Does anyone feel that by the time..... (Greensboro, Washington: sale, real estate market)

[Mvn2nc]

Originally Posted by headed4nc

Why did you pick NC to move back to?

Yeah i just noticed that myself. And all this time i thought she was born and raised here

[Cassie]

Originally Posted by headed4nc

Why did you pick NC to move back to?

Several reasons aside from the fact that I'm from N.C. I was born in N.C. and spent a good portion of my life here.

Originally Posted by Mvn2nc

Yeah i just noticed that myself. And all this time i thought she was born and raised here

I've never once said on any thread that I spent my whole life in N.C. In fact I've repeatedly said that I moved to VA from N.C. and then moved back to N.C. Perhaps you're confusing me with someone else. And, btw, I've stayed out of the whole Yankee/vs. Southerner issue as long as I've been a forum member and will continue to do so.

Regards,

Cassie

[thisguy]

Originally Posted by Griffis

HAHA! Oh god, you are so right! But, what I mean is, my wife and I have both lived in large cities and in the North. I was born in Texas but was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota and lived in Chicago for quite a long time. Oklahoma is slow in some ways, but OKC and Tulsa are crime-infested in a bad way. Plus, there's NO SCENERY here. And little culture. The thing that is appealing about wesern NC to us is the hills and mountains, the proximity to the Atlantic coast, the culture of music and craft fairs, etc.

I hope I'm not considered a Yankee. We have thought of looking to move to parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont and Maine, but the draw to NC is that it is more Southern, yet still has winters (at least in the West) and it is closer to Oklahoma than New England should we need to come back to visit family, etc. I get the feeling we'd feel more "at home" in NC.

I gotta ask again-- is the bulk of the growth/influx of people more in the Raleigh/Durham/ Charlotte areas or is the Asheville area and surrounding counties also getting hit the same way?

Yes most of the growth is in the 2 major cities

However Ashville is not cheap as a lot of well off people retire there, so its experiencing growth too. Not to the same degree as the other 2 major areas. If your line of work can be done anywhere than there are many choices in NC, and/or a city like Greensboro might be up your alley if you want some access to a smaller city without the huge influx of new people.

[mm34b]

I gotta ask again-- is the bulk of the growth/influx of people more in the Raleigh/Durham/ Charlotte areas or is the Asheville area and surrounding counties also getting hit the same way?

The Charlotte and the Raleigh-Durham Metro Areas have much faster growth than the Asheville Metro Area.

Asheville Metro Area Population Increases From April 2000 to July 2005

Buncombe County 6.1%
County Seat - Asheville

Madison County 3.2%
County Seat - Marshall

Yancey County 2.4%
County Seat - Burnsville

McDowell County 2.5%
County Seat - Marion

Henderson County 9.0%
County Seat - Hendersonville

Haywood County 4.5%
County Seat - Waynesville

Transylvania County 1%
County Seat - Brevard

For comparison -

Mecklenburg County 14.5%
County Seat - Charlotte

Wake County 19.3%
County Seat - Raleigh

[Radiojoe315]

IN reply to the orriginal post..

Places pop up daily and there is so much land left, and land for sale, that I think you have some time before you get worried. I just observed today while driving a new sign up for a subdivision I hadnt seen before around here. So I think you have time still. Good Luck of course! The sooner the better!

[Weis02]

I'd look around and see if Beazer, Hovnanian and KB have any new communities as we may see some added incentives with these two.

Beazer reported sales in July and August were 49% lower than a year ago and buyers backed out of half (50%) of the contracts signed in the two-month period. many buyers are backing out because they can't sell the homes they already own.


KB also had lower then expected estimates. 32% in July and 33% in August, up from 24% from a year ago of customers backing out of contracts.

The growing inventory problem is being seen in areas that have experienced rapid price appreciation or substantial investor activity, or both

But see again how sometimes numbers re sales are skewed, Builders count a home as sold after a buyer pays a non-refundable down-payment of as little as $1,000. But the buyer can walk away until a formal contract is signed.

So when they report all these sales, they are not yet sales and I expect we will see alot of this over the next few months.

[RedNC]

Originally Posted by Griffis

HAHA! Oh god, you are so right! But, what I mean is, my wife and I have both lived in large cities and in the North. I was born in Texas but was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota and lived in Chicago for quite a long time. Oklahoma is slow in some ways, but OKC and Tulsa are crime-infested in a bad way. Plus, there's NO SCENERY here. And little culture. The thing that is appealing about wesern NC to us is the hills and mountains, the proximity to the Atlantic coast, the culture of music and craft fairs, etc.

I hope I'm not considered a Yankee. We have thought of looking to move to parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont and Maine, but the draw to NC is that it is more Southern, yet still has winters (at least in the West) and it is closer to Oklahoma than New England should we need to come back to visit family, etc. I get the feeling we'd feel more "at home" in NC.

I gotta ask again-- is the bulk of the growth/influx of people more in the Raleigh/Durham/ Charlotte areas or is the Asheville area and surrounding counties also getting hit the same way?

I believe Ashville has about 1300 people per square mile, that’s too crowded for me. I would look in the Boone area.
My brother and sister in law took us to several craft fares, one in Big Lick and the other was called the wooly worm festival, I don’t remember where it was. We also spent a lot of time in and around Boone. Beautiful area.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Griffis

I hope to move my family to NC early next year. Can you be sure there are at least 2 super-WalMarts, 7 Starbucks and massive public transportation systems in place by the time we get there?

Seriously though, we love the idea of NC but are a little put off by the huge influx of people and rising prices...seems like a lot of the charm and small-townishness is being sold off and strip-malled over.

My question is-- does the growth problem seem as acute in the Western part of your state? We were hoping for soemthing around Asheville...Boone to the north, Brevard or Cullowhee to the south. Are these areas as affected by growth as the Charlotte/Raleigh areas?

(Incidentally we would be coming from Oklahoma so we aren't Yankees trying to transplant a different way of life onto NC...) We actually WANT a slower pace and pretty surroundings. Will all that be gone or priced out by the time we can move (assuming I can get a job)?

The growth is not nearly as acute in western NC as it is in Raleigh and Charlotte. The problem with Boone and Asheville is that they do attract a certain amount of vacationers. Many people own homes in these areas that they rent out by the week to pay the mortgage on these second homes. Not that they are touristy, but housing costs can be expensive. Anything from Blowing Rock up thru Boone might be more than you are willing to pay. I know Oklahoma has a lower cost of living for sure - so what kind of money do you plan to spend on a house? The answer to that question would help some of us here to recommend specific places for you to check out.

[mm34b]

Originally Posted by RedNC

I believe Ashville has about 1300 people per square mile, that’s too crowded for me. I would look in the Boone area.
My brother and sister in law took us to several craft fares, one in Big Lick and the other was called the wooly worm festival, I don’t remember where it was. We also spent a lot of time in and around Boone. Beautiful area.

City of Asheville - 1,683.4 persons per square mile (2000 Census)

Woolly Worm Festival - Banner Elk, NC

[headed4nc]

Originally Posted by Cassie

Several reasons aside from the fact that I'm from N.C. I was born in N.C. and spent a good portion of my life here.



I've never once said on any thread that I spent my whole life in N.C. In fact I've repeatedly said that I moved to VA from N.C. and then moved back to N.C. Perhaps you're confusing me with someone else. And, btw, I've stayed out of the whole Yankee/vs. Southerner issue as long as I've been a forum member and will continue to do so.

Regards,

Cassie

I knew you were from there and moved away but I was just wondering what brought you back, you don't seem to like it too much. I was wondering why you didn't search out other options. Maybe sometimes we return because we are familar with the place and we can except the good with the bad.