Charlotte Real Estate Blog

Charlotte, NC was not supposed to be strongly affected by the housing downturn.  Everybody in Charlotte was told that we would be one of the last cities to feel the housing slump and would be one of the first cities to stabilize.  This has not played out theway that everyone expected. 

Worries about Charlotte's real estate market did not really scare the public until Wachovia was bought by the San Francisco based Wells Fargo.  Charlotte is known as a banking city.  The scare ooccurred again when there was talk of Bank of America being moved to New York.  Now that we have a new CEO located in Charlotte this has been forgotten.  The city has always attracted a large amount of young college graduates and has always had the jobs to support the growth.  Since Wachovia was bought by Wells Fargo it does not feel that this is the case.  Only recently has Charlotte been able to again attract the young/educated crowd because of new companies moving to the area because of Charlotte's affordability. 

Over the last several months the city has not grown as fast as it was projected.  Uptown real estate has felt the worst of the market.  The condo prices Uptown have dropped dramatically and there are still a lot of short sales.  In 2007 there were multiple sky-rises on the way up and there was talk of many more.  The downtown area was suppose to be getting a lot of retail on the streets to help support the living style of Uptown residents.  One of the condo buildings (The Catalyst) was unable to contract enough of the units so the building has turned into a rental high rise.  Another project (The Park at Caldwell and Third) failed and has been bought by a group of investors.  They hope to turn the building into a hotel/condo building.  The VUE is the other large building that looks to be almost complete.  The builders stopped building for about a month because they had not received money from the investors.  The building is under construction again and they hope to close several of these units in September 2010.  The VUE will be the tallest condo building in Charlotte. 

The Uptown condo market is projected to be the the area of Charlotte that appreciates the most over the next 10 years.  This is probably because this is the area that has taken the hardest hit and because the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce is continuing to lobby hard for Uptown retail. 

The housing market has seen declining prices over the past 2 years.  These prices are continuing to drop but it feels that we are finally starting to stabilize.  Buyers are still wanting to present low offers and they expect to have most of their closing costs covered.  With interest rates on the way up I expect to see some move up buyers dropping the prices of their houses so that they can lock in a low rate on their next purchase. 

High unemployment in Charlotte is the number one cause of the slow recovery.  Once the unemployment rate drops I expect the Charlotte housing market to be on the way up.

New Listing ~ 13804 Mallard Lake Road, Charlotte, NC 28262

$280,000

I just listed a great 4 bedroom 2.5 bath house in the Mallard Lake subdivision.  This house was built by McCar Homes in 2006.  The house has between 3,000 and 3,600 square feet.  The tax records list the heated living area at 3,459 square feet.  The house has a 2 car garage. 

The exterior construction is stone and vinyl...easy maintenance.  The back yard has a retaining wall and an extended patio.  The owners have also added a lot of landscaping to this house that you will not find in the rest of the subdivision. 

The house has an open foyer with the formal living room and the formal dining room at the enterance.  The downstairs also includes an office, breakfast room, half bath, laundry room, kitchen and great room that is open to the second floor.  The owners have added tinted windows to the great room to help keep the heat out. 

Upstairs features 4 bedrooms, including the master, and 2 full baths.  The house shows like a model and is move in ready.  There are 2 staircases in this house.

The house is prewired for surround sound and has an alarm system in place with an extra keypad in the master bedroom.  The master bathroom has dual vanities.

New Listing | Avenue Condominiums Unit 3202 | $399,999

210 N. Church St. Unit 3202 Charlotte, NC 28202

I just received a new listing...and this one came off of my website and this is a short sale.  This unit has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 parking spaces and a storage area.  The unit has hardwood floors in the entry halls, kitchen and living room.  The kitchen has all stainless steel appliances and shows great. 

The amenities in the Avenue Condominiums are hard to beat.  They offer a concierge service, fitness room, theatre room, resort-like pool, rec. room with pool table, outdoor grilling and fireplaces.  The environment is very hip and is a great place to meet some new friends that live in the building.  The outside fireplaces have couches and flat screen televisions where groups will hang out and watch a game or movie. 

The unit is on a corner and all of the exterior walls are glass.  It has amazing views of the city and is priced very aggressively. 

Park South Station Information

Take Park Road south of the city and take a right onto Archdale just south of SouthPark.  Park South Station will be 0.7 miles on your left and you will enter the community at the bottom of this neighborhood map. 

The units that are marked with red marker are sold but as you can see the community has a long ways to go.  This is a Ryan Homes community and because of their business plan, the builders will not build the units until they are under contract. 

This property is the old location of Celenese and because of this the community is located on a Brownsfield.  A Brownsfield area is where a commercial business used to be and has contaminated the soil and now the area has been cleaned up and is being used as residential space.  Ryan Homes has done a great job of cleaning and contaminated soil and they continue to test the ground after every hard rain. 

What does this mean for a buyer?

• Since this is a Brownsfield area you will only have to pay a portion of your property taxes for the first several years
• You will not be using city water and will have a higher water bill than normal

I sent a mass email to the 100+ agents in my office last week about the stigma that comes with a Brownsfield...they agreed that it is definitely something that needs to be disclosed and explained to the buyer but it doesn't seem to have a strong negative impact on buyers decision. 

Ryan Homes is offering competitive prices for new townhomes and they are also able to throw in several upgrades to make your new place just the way you want it. 

All of their units come with:

• 10-Year Warranty
• Energy efficient gas heat and central air conditioning
• 50 gallon quick recovery water heater
• 9 foot ceilings on the main floor
• Oak railings with primed spindles
• GE appliances
• Luxury owner's bath with soaking tub....some floor plans have a separate shower
• Cultured marble vanity tops
• 42 inch Maple Recessed cabinets with crown molding

These items come standard but Ryan Homes can take you to their design center and you can customize your house with the colors and upgrades that you like.  Make sure your agent asks for these upgrades under the price that has already been quoted to you.  New construction subdivisions are more likely to throw in upgrades than to lower the list price because they want to keep the home values at a certain level. 

Park South Station amenities: 

• Gated Community
• Very large pool
• Club house
• Fitness center

Park South Station Home Owners Assocation fees = $195/month

Is now a good time to build? - The answer is that it can be but don't get stuck in an unfinished subdivision.

Here is a question that I get weekly and I would say it depends on what you mean by build.

If you want to have a house built in a community with a financially stable and reputable builder then I would say go ahead because you will be able to get a lot of house for the money...but be sure that you aren't one of the first moving in this community.  I would want the community to be at least half way built and I would ask the sales agent to see a stat sheet to show me a consistent sales history in the subdivision.  You don't want to be stuck in a neighborhood with empty lots for 10 years.  I know of several subdivisions in south Charlotte that are offering great buyer incentives on top of their competitive list prices and I would feel comfortable buying my own house in one of these subdivisions. 

If you want to build a custom home on a private lot or in a new subdivision (when I say new I mean you will be one of the first 10 houses in the neighborhood) then I would say find a resale or find a new house that has already been built.  Too many buyers have this dream of owning a custom built house but you need to understand the market. 

The market is saturated with new houses that builders are unable to sale so they continue to drop their list prices.  The resale market is influenced by this and is even worse.  There are so many home owners upside down on their mortgages (they owe more on their house than it is actually worth) that the real estate market of tomorrow is going to have more short sales and more foreclosures than what most think.  

If you are considering finding a lot, outside of a planned subdivision with a reputable builder that you know will stay in the neighborhood to finish the job, I would suggest that you take some time to also view the resales in your area.  You should see that you can get more for your money if you decide against building.

Allen Tate Southpark Office

As you may have noticed the old Allen Tate Southpark office has been removed and the land flattened.  The plans for the lot are not completely set but we are hearing that there will be a hotel built. The Allen Tate Company has been in the new corporate building for about 8 years.  The building is located at 6700 Fairview Road, is part of Phillip's Place and is noticeable by large size and its' green roof.  The second floor of the building houses over 100 agents and assistants and the third floor is devoted to Allen Tate Corporate.  This is where you will find the relocation, accounting and marketing departments.  Also the third floor includes Allen Tate's office. 

The first floor of our office is filled with boutique shops and Cafe Monte French Bakery and Bistro.  The fourth floor of the office has been sold as condominiums. 

There is also a lot of new construction being built directly behind our office.  There is a large condo building being built and there will be several condos available for rent and an assisted living facility. 

Contact Brandon Farmer for more information.  

Stone Orchard ~ Detached houses but still condominiums

I just put a house under contract in the Stone Orchard subdivision.  This subdivision is located in the Sedgefield area right off of Marsh Road in Charlotte, NC.  The community has a little over 60 detached houses but all of them are considered condominiums.  The HOA dues for this house are $220/month and this covers master insurance premium, real property taxes on the common areas, exterior building maintenance, exterior yard and landscaping maintenance, trash removal, water, sewer, pool maintenance and pest extermination.  HOA dues will be different for different condos.  The more square feet in the house the more the HOA dues.  This is the largest floorplan in the subdivision so some of the other houses in the neighborhood will have lower dues. 

Stone Orchard had an assessment about 3 years ago to pay for re-roofing all of the "houses" in the subdivision.  There is going to be a new assessment starting in January of 2010.  The assessment will add an additional $115/month to the HOA dues and will be used to replace the driveways, repair/rebuild the fences and to put new gutters on all of the units. 

William Douglas Management is managing the subdivision...their number is 704-347-8900

This house has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and a deep one car garage.  The kitchen has been remodeled with new cabinets and granite counter-tops.  The condo also has a private fenced patio and is located in a cul-de-sac.  The neighborhood pool is located just across the street.  The pool opens on Memorial Day and closes on Labor Day.

The main level of this house is tiled and there are hardwoods upstairs in all but one room. 

This condo is located in the Myers Park High School district and this is an important factor when it comes to reselling the property. 

Search for more houses @ www.showcasecharlotte.com

Two townhomes under contract this month so far.  Both are for first time home buyers.  That is really who is buying right now.  A lot of first time home buyers are trying to get into contracts so that they can close by December 1st and receive the $8,000 tax credit.  You must stay in the house for 3 years to receive the entire tax credit.

Both of these townhomes will be great for first time home buyers.  Both communities are located in south Charlotte and these buyers took advantage of the low market prices and low interest rates.  There are a lot of nice townhome/condos available in south Charlotte for under $120K and they are starting to receive more showings as we are getting close to the tax credit deadline. 

Buyer activity is increasing but not much is selling over $250,000.  Sale price to list price has dropped in the last year and the list prices have also been decreasing the last 12 months.  This time last year the sale/list price was about 95% and this year it is 91%.  This is proof that sellers are willing to negotiate to sale their properties even after they have priced their houses competitively.  Only the houses that are in great showing shape and that are priced right are moving. 

If you are a first time home buyer you should be under contract by the first of November if you want to close in time to receive the tax credit.  Let you agent know that there is certain verbiage that needs to be in the contract so that if you are unable to close before Dec. 1st to receive your tax credit that you will have the option of backing out of the deal.

MLS# 862851  Listed at $119,500                MLS# 862837  Listed at $95,000

                                        Both are pending closing.                                                     

Find more listings like these by searching the MLS through my website.  www.showcasecharlotte.com

Welcome to 6119 Tuskan Drive in the Bishop's Ridge subdivision. $269,900 with a $5,000 buyer incentive

MLS# 815074

This subdivision is off of Providence Rd. just south of the Providence and Fairview intersection in Charlotte, NC.  The neighborhood is quiet with a lot of trees.  You drive through the Providence Commons subdivision to get to the entrance of Bishop's Ridge.  The subdivision has a club house, pool and tennis courts. 

This house was built in 1997 and has 2,488 square feet.  3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house with huge deck and large stone patio.  This house has a very private backyard that is fenced.  Hardwood floors downstairs with carpet upstairs.  The kitchen has been updated with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.  Large laundry room downstairs with a washer/dryer. The master bedroom is very large, laundry shoot and has an elegant master bathroom...garden tub, tiled shower and very large walk in closet. 

The house has a 2 car garage and back up to a wooded lot.  Quick drive to Uptown Charlotte.

This is a relocation property so there has been an inspection and most of the repairs have been completed.  The house has new neutral paint and really shows great.

Let me know if you know somebody that may be interested in this house. 

Condo for rent in The Villages of Eastover Glen ~ $900/Month 2Bed/2Bath

Okay...everybody knows somebody that needs a place to rent and for a 2 bedroom in a good location, it doesn't get much better than this.  I am putting this one on the market today.  It is a 2 bedroom condo in The Villages of Eastover Glen.  It is a ground level unit with easy access.  The unit has wood floors in the entrance way, living room and kitchen.  The condo has been updated with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.  A washer and dryer are included.  The master bedroom has a large walk-in closetand a separate bath.  There is a sliding door that connects the master bedroom to the back deck. 

Less than a 10 minutes drive to Uptown Charlotte, NC

There is a community club house and a community pool.  The pool has many chairs for tanning and a covered deck at the club house looks over the pool.

If you know someone that may want to buy the unit...bring me an offer!