Brandon Farmer

If you have driven through Madison Park or Collins Park in South Charlotte then you know that there are 3 bedroom ranches that are being renovated on almost every street. The neighborhood is located about 3 miles south of Uptown Charlotte and sits between Park Road and South Blvd. Woodlawn Rd. divides the two neighborhoods. Though Collins Park is located just north of Madison Park (making it closer to the city), the homes in Madison Park always have and probably always will be more expensive and more sought after. There have been two reasons for this in the past and a third is being added to the picture.

Madison Park has the advantage over Collins Park because it has a road (Montford) that takes you directly to Park Rd. If you lived in Collins Park you would have to take Woodlawn to Park. Also, most of the homes in Madison Park have 2 bathrooms where as most of the homes in Collins Park only have 1 bathroom. Both neighborhoods have decent sized lots and the majority of the homes have fenced backyards.

The city of Charlotte has decided to build a nice sidewalk through Madison Park. The sidewalk is going to be on Murrayhill, which goes directly through the heart of the neighborhood. From being a former resident of Collins Park I can say that the residents there would also like more and better sidewalks. Both neighborhoods are great and I enjoyed living in the area. There are a lot of great restaurants, grocery stores and shopping centers very close to both neighborhoods.

There are some great deals in Charlotte, NC and many of them can be found in what is known as The Arts District or NODA (short for North Davidson). This area is filled with smaller homes (1000-2500 sq), many of which have been remodeled or turned into larger bungalow style homes. There are a few very nice homes that are under the pressure of a short sale and soon will be looking in the eye of foreclosure.

For buyers in the $200K-$300K range, I would strongly suggest looking at some homes in this area. Builders were buying up streets of smaller homes in hopes to build larger bungalows or to build some large additions to the current homes. The idea was that this area would soon be very much like the Dilworth neighborhood. Many of the streets in The Arts District reveal the same style home that is popular in Dilworth and eventually the home prices in this area will increase. The area is very close to Uptown Charlotte, many of the popular restaurants are in the area and overall the area is cleaning itself up.

Neighborhoods in Charlotte have grouped together and spent their weekends to help the curb appeal for many of the homes in this neighborhood.

Marvin, Waxhaw, Weddington and parts Matthews, the areas in Union County, are seeing a lot of growth despite the economic downturn. There are many new home communities being built and many shopping centers going up in the area.

Brookhaven, built by John Weiland, is a popular neighborhood in the area. The neighborhood is known for its' full brick homes and nice amenities. There is a large pool, a kids pool and slide, tennis courts and neighborhood clubs that will meet the needs of every family. The only downside to the neighborhood are the high voltage power lines, but they are far enough from the neighborhood that most home owners are not affected by them. John Weiland is offering a unique incentive to gaurantee home values where if you buy one of his new homes, you can have a 3rd party appraiser come out in 5 years from the date of the sell and if the home appraises for less than what you bought it for, he will write you a check for the difference.

Cureton is a 4 stage development that is being built in the area. M/I is building a great product in the neighborhood and is offering some great buyer incentives for upgrades or additions. Most of the homes offered by M/I come with $30,000 buyer incentives. This money is ussually used in this neighborhood for updated kitchens, extra hardwoods and screened porches. The neighborhood has more trees and the homes have more stone than in most neighborhoods in the area. One stage in the Cureton neighborhood, is offereing a New Orleans style home. These homes are being built by the Cunnane Group. This is the area of Cureton where the community pool is located. There are going to be walking trails between the 4 different stages in Cureton.

Lawson is a neighborhood just a little farther south and is popular for families that don't want to maintain a large yard. There are many families that live in the neighborhood, as the community offers a pool, tennis courts and walking trails. There are multiple builders in this community and each offers their own unique product.

The Chimneys at Marvin, built by Pulte Homes, is located almost directly across from Marvin Ridge High School and Marvin Ridge Middle School. The elemanty school, Sandy Ridge, is adjacent to the neighborhood. The community is split into two stages. There is the Estates and the Reserve. The lots in the Estates are farther off of the road and more wooded, thus more expensive.

All of these neighborhoods are receiving a lot of buyer traffic and it is really a personal preference to type of new community that you want to belong to. They are all very different.

Wow...there are some real deals and some real busts in the foreclosure market. I have viewed about 10-15 foreclosures in the last 3 weeks and every one of them was interesting and had its' own story. Most of the story is told by the black mold, torn wallpaper, busted windows, broken cabinets and missing AC units. One was even covered with what could only be explained as bullet holes. Okay, I must say, none of these homes were listed for more than $100,000 so you can begin to imagine the setting.

There were a few properties that had great potential. With a little cosmetic work and several weekends of hard work and sweat, one could probably make a good investment by buying these properties. Always check the foundation for cracks. If your investor is going to finance the property, the home cannot have black mold or bad stuctural damage.

Finding just the right home to buy, fix up and hopefully even flip is the challenge.

Showcase Charlotte

I think that now is a great time to buy new construction...especially if Charlotte, NC and especially above $300,000. Builders are really offering some great incentives and closing cost money. Some builders are coming way off of their list price and it is important to know how motivated each builder is individually.

It is hard to take your clients into a model home at many communities. Some onsite agents will act like the house you will buy will look exactly like the model. It is very important that you get a list of upgrades for you clients along with the exact price of each upgrade. Take your clients to an inventory home and let them see what they will actually get for that price and be sure to point out the upgrades that were or were not added to the home.

You will learn more about how much upgrades cost in case you get asked in the future, it will help you gain the trust of your clients and it will ensure that the clients are happy once they move in and realize that they were properly guided through the entire transaction.

Remember RED PENGUIN....with the internet, buyers can do a lot of the research themselves. They need the guidance of a prof. to ask all of the questions to the builders to make sure that the home they want is the home they will get.

Brandon Farmer