Spotlight: Selwyn Park

Selwyn Park is a small neighborhood located where Park Road meets Seneca Place. It is just east of Madison Park and residents can walk to Park Selwyn Terrace shopping center. Homes here are small and affordable, perfect for a starter home, or for someone looking to downsize.

Built just after WWII, Selwyn Park was originally built for young families after the war. Homes here range between 1,000 and 1,500 square feet. Many of the homes have been updated, but many of them retain the original character of the 1940’s with hardwood floors, telephone nooks, wide baseboards and more. Most homes have three bedrooms and 1-2 bathrooms.  

Selwyn Park boasts an active neighborhood association which organizes a large block party each year. As it is a small neighborhood, most neighbors know each other so there is a great sense of community. It is not unusual to see a neighbor at Park Road Shopping Center, at a restaurant in Montford, or at nearby SouthPark Mall.

Marion Diehl Park is just across the creek with entrance from Tyvola Road. The park is a great place to gather for a playdate, or to get some fresh air and exercise after work. Further down Tyvola Road is Park Road Park, a larger park with even more outdoor activities. Also close by is Freedom Park with it’s amazing paved paths around the pond and access to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

All of these amazing features of Selwyn Park are great, but there is also Light Rail really close at Woodlawn and South Boulevard. This makes an Uptown commute a breeze. The light rail will also connect you with nightlife in SouthEnd Historic District, and shopping in Pineville. Look for future lines to connect North to the University, and East out to Matthews.

In the past year, homes in Selwyn Park have sold for between $150,200 and $360,000. If you’re up for some sweat equity, you can find a diamond in the rough here. Alternatively, you can find a fully updated home for a great affordable price.

If you are interested in learning more about Selwyn Park, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view listed homes in Selwyn Park on our website here.

School Boundaries can Dramatically Affect Home Prices

There are many factors people look at when purchasing a home. For families with young children, school districts are usually an important consideration. Based on home sale data, the Charlotte Agenda concluded that school districts can mean the difference in hundreds of  thousands of dollars for homeowners. This means that everyone needs to be aware of school zoning when they purchase, not just young families.

These invisible lines that separate districts are important boundary lines that can mean the difference between a high performing school and a low performing one. These lines can be quite arbitrary, or follow main travel corridors. The lines affect people’s perception of the value of a home. This can dramatically affect how much money people are willing to pay for a home, even a home just across the street from one they would pay substantially more for.

We here at The Angle always remind you to verify school assignments as they are subject to change. Some of the changes can happen if a new school is built. Other times the change can come about because of community involvement, persistence, and activism. Boundaries can also change due to political reasons.

It is illegal for a Realtor to steer a client towards or away from a certain neighborhood or school. We can show you homes in a particular area if you direct us, especially if you want to be located in a particular school district. Even if you have directed your Realtor to show you homes in a particular school district, it is still up to you as the consumer to verify the school assignment.

Homebuyers aren’t alone in preferring higher performing school districts. Builders often prefer them as well. Higher profit margins are usually available if they choose those districts. It makes good business sense to go with a sure thing than to improve in a lower performing district with an unknown profit margin.

Student Assignment Plans like the one recently passed in Charlotte are a way cities try and break up areas of poverty. Without entrenched districts, those areas of lower priced homes have a higher chance for rapid appreciation due to increased interest by developers and buyers.

If you are interested in a home in the Charlotte area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view homes on our website here.

For the full document about Charlotte area school assignments, click here.

For more, read the full article in the Charlotte Agenda

April Zoning Updates

City Council met last week for their monthly zoning meeting. There were a few projects that now officially have the green light. Also, one development needs to head back to the drawing board to address concerns from the council. Here are some of the projects we are most excited about:

  • CW Development was successful in their rezoning bid. As you might remember, this development was hotly contested last month due to a requirement about access to both Old Providence Road and Old Providence Lane. This requirement is a part of the city’s subdivision ordinance. Residents were concerned because of extra thru traffic, a sidewalk to nowhere and the razing of old growth trees. CW Development now has the go ahead to build 20 townhomes on the 4.1 acre site.
  • Selwyn Property Group is working on a redevelopment of a site on the East Side that will include up to 80,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail. Located on Monroe Road, Idlewild Road, Independence Boulevard and Long Avenue, this development will service many Charlotteans. The Lynx Silver Line has a proposed line in the immediate area so it will not only be good for that area, but also for anyone who can reach it by Lynx light rail. Selwyn Property Group has been working hard with the community and city council to come up with the best possible plan for the area.
  • PulteGroup was sent back to the drawing board with their new development on Starmount Cove Lane. This 9.1-acre site near South Boulevard would potentially be home to 95 two-story townhouses. The location is great and would be about a half-mile from the Lynx Blue Line station at Arrowood. Council members expressed concerns about density, design, parking, and accessibility. Lack of open space was of major concern as well. PulteGroup will revamp their petition and present at a future zoning meeting seeking approval.

If you are interested in one of the above projects, or if you are interested in a home elsewhere in the Charlotte area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also create custom searches on our website here.

Spotlight: Montclaire & Montclaire South

Great neighborhoods are all around Montclarie and Montclaire South. Madison Park, Starmount, Barclay Downs, Colonial Village, Beverly Woods, Myers Park, Dilworth, Quail Hollow and more are all really close. SouthPark Mall, Park Road Shopping Center and Montford are just down the road, and the airport is really convenient. Originally developed in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the Montclaires have some of the most affordable housing in Charlotte today.

This area is really up and coming and with the Lynx Blue Line allowing you to travel around the city without a car, this area is becoming more attractive all the time. Archdale, Scaleybark and Tyvola stations are convenient for walking, or park n’ ride. The trains can get you uptown while you catch up on work, read a book, or listen to music making for a painless commute.

Montclaire South is roughly bordered by Old Pineville Road, I-77, Arrowood Road, and Woodlawn Road. Montclaire is roughly bordered by Tyvola Road, South Boulevard, Archdale Road, and Little Sugar Creek.

Together, these neighborhoods are close to all the amenities you need. Both are centrally located with two large parks. Ramblewood Park is a 93 acre park with soccer complex, basketball courts, playground, picnic facilities and walking trails. Archdale Park is 16 acres with a multi-purpose field, basketball court, picnic facilities, woods, and playground. Park Road Park and Marion Diehl parks are just outside of Montclaire and offer many more options for outdoor adventuring.

There is a homeowner’s association that helps organize the neighborhoods. Membership in the HOA is voluntary, but is a great way to get to know your neighbors and to stay on top of local news. With over 700 homes, The two Montclaires have tons of potential.

Growing families and young professionals all love Montclaire and Montclaire South. Homes here range from ranch, to split-level, to mid-century modern. Most homes have between 3 and 4 bedrooms and 2 to 3 bathrooms. Most are between 1,100 and 2,500 square feet. Homes have sold in a wide range from $125,000 to $385,000. There is even a completely remodeled home currently under contract for $416,500.

If you are interested in buying a home in Montclaire or Montclaire South, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view listings on our website here.

The Queen City is Desirable, but is it Affordable?

This week, Trulia, released a report examining income of people in various professions in almost 100 major U.S. metropolitan areas to see if they are struggling to afford to buy a home in their community. Trulia is an online residential real estate site with listings and housing data. They examined income data for doctors, teachers, first responders, and restaurant workers for the study. According to their report, Charlotte is among the least-affordable markets in North Carolina for teachers.

The report shows that the average American worker makes $37,040 per year. The median home in the United States costs $254,900. This means the average worker would have to spend 42% of their income on a mortgage if they bought that median home. This is up 6% from two years ago.

Trulia defined affordability as a debt-to-income ratio of 31%. This means monthly housing payments would take up only 31% of monthly take-home pay. Percentages were figured assuming a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of 4.1%.

Teachers in the Charlotte metro area earn on average $45,683 per year. Trulia’s report shows that only 33% of teachers could afford the median priced home in Charlotte of $299,900. 29% of first responders can afford that same home with an average salary of $41,630. Restaurant workers in the region have an average salary of $20,322 which means only 7% of them can afford the median priced home. Doctors in the area average $208,000 per year and 96% of them can afford the same home.

Two-income households have an advantage in affordability, but if one partner loses a job or takes a leave for family or other reasons, they could be in a real financial bind.

The Charlotte area has been feeling an affordability pinch recently. With a shortage of homes on the market, prices have been going up steadily. In fact, a recent report from Re/Max shows that the median sales price of a home in Charlotte was up 10.1% just between February and March of this year.

There are still some great neighborhoods in Charlotte that fall below the median sales price which are great for single income households. There are also many neighborhoods that fall close to the median price that are great options for dual income households. With prices continuing to appreciate, it is also a great option to purchase a starter home and work your way up to a more expensive home after a few years. The city is also working on getting many more affordable housing units included as part of most new developments.

No matter where you are in your home buying journey, New Angle Realty can help you. Call us at (704) 525-4045 or visit our website to view listings here.

Millennial Buying Habits Appear to be Changing

Are you attached to the home you currently own? If you are, you join 79% of homeowners in the Charlotte area. Bank of America conducted a survey of homeowners where they concluded that 79% of Charlotte residents could see themselves staying in their current homes for the rest of their lives. Homeowners here are proud of their homes and treasure the memories they have made. Traditional thinking has it that millennials are more interested in long-term renting than buying until they can find a forever home.

The survey helped Bank of America compile their second annual Homebuyer Insights Report. The national survey for the report looked at answers from 4,906 adults across the country. The bank focused on responses from 300 adults from 10 markets. The survey was conducted by GfK Public Communications and Social Science. The ten markets Bank of America focused on included Charlotte, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Miami.

In the Charlotte area, 83% of homeowners believe home ownership has had a positive impact on their finances. 84% of homeowners are trying to make their homes more valuable by fixing up, adding on, updating, decorating and more.

Additional insights from the report include that millennials are much more interested in home buying than they have been before. Of millennials who have bought homes, 79% feel that home ownership has had a positive long-term impact on their finances.

It appears that the perception that millennials prefer long-term renting is incorrect. The study shows that they are buying homes or are interested in buying homes. They are realizing that buying a home can be more affordable than renting, and it does not have to mean that they have a harder time relocating. This means that the home they buy does not have to be a forever home, which is a shift from the previous year’s report when they said they might rent until they found a home they could live in forever.   

If millennials are more inclined to buy a home, it may make the housing market even tighter than it is currently. There could be more buyers vying for the small inventory in the Charlotte area. This could give the advantage in a bidding war to an older buyer with more buying power or equity to invest. We will definitely keep an eye on this trend.

If you are interested in a home in the Charlotte area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also set up a customized search for homes on our website here.

Rental Market Update

Charlotte’s rents are on the rise, which is great news for landlords, but not such great news for tenants. According to Apartment List, the Charlotte area had the second highest rental rate jump in the state last year just behind Wilmington. The 5.1% increase from March 2016 brings the median rent for a 2 bedroom unit to $1,210. To put that in perspective, the state had a yearly increase of 4.2% and the nation as a whole only increased by 2.4%.

If you look at numbers produced by Zumper, median rent on a two bedroom unit was $1,270. Based on their figures, that is an 8.5% jump for the year and 3.3% up from the previous month. Zumper lists Charlotte in a tie for 25th most expensive metro area in the country.

This means that a tenant would need to make more money to keep their same quality of life as rents increase. According to Zillow, they would need to make an extra $384 annually. This 0.7% increase in median salary would allow a tenant to pay rent and still have the same amount of disposable income. Zillow pegs the median rental rate in Charlotte at $1,248. According to their predictions, rents will rise around $32 per month to $1,280 by this time next year.

If the Fed increases interest rates again, which is predicted to happen two more times this year, these additional costs could be passed along to tenants in the form of rate hikes as well. These figures also don’t take into account any other increases a tenant might have aside from rent so they could feel the squeeze from higher healthcare costs, higher grocery bills, or a host of other factors.

The Charlotte population is on the rise so there is plenty of interest in new rental units. In fact, Charlotte just topped the entire nation with the most rental units added in the first quarter of this year.  Charlotte added 9,347 units for a 5.9% increase. This topped the 100 largest metro areas in the country. These numbers, from MPF Research, are encouraging and are well above the 1.8% national average.

Zillow predicts that there could be a slow-down of rent appreciation in hot markets like New York and San Francisco. It will be a welcome change for those areas, and could signal a change countrywide. There has been a push in most major metropolitan areas to add more affordable housing options to ease the affordability crisis. Charlotte is no exception to that trend. Affordable units are part of many of the newly announced uptown projects.

If you are interested in an investment property so that you can add a passive income stream, call us at (704) 525-4045. If you are done renting and want to purchase a home of your own, call us at (704) 525-4045. To view listings on our website, click here.

March Market Statistics

The Charlotte Regional Realtor Association published their monthly report today. For yet another month, inventory is down while home prices are up. Home sales are up from last year at the same time. There appears to be no end in sight for this current trend.

The downward slide in inventory continues with a drop of 20.3% to a 2.4 month supply. There were 9,212 homes on the market in March, down from 11,562 homes at this time last year. The 11,562 homes represented a 3.3 month supply.

There were 3,965 homes sold in March, up 11.5% from 3,557 homes in March 2016. In February of this year, there were 2,570 homes sold so the number of homes sold in March was up 54% from February. In 2016 this was only a 39% jump from February to March showing just how strong home sales this year have been compared to last year. Maybe it’s the amazing weather helping sales this year.

As is usually true about the law of supply and demand, when supply is low, prices go up. This has been true for the Charlotte area. Average sales prices were up 10.4% over last year to $271,351. The median sales price rose 11.6% to $220.950.   

Once homes hit the market, they are not staying there long. The average time from list to close is now 104 days. That is down 18 days from 2016, a decrease of 14.8%.

It appears that more homeowners are trying to take advantage of the spring season as new listings were up 6.2% from 5,648 last year to 5,999 this year. Pending sales also increased from 4,404 last year to 5,116 this year, a 16.2% jump.

Homes are selling for an average of 96.9% of list price. This is up from 95.6% of list price in March of last year. This follows the trend we are seeing of homes getting right around list price and in some cases multiple offers.

Home prices and sales could slow as the year progresses as the Fed has already indicated that they will be hiking interest rates two more times this year. This could make mortgages harder to obtain for first time buyers, and pricier for all other buyers. It remains to be seen how much, if any impact that has in Charlotte’s hot market.

If you are interested in a home in the Charlotte area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view homes on our website here.

News Around SouthEnd

Amos’s South End/Gin Mill

Amos’s SouthEnd is undergoing a transformation. The music venue closed after a final show in early March, and is now undergoing a transformation to be the new location of the Gin Mill. Amos’s closed in part due to the mixed-use development across the street being built by Beacon Partners. The development is where patrons of Amos’s used to park their cars. Without the lease of the land for parking, it was harder for patrons to get to the venue. In addition, the venue was worried about noise complaints from the new residents.

The new Gin Mill will include a bar for libations, a stage for live music, and food. There will also be a 1,000 square foot rooftop patio and a game room. This will be a nice change for the Gin Mill as they currently do not serve food.

The plan calls for exposing the original brick and adding garage door/windows to harken back to when the building was a Studebaker dealership in the 1950’s. Expect this venue to be around town for quite some time. They have a 5 year lease with an option for another 10 years. The build out should take around 3 months so expect them to open sometime in the summer.

 

Palmer St.

Charlotte’s Gold District is about to have an arcade game bar. The Gold District is bounded roughly by Summit Avenue, the railroad tracks, Winnifred Street and Morehead Street. Palmer St. is in a warehouse at 412 W. Palmer Street, just up the way from Craft Tasting Room and Unknown Brewing. They plan to have 20 craft beers on tap, selected bottles and cans of beer, and food. They have over 30 classic video games and pinball machines. Expect them to open in the next 10 days. Palmer St. is at the start of what may be a trend of taking over the industrial Gold District. Some restaurants are already in the area so it is definitely an area we are watching.

 

If you are looking for a home in SouthEnd, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view homes in SouthEnd on our website here.

UNC Wins and HB2 Repealed

Only UNC winning the National title is bigger news than the repeal of HB2 in North Carolina right now. The Tar Heels won 71-65 over Gonzaga bringing home their seventh title last night. Fans across the state and across the country were celebrating this improbable win and counting it as redemption after coming up short last year.

Hopefully North Carolina will have the same kind of redemption after the repeal of HB2. Governor Roy Cooper signed legislation last week repealing the controversial law. The repeal will hopefully be the first step in repairing the damaged reputation we have gotten in the media. Many companies and sporting events have pulled out of the state over the bill, so hopefully the repeal will bring that business back.

Experts estimated that monetary losses due to HB2 were between $380 million and $750 million, but the total number is not yet known. It is easy to quantify the businesses that vocally decided not to relocate here and the ones that decided not to expand their business holdings here. What is harder to quantify is the number of businesses that decided quietly against North Carolina. There is a perception that the state is intolerant and that could stick around for a lot longer than the bill.

North Carolina’s economy is fueled by new jobs and many of those come from out-of-state relocations. Hopefully the repeal will show people that we are a great place where people are working together, across the aisle, to repair our damaged reputation and extend equal protections to all people.

Another benefit to the repeal is that North Carolina is once again eligible to host the NCAA Championships. These championships bring prestige and tourist dollars to the state each year. Cities like Durham and Cary are aggressively campaigning to be tournament locations for next years contest.

In addition, being an all inclusive state, one not tolerant of discrimination, is a great draw for millennials. Millennials have lots of buying power and earning potential so making our state attractive to them can only help us in the long run.

If the repeal of HB2 has gotten you excited about the real estate market in the Charlotte area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. We would love to talk to you about it and help you find the home of your dreams. You can also view homes and create custom searches on our website here.