Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'd echo the Tega Cay recommendation. The commute will be much worse if you end up in South Charlotte (Ballentyne, for example). The parts of I-77/I 485 that you'd be driving - as mentioned earlier - are a piece of cake. There is rarely any significant traffic on them aside from when there is an accident. You'd maybe have one lousy commute per month, witch is much better odds than you'd get from most other commutes around here.
I am with the Tega Cay recommendation, too. And the folks who have pointed you that way know the region extremely well - you couldn't get any better advice, IMO.
I also vote for Tega Cay. If you are intimidated by traffic, S. Charlotte is going to put you in a padded room. I also think you can get on the lake in Tega Cay at your price point. I have a friend who just closed on a house for $250k that came w/a boat slip.
I spent a good amount of time reviewing the MLS listings for various neighborhoods. It's very tough without having a better idea of the range I need to look in. Are there general rules of thumb as to how much of gross salary one should spend on a house? Seems like I've heard max of 3X. But that may have been net after taxes. Been a long time since I've house shopped. I tend to be conservative with something like this, but also think real estate would be a good investment now, if you bargain well.
I've been to Tega Cay, but many years ago. My recollection is smaller size houses and pretty close together. But we'll ride through when we visit. I've got several neighborhoods on the 'look' list now. The Landing (Clover H.S.), River Hills (Clover H.S.), RiverPointe (Olympic H.S.), The Palisades (Olympic H.S.), Lakeshore (Fort Mill H.S.), and Tega Cay (Fort Mill H.S.)are all definitely ones I want to take a look at. What school district was Ballantyne?
I spent a good amount of time reviewing the MLS listings for various neighborhoods. It's very tough without having a better idea of the range I need to look in. Are there general rules of thumb as to how much of gross salary one should spend on a house? Seems like I've heard max of 3X. But that may have been net after taxes. Been a long time since I've house shopped. I tend to be conservative with something like this, but also think real estate would be a good investment now, if you bargain well.
I've been to Tega Cay, but many years ago. My recollection is smaller size houses and pretty close together. But we'll ride through when we visit. I've got several neighborhoods on the 'look' list now. The Landing (Clover H.S.), River Hills (Clover H.S.), RiverPointe (Olympic H.S.), The Palisades (Olympic H.S.), Lakeshore (Fort Mill H.S.), and Tega Cay (Fort Mill H.S.)are all definitely ones I want to take a look at. What school district was Ballantyne?
Charlotte schools aren't divided into "districts" - there is only one district, the whole county.
The schools serving the Ballantyne area are Ardrey Kell, with a small section attending South Mecklenburg I believe. Though you'll have a more difficult commute from there and I thought you only wanted a short easy one?
As far as how much house you can afford there are formulas for that which factor in your income and debt ratio's. If you talk to a realtor they can help you understand what price range you fall in. I take it you don't currently have a mortgage?
RiverPointe (Olympic H.S.), The Palisades (Olympic H.S.) and Ballantyne are all in Charlotte and therefore Charlotte Mecklenburg school district. However Ballantyne is not in the Steele Creek (SW Charlotte) area. You said you wanted a shory commute and that you hate traffic. It would be hard to avoid interstates if you lived in Ballantyne. Also going to and from your job location would be a traffic nightmare for you.
OK, Ballantyne is off the list. Not knowing the area and just looking at the maps, it seems odd that Ballantyne would be much more of a drive than Tega Cay. And Audrey Krell seems to be highly regarded. But as I said, I clearly don't know the area! And that drive time is absolutely critical. Are the drive times from the other neighborhoods mentioned, to 485/Tryon, about equal during rush hour traffic?
I looked again tonight, and I really don't see a house in Tega Cay in my price range (pretty wide search criteria, since I don't know exactly what my range is) that I like. They seem to be more modern designs there.
One other question... are there really good soccer clubs in the area? My daughter, 11 years old, plays and is pretty serious about it. Anyone know where the better clubs are located?
Did you look at the homes in regular old Tega Cay? They aren't what I would consider "modern". What kind of house are you looking for? As far as traffic goes, traffic patterns in any city are different depending on the side of the city. Just because Ballantyne and Tega Cay are on opposite sides of the south side of Charlotte metro doesn't mean the traffic would be the same.
If you don't even know your price range, I would advise you speak to your bank first. Even a realtor is going to suggest that you contact a bank to get pre-qualified before you begin a house hunt.
OK, Ballantyne is off the list. Not knowing the area and just looking at the maps, it seems odd that Ballantyne would be much more of a drive than Tega Cay. And Audrey Krell seems to be highly regarded. But as I said, I clearly don't know the area! And that drive time is absolutely critical. Are the drive times from the other neighborhoods mentioned, to 485/Tryon, about equal during rush hour traffic?
I looked again tonight, and I really don't see a house in Tega Cay in my price range (pretty wide search criteria, since I don't know exactly what my range is) that I like. They seem to be more modern designs there.
It can look so simple on a map, but the reality is not all roads are created equal, and Ballantyne is a very populated area a lot of people are trying to exit every day at the same time.
What DO you think your price range is?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
