Stokesdale, Summerfield area (Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem: for sale, house prices, neighborhoods)

[Elibank]

My wife, son (2.5yrs) and I are considering relocating from MD to the Greensboro area. We looked at some properties this weekend in Stokesdale, Summerfield, High Point and Greensboro, and really like the newer Summerfield and Stokesdale neighborhoods.
Our biggest concerns are neighborhood, school quality, safety, and proximity to work. I am in banking, and hope to obtain a job within the Winston-Salem to Greeensboro area.
Any other communities to recommend? What is the quality of life in this part of NC? We are trying to step back from the traffic and higher stress levels of MD and enjoy a simple, old-fashioned quality of life.

[marie]

I just noticed you mentioned Winston salem,over there I will be checking out Lewisville and clemmons. Maybe even pfafftown,its alittle more rural.

[marie]

My husband ,my 13 year old daughter and I are also going to check out Summerfield and stokesdale. What did you think? How about Oak Ridge? I`ve checked out a bunch of places in North Carolina ,but not the Greensboro area. I can`t wait until Feb,when we go down (from Long Island) and zero in on an area because I can`t wait to move down there. We are also going to check out Lewisville and Clemmons ,Maybe pfafftown(alittle rural). These areas are just west of Winston Salem. The website for schools is www.ncschoolreports.org (broken link) . You can also go to www.answers.com. (very intresting! )Good Luck!!

[Elibank]

We went with a ReMax Realtor to see a bunch of properties & neighborhoods in the area. We started in High Point, but Realtor was a bit hesitant on local economy (furniture business facing competition, losing aura) and quality of schools. Next was Greensboro, but you pay a bit more for being in the central area (pay more is relative of course), and the lots are not as big.
Summerfield (15 minutes from downtown Greensboro) offers many new neighborhoods (Armfield, Vineyards, Polo Farms, Trotter Ridge) at reasonable prices and great school district. Stokesdale is similar (Trebbiano at Arbor, Arbor Run) -- big houses, nice size lots (~1 acre), same schools and seems like great setting. Also convenient to either Greensboro or Winston-Salem. Our Realtor mentioned Oak Ridge as another similar neighborhood.
My concerns are the seemingly glut of new homes on the market. Lots of new homes built and on the market for long time. We need to research recent sales to get a better understanding of where future values are likely to go.
But we need to wait until I can find a decent banking job, to determine where we may want to move. I will look into Winston-Salem neighborhoods -- same ones mentioned by our Realtor. THANKS!

[marie]

I have the same concerns about how long it takes to sell a house in that area. A good website for that area is www.listingbook.com .When they send me their daily email> I can pick a house I like and in the left hand corner you can pick area sales. Did you know Charlotte is known for their banking.Have you and your wife looked anywhere else?

[Agent Maxwell]

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Look for anyhouse for sale
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[rinsil]

Originally Posted by marie

I just noticed you mentioned Winston salem,over there I will be checking out Lewisville and clemmons. Maybe even pfafftown,its alittle more rural.

Greensboro is getting very congested. Specially once the FEDEX hub goes fully operational in Nov 2007, the traffic is going to get worse. Newer homes are being built in Winston Salem, Clemmons in Forsyth county and in Davie county. Davie county (Bermuda run..just on the golf course) and Clemmons are probably much better place to live. Housing is still affordable by MD standards. Go to Realtor.com and check for houses in Clemmons, Lewisville or Advance (or by zip 27012, 27104, 27023, 27006). Taxes are also lower in Forsyth county. Schools are also better.

[JAS]

I live in Oak Ridge/Stokesdale in a subdivision north of the Oak Ridge Military Academy.

You made a good observation in that there are a lot of new houses in the area and a the potential to build a lot more. Some of the old-timers are selling their land for development, and there is still a lot of undeveloped open land around here. Since the supply is so high, I wouldn't expect a huge increase in house prices, even though new people are moving into the area.

The test scores for the school in these distraicts are excellent. The problem is the never-ending overcrowding situation that you see in parts of NC. New schools are being built right now near Summerfield, but we'll see if it will be enough to keep up with the growth. I would recommend this area over High Point (I work in HP, but don't care to live there).

This part of the county was completely rural 10 years ago. A lot of what you see has popped up since the mid-1990's. The Oak Ridge Commons shopping center didn't open up until around 2002 (by the way, there are a few excellent locally-owned restaurants in there - Italian and Chinese are very good, French pastry place is good, Japanese and Mexican places are OK - not bad, but not excellent).

Traffic heading south on 68 can get backed up in the mornings, but if you slip me a $20 I'll tell you some short-cuts.

[Niki]

I don't know much about Summerfield or Stokesdale. Other areas near Greensboro that I really like are Pleasant Garden (would love to live there), Julian, Level Cross, Franklinville.

[silverwing]

Davie county (Bermuda run..just on the golf course) and Clemmons are probably much better place to live. Housing is still affordable by MD standards. Go to Realtor.com and check for houses in Clemmons, Lewisville or Advance (or by zip 27012, 27104, 27023, 27006). Taxes are also lower in Forsyth county. Schools are also better.

Eastern side of Davie county: Bermuda run is a gated/guarded golf community with houses in the $400K++ range. It lies alongside the Yadkin River and has expanded across 801 to land there. BR has incorporated itself into a town, though it accesses services from the surrounding area. In the last 5 years or so, they removed the barbed wire strands from atop the fence that surrounds the community. The expanded section has security measures that give it a less forbidding appearance. Kinderton is a planned retail/business community with a mixture of homes/townhouses. Businesses have expanded in the area to include a Food Lion, CVS pharmacy and restaurants. There is a Lowes in the Kinderton community and Harris Teeter across the river in Forsyth county, across the road from Tanglewood (a large golf/recreation park. They have a humongous light display at Christmas). There has been some criticism toward the police department that this side of the county doesn’t get the protection it needs. Most of the businesses have had problems with crime; Food Lion being the latest. A couple weeks ago, a man armed with a machete broke in and terrorized the early morning staff. Probably stands to reason: that section of the county is farthest from the largest town (Mocksville) where the police force is stationed, and the county tax system has not grown to support additional services.

The most upscale development has happened on the northern and eastern side of the county (158 toward Mocksville and 801 toward Advance) because water/sewer services have expanded there. The rest of the county has seen some waterlines being run, but it’s more likely that a homeowner is going to be on a well and septic tank unless they are in the town proper. Also, there is a more diverse style of houses. You’ll find nice brick homes on lots next to run down single wide trailers. So if you are picky about neighbors, you might take that into consideration . The southern of the county is where Duke Power owns ~1800 acres of land. There is continued speculation that they plan to build a large nuclear power plant on the site that they have owned since the 70s. It took Duke almost a year before SC was ultimately chosen, they is still hold open the option on the Perkins site. So unless you want to worry about looming cooling towers, it would be best to stay up around the 801/158 part of the county.

[NB06.12-3] US: Duke Power and Southern Co have agreed to jointly evaluate the potential construction of a new nuclear power plant at a site in Cherokee County, South Carolina. The two companies will cooperate in the development of an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a combined construction and operating licence (COL), specifying two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, at the site. The application is expected to be submitted to the NRC in late 2007 or early 2008. Duke will be the developer and licensed operator of any plant built at the Cherokee County site, while Southern will be co-owner of the facility. Duke is also considering the preparation of early site permit (ESP) applications for sites in Oconee County, S.C., and Davie County, N.C. (Duke, 16 March; Southern, 16 March; see also News Briefings 05.43-5 and 06.05-4)