, just south of Ballantyne and those Mechlenberg County taxes.

Just two streets away from Charlotte and we pay half of the taxes.
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Old 01-07-2010, 06:50 AM
 
Location: livin' the good life on America's favorite island
2,221 posts, read 4,368,457 times
Reputation: 1390
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiveofFive View Post
Hello - first time poster.

I've read through some of the threads about moving to Charlotte but I still have a few questions:

1. Is the Lake Norman area desirable? I don't see it mentioned very often in the other threads. Is it fairly built up or is there still room for development?
2. If commute is not a factor, what are the best areas to move to for a house budget in the range of $200K - $300K? I have small children so good schools is a major factor. From reading the threads, it seems like the south side of Charlotte may be a more desirable area and that the east and west sides may be areas to avoid.
3. I've read a few conflicting bits of information about the job market. Several threads talk about job losses but others talk about significant development and a population boom. My wife and I deal with engineering, construction and real estate. Are these industries saturated or do you think there will be opportunities for work?
4. Also, can anyone fill me in on Lake Badin? My wife and I are selling a vacation house in a lake community in Ohio and are interested in the various lake communities in NC.

Thanks for the help!
Curious what lake community in Ohio you are at? We used to have a place in Roaming Shores in NE Ohio.
Badin Lake is 'way off the beaten track' if that is what you want. I have a friend that owns property there and their were mny restrictions there (not sure of details) that he couldn't put a boat dock in. You'll want to do some research as there have been reports of polution issues due to the Alcoa plant that is adjacent to the lake. Yadkin Riverkeeper Releases Video Documenting Badin Lake Contamination Caused By by Mmi Associates, Inc.
There are some desirable neighborhoods on Lake Wylie and is within 1/2 hour of 'uptown' Charlotte. I suspect you would need to spend >$700k to get home on Lake Norman but it is a great place.
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Old 01-10-2010, 09:58 AM
 
6 posts, read 9,445 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Roe View Post
The new construction market is just starting to pick back up, but only in the $175k-$225k range. Overall, I would say the Charlotte market price wise is about 20%-25% down from 2006 levels.

Great time to buy, especially in the foreclosure market.

We live in the Indian Land area, just south of Ballantyne and those Mechlenberg County taxes.

Just two streets away from Charlotte and we pay half of the taxes.
Good to hear things are picking up. This is better news that what some of the other threads were saying. Hopefully it continues,
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Old 01-10-2010, 10:08 AM
 
6 posts, read 9,445 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZnGuy View Post
Curious what lake community in Ohio you are at? We used to have a place in Roaming Shores in NE Ohio.
Badin Lake is 'way off the beaten track' if that is what you want. I have a friend that owns property there and their were mny restrictions there (not sure of details) that he couldn't put a boat dock in. You'll want to do some research as there have been reports of polution issues due to the Alcoa plant that is adjacent to the lake. Yadkin Riverkeeper Releases Video Documenting Badin Lake Contamination Caused By by Mmi Associates, Inc.
There are some desirable neighborhoods on Lake Wylie and is within 1/2 hour of 'uptown' Charlotte. I suspect you would need to spend >$700k to get home on Lake Norman but it is a great place.
We have a vacation house in the Apple Valley area near Mt. Vernon. It's a nice little community with 3 beaches, and indoor and outdoor pool, a public golf course and lots of community activities - great for families.

Thanks for the info. about the polution at Lake Badin. Apple Valley is a very clean lake and I would hope to find something similar. Are Lake Wylie and Lake Tillery pretty clean?
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Old 01-10-2010, 10:10 AM
 
Location: State of Being
35,879 posts, read 77,102,358 times
Reputation: 22750
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiveofFive View Post
Good to hear things are picking up. This is better news that what some of the other threads were saying. Hopefully it continues,
I believe, if I were you, I would be quite circumspect about anyone advising that things are picking up here. We have thousands of folks out of work and houses sitting on the market for a year or longer, and foreclosures throughout the area.

I do not agree that things are picking up. It will take thousands of jobs to get our unemployment rate to even 9%.

It is not an optmistic situation, especially for anyone in construction and/or real estate sales. Realtor have dropped liked flies here. The ones who have stayed in business are selling in the under $300K market, and working 2x as hard to make the money they made in previous years - and they have connections and a following (meaning referrals) to help them along. Someone new coming into the area is not going to have that advantage of an established reputation and years of happy clients to make future referrals.

Just something to consider . . .
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Old 02-01-2010, 08:14 AM
 
9 posts, read 23,447 times
Reputation: 11
If you are looking for good schools stay away form charlotte-mecklenberg, unless you can afford and private school or can get into a charter school (hard to do if you have older kids). If you like south Charlotte, I agree that over the border in Fort Mill or Tega Cay is a better bet and you get the better school system.

The housing industry is very slow and there is not much hiring. If times do pick up, companies are most likely to run as lean of a ship as possible
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