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Life in Union County

September 5th, 2010 categories: Charlotte Living

Living in Union County is sort of like living in a reduced tax price Charlotte.

Back when Charlotte was about 12 years younger and before Ballantyne was born. What I mean is that buying property in Union County is a very sound investment; Union County is a really nice place to live and it’s growing.

Union County includes: Stallings, Indian Trail, Monroe, Marshville, Weddington, Waxhaw and several other communities. Owning over an acre of property in Union County, NC is easy to do since so much of the area is still undeveloped. In fact, Union County is a highly equestrian-friendly place to live. The Queen’s Cup Steeplechase is held each year in Mineral Springs, which is just below Weddington and to the west of Waxhaw. The event draws thousands of men, women, and children who want to see gorgeous and highly athletic thoroughbreds compete at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. Much like the grander derby events held in Kentucky, visitors who attend the event, and watch from Member’s Hill and The Paddock, dress in traditional “Sunday Best” clothes. Men wear a jacket, tie and long slacks and the ladies usually wear sun dresses, skirts, or nice pantsuits or slacks. Member’s Hill and The Paddock are where you’ll see hats, hats, and more hats! Women wear their wide-brimmed sun hats and often sport the ‘Queen’s Cup’ Panama hat.

The town of Weddington is primarily populated with estate housing that ranges from $500,000 to well over $2,000,000. Other townships boast a more balanced view of established, executive housing and newly built neighborhoods that center around parks and open spaces to promote a feeling of community. The close proximity of Union County to Charlotte makes the morning and afternoon rush hour commutes to Uptown Charlotte comparable to those of areas north of Charlotte such as Lake Norman and Mooresville.

The Union County Public Elementary Schools (k-8) are nearly all ranked as either an “Honor School of Excellence” or a “School of Distinction.” The middle schools are slightly below with most schools listed in the “School of Distinction” category, and the high schools are almost all “Honor School of Excellence” ranked.

The city of Monroe is a highly desired destination for new business development with its access to three major interstate systems, state highways, and railways. Since the entire region of the Charlotte-Metro hub is the 2nd largest trucking center in the Southeast and 11^th in the nation, Monroe is looked upon as the heart of the region for interstate trade; the deep water ports of Wilmington and Charleston are also not far away, and the Charlotte-Douglas airport is the 6^th largest hub in the nation making international trade virtually painless for commerce.

Property Taxes in Union County

The property taxes are slightly lower than the Charlotte-Mecklenburg personal and property taxes with the average running from a simple fire tax in some townships at .01910 per $100 to overall average of Union County at .66550 per $100, in comparison to Charlotte’s 1.19 average per $100.

With the way that Charlotte seems to be spreading her web, Union County will seem to blend in with the rest of Mecklenburg County. We can only hope the taxes and historical community feel do not change.

Union County Facts: 2010

As of 2010, Union County’s population is 196,923 people.
Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 59.32 percent.
The median home cost in Union County is $172,760.
Home appreciation the last year has been -6.30 percent.
Compared to the rest of the country, Union County’s cost of living is 2.40% Lower than the U.S. average.
Union County public schools spend $4,289 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $5,678.
There are about 17.8 students per teacher in Union County.
The unemployment rate in Union County is 10.20 percent(U.S. avg. is 10.20%).
Recent job growth is Negative. Union County jobs have Decreased by 7.20 percent.

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Tags: community, homes, houses, real estate, Union county, Waxhaw, Weddington

Authored by Wendy Wells | Discussion: 1 Comment »

Back to School UNC Charlotte?

April 4th, 2010 categories: Charlotte Living, Great Neighborhoods

You don’t have to be a college graduate to make a smart investment! But buying a place in the University area in Charlotte, NC can be a valuable education in how to earn money every month as a landlord.

If you have a son or daughter that is going to be heading to UNC-Charlotte soon, consider buying a townhome or condominium instead of footing the bill for a dorm room or apartment. You’ll have the tax write off as well as an investment that can pay for itself in the long run! Once your student finds a roommate to share the place with, you can collect rent from that person, which will pay for at least a portion of the expenses you’ll be shelling out for your own student. Plus, once your child is working and can afford to pay you rent, you can add that to your income, too! If you decide to let your youngster live rent-free while in school, you can always wait until graduation to begin charging. Naturally, when your son or daughter graduates college and finds a career if he or she decides to stay in the property, you deserve the opportunity to finally begin reaping the benefits of landownership (and to get paid back for all those years of support).

If your offspring moves out, that’s when you move into action. You have the option of either handling the renting yourself, or finding a rental management company in Charlotte, NC to do it for you. There are several good companies in Charlotte that will screen applicants, collect deposits, monthly rent, handle maintenance issues, clean and turn over the property between tenants, and pay you each month for simply owning the property.

Currently, in the University City area, there are several townhomes and condos available for under $120,000 that are two, three and more bedroom homes with at least two bathrooms. Most are always located in communities with swimming pools, which is important to young college students and makes them an attractive feature when renting.

Here is just one example of what you can get and keep for a long term investment. This particular property is located within walking and biking distance from campus in the Glenwater at University Place community. It’s two stories with four bedrooms and three full bathrooms, a basement, neutral paint, new floors, vaulted ceilings, new light fixtures, an island in the kitchen and a large breakfast/dining area. In total, it has over 2,000 square feet of heated living space, is an end unit, and is only $115,000!

Go ahead and buy now in the spring time and have your son or daughter start college in the summer. Why? Because they can start with a quick summer course where they are in class for a bit longer than usual and they’ll get closer to other students faster. They’ll learn the campus while it’s not overly crowded like the Fall semester and go ahead and knock out an undesirable class like math, science, or whatever they don’t do well in. Summer classes give students the opportunity to really get in with the teachers and begin to know them well, too. (It never hurts to try and be teacher’s pet!) The timing is perfect for you to make an investment on a new property, get your youngster moved in, and help them get an early start to school. The early bird catches the worm! When Fall semester comes around, your son or daughter will feel comfortable on campus and already have a few friends; unlike the newbies who have to wait until the last minute to get enrolled, moved in, and buy their books. It’s a win-win situation for you and your college bound kid!

“You learn something every day if you pay attention.” ~Ray LeBlond

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Tags: Back to School, Charlotte Condos, investment housing for student, real estate, UNC Housing, UNCC student housing, university

Authored by Donna Johnston | Discussion: Your Comments Please »

What’s Happening with Charlotte Real Estate?

July 21st, 2008 categories: Real Estate News

Doug Smith, the Charlotte Observer’s veteran reporter is the “go to” person on Charlotte Real Estate. For the past two years his Next Big Thing column has taken the pulse of Charlotte Real Estate and read the minds of Charlotte’s developers.

Click on Ask Doug to go to his blog

Things move fast in this town and you can be sure Doug is talking today about what everyone else will be talking about tomorrow. Doug too writes a blog “Ask Doug | What’s Happening In Charlotte Real Estate and Development”. We will be pointing to his blog regularly ~ If you’d like to catch his most recent story about some dueling uptown condo developments(EpiCentre & Park Condominiums) read “A rare public slugfest in Charlotte” and then take a little time and read his other posts about the mostly good and bad of Charlotte real Estate. We do!\

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Tags: charlotte market, Charlotte Real Estate and More, real estate

Authored by Donna Johnston | Discussion: Your Comments Please »

What if I want to talk to a Charlotte Realtor, now? Here’s a secret!

June 23rd, 2008 categories: Buying your Home, Our Charlotte Realtors

We’ve all been there voice mail prompt hell…If you’d like to sell your house please press 1, if you’d like to just listen to more of this great music please press blah…blah…blah…

Well what about the 10th call to your real estate agent? You already know who you’re calling — I JUST WANT TO LEAVE A MESSAGE!!!!

Well there is a better way thanks to the Charlotte Observer’s Rob Pegoraro for these secret tips to help cut through those “Hello my name is…” prompts.

“The total time wasted by these instructions, which play after a person’s recorded greeting, could add up to millions of hours a year. Has anybody ever done anything after hearing the leave-me-a-message greeting but, you know, leave a message?” But if you want to skip the welcome and message options….“If you’re calling an AT&T subscriber, pressing “0” will usually let you start recording your message right away;with a Sprint customer, press “1”; for a Verizon user, use the asterisk key; and when phoning a T-Mobile subscriber, hit the number key.”

So when you want to reach the Charlotte Premier Realty team (a little quicker) here ya’ go — when you’re ready to talk, we’ll listen!

Rhonda Gibbons 704-651-6551 skip the greeting (press * once – Verizon)

Jackie Stutts 704-517-2594

Blake Garvin 704-763-0907

Betsy Mayer 704-840-7948

Donna Johnston 704-517-3925 (Skype her instantly at Donna.Forrest)

and check out this BONUS link for more tips on getting to speak to a human at Bank Of America, Capital One Visa, the Social Security Administration and others!

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