Vineyards at Lake Wylie (Charlotte, Gastonia: low income, HOA fees, townhomes)

[wwilkesc]

Hi - I am seriously considering a home purchase here, anyone have any up to date information on this new development? There are several old threads on here but nothing after spring 2010.

Any positive or negative comments to share?

Thanks

[ncopus99]

I prefix my statement with that I do not live there and have not been down there since end of November-ish. We originally looked at the community towards the start of the project about 2 years ago.

The development concept and homes were very nice when we originally checked it out. In fact, my fiance loved it. We went against this community for the following reasons...
1) it is kind of out there... in order to get to something (i.e. grocery, food, etc) you have a nice drive towards Gastonia... in addition you drive past some old "mill" like building and trailer homes (not cleaned up at all) to get out to the Vineyards.
2) if you drive under I-485 (really close), you hit the airport area. This type of area in most cities including our own is littered with crime, low income housing, and sex shops/check cashing. Figured this would come into play if we ever tried to re-sell the home.

Since then, I have checked it out occasionly to see the progress on how it has come (to see if we missed out). Safe to say we didn't miss out. Outside of townhomes, I have seen little to no growth in the community; I don't blame the recession on this as communities around us (Fort Mill) have had significantly more growth than the Vineyards (outside Massey, another failed master community). In addition, we have noticed a price drop in the homes since we originally looked; a sign that they are struggling. Last I checked as well, alot of the promised amenties were yet to be constructed.

My recommendation for you is to truly go out to it to make your own determination. This was just one couple's feelings about it. The community has been going on for about 3 years.

[sampstar]

We still live in the Vineyards and are still very satisfied. The location has been great for us (close to the airport, close to 85/485, not a far drive to Uptown, close to Belmont). The 'nice drive towards Gastonia" is actually less than 10 minutes to Belmont for food/groceries.

Houses are still being built, sold signs are going up, and people are still moving in. Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions.

[har11]

I live near the Vineyards and while it's true they suffered like all new home communities because of the economy things seem to be turning around. You would be hard pressed to find more home for your money. I have lived in other areas of Charlotte over the years and I wouldn't leave here to go back to any one of them. This part of the lake is really beautiful and if lake living is what your after this is the place. I do all my shopping in Gastonia and Belmont. They have all the same stores except for Trader Joes. The only thing you don't have in this area is horendous traffic. I can take the back roads and be at the airport in 10 minutes. It's a new road nicely landscaped and for ncopus99 who assumed there would be crime, sex/shops, check cashing, please don't make assumptions. Yes we are in the county here and you might have some folks that aren't in your tax bracket but who cares. ncopus99, in a couple of years your gonna say "I missed out".

[Charlotte485]

It takes me 3 minutes max to get to the airport from the Vineyards. I go past the Vineyards all the time when I want to go to the airport lookout to watch the planes take off.




Anyway, about the development. It is very nice, sorta underdeveloped. It seems like it's own little world. It's very peaceful and it's so pretty to see the Charlotte Skyline.

The entrance is very nice to the Vineyards but.... The road you drive on to get to it (Old Dowd Rd.) is sorta.... redneck trailer parks. And that stretch of 74 is sorta not to pretty itself.


I hate to say I agree with ncopus99. I haven't been out there since the new runway opened up that is a stones throw away. The area is not desirable at all in my opinion. BUT the actual neighborhood is nice. I used to go out there at night and relax. look at the stars and watch the planes roll in.

[har11]

Does anyone know of a stretch of 74 that is "pretty". Seriously it's a highway. It's not like you park and hang out there. There are some trailer parks along Old Dowd but you are going to find that just about anywhere near the lake. They were here long before the Vineyards but as the value of the land grows they will eventually sell. Look at some of the places you have to pass when you head around Lake Norman. I still think if you want to live at the lake you won't find a better value for your money. If you don't want to ever see a trailer head over to Myers Park. Unfortunately Lake Wylie isn't sitting in the middle of Queens Rd.

[loveNCnow]

The Vineyards have sold 7 homes in the month of March. Wonderful couples, young and old, have moved in. They are building a new stretch of townhomes in the Monterey section (lakeview) because they have 2 contracts on those. The have opened up a new available section in Napa because they need the inventory - houses are moving quickly.

Again, there isn't any airport noise. Very relaxing in this neighborhood. You can hear the train, but it is not often nor is it obnoxious. And as Har11 points out - if you have rain, you get a muddy lake! It clears up in 2-3 days. The current from the dam runs towards SC and if memory serves me correctly, the lake water at Tega Cay was full of sewage! Would definitely rather be north of Tega Cay then south.

Prices have dropped slightly, but all the more reason to buy in this neighborhood. DRHorton is still supportive, still in this neighborhood, and still buliding. The HOA fees have not gone up.

All in all, I think this neighborhood will be a good investment one day. As in any area, you can't expect to buy a house and make a huge profit after 2 years like we saw in the past, but good profits will be seen in this neighborhood in the future.