BUSINESS WEEK NAMED FORT MILL, SC THE 10TH MOST AFFORDABLE TOWN IN THE COUNTRY
Even during the national recession, Fort Mill retains its appeal for being in the top list for "Best Affordable Suburb 2009″. Fort Mill is a former mill town that is now considered a suburban hot spot.
The magazine considered the affordability of suburbs around the country and chose one from each state that met their criteria for affordability. Suburbs located within 25 miles of a major city with populations of 5,000 to 60,000 people and median incomes of $51,000 to $120,000 were considered.
The quality of education, crime rates, ease of commuting and the availability of green space were all considered. Locales were penalized for poor weather, high divorce rates and lack of racial diversity. BusinessWeek studied suburbs near the biggest city in each state to find where the best quality of life for your money is.
The CEO of the Piedmont Regional Association of Realtors, which covers Fort Mill, says that the good schools, good economy, lower taxes, good housing prices, (in many cases less than in other areas), bring many people to the area. He also says that our housing prices are only down about three percent.
The magazine listed the No. 1 most affordable suburb as Pewaukee, Wis., a community of about 12,000 located about 20 minutes outside Milwaukee. Another Charlotte-area suburb, Cornelius, N.C., came in at No. 7.
I personally live in Fort Mill and love it for many reasons. I, too, moved across the state line to live here because of the schools and the tax structure. It is a great place to make memories and raise a family!
Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC is a master planned community that not only offers beautiful homes but a lifestyle that is reminiscent of the Old South. There is really no "earth shattering" news about Baxter, but I love this community so much that I wanted to write about it.
Baxter Village has a smalltown feel that many other communities do not offer. Located in historical Fort Mill, the homes mimic many of the old homes you will find in Charleston, SC. (A city I love) The community has sidewalks, tree-lined streets and a trail network that links to parks and playgrounds. There are over 500 acres of parks within Baxter. Within the community you will also find an Elementary School (my son attends this award-winning school), a library, an Urgent Care Center, pools, tennis courts,a community center and the Baxter Family YMCA. My Keller Williams office is located just next to the library. At the heart of the community is Market Street. Market Street was designed to look like the old Market Street in Charleston as well, and has a variety of shops, restaurants, a hair & nail salon, wine shop and lots of other shops. You can actually walk from many of the homes to Market Street.
The homes in Baxter all share the same timeless architecture and detail. Many have front porches that you can sit on in the evening while chatting with the neighbors or watching the kids play in the front yard. The builders include David Weekly homes, Saussy Burbank, S.E. Miller and Evans Coghill Custom Homes.
Currently there are 28 homes on the market in Baxter ranging in price from $194,900 to $498,000 with a square footage range of 1200-4000 and up. The average list price in the neighborhood is about $360,000. One in particular is a home located at 1855 Second Baxter Crossing.
This home is within walking distance to Market Street and offers Easy Living! Highlights of the home are:
You can click on the link below the see a virtual tour of the home!
http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?sk=13&t=1611150
If you would like further information on this home please let me know. I will be happy to assist you and if you can't make it right away to view the neighborhood I can mail you a packet with everything you need to know about Baxter Village. There are also commercial opportunities in Baxter that I would be happy to assist you with as well.
The Springfield Community in Fort Mill, SC is a multi-phase community that has been developed by Crescent Resources. Crescent Resources is a leading developer in upscale communities throughout the South. The community sits in Fort Mill just next to the new Nation Ford High School and backs up to Anne Springs Close Greenway. The Greenway is 2,300 acres of undeveloped land that includes, lakes, trails, cycling and horseback riding. The community is only 30 minutes from uptown Charlotte, and I-77 is only 3 minutes away via the brand new Springfield Parkway.
The community has the home town feel that brings many homebuyers to Fort Mill in the first place. It offers southern-styled, luxury custom homes and charming golf villas. Sprawling front porches on many of the homes mimic many of the old family homes in Fort Mill. Wide columns, and traditional materials such as brick, cedar shake and stone complete the look.
Springfield offers townhomes, golf villas (beginning in the $300,000 price range) and single-family homes (starting at around $600,000). The community offers homes that are completed and finished or if you prefer to customize a home, you can purchase a "RTC" home. This is a home that is under construction and ready for you to put on your finishing touches. There are currently over 25 homes that are "Ready to Customize" ranging from $650,000 up to $1.25 million.
You can also select homesites ranging in price from $150,000 up to $289,000. These lots range in size from .50 of an acre up to approximately 1.25 acre. These homesites allow you to choose your builder.
There are many quality builders in the community including Nu-South Builders, O'Connell Corporation, Evans Coghill Homes, Regal Custom Homes, Waddell Homes and Simonini Builders of South Carolina, just to name a few.
What is so special about this community? In addition to its Semi-private Golf Club, (63 Percent of Springfield homes overlook the golf course), Springfield offers MANY other amenities.
5 Acre Amenity park that includes
And just in case you didn't know, the Fort Mill School District has been reported to academically outperform every other school district in the state.
If you would like more information on Springfield please feel free to contact me!
I wanted to write about one of the reasons that I love living in Fort Mill, SC. Of course, there are many reasons that we love living here. I have lived and worked in this area for over 25 years. Most of my time was spent living and working in Charlotte, NC but when our son started Kindergarten we decided to move just south of the border to York County, SC. We chose Fort Mill for several reasons.
The top reason being the excellent schools. The Fort Mill School District continues to draw many folks from all over the U.S. as well as from Charlotte. The other reason being the tax structure. Property taxes in Fort Mill will run you about 2/3 less than they would in Mecklenburg County. (Keep in mind that tax reassessments occur regularly.) We are still within minutes to uptown Charlotte if we want to enjoy a night out at a great restaurant or sporting event!
Fort Mill has just the home town feel we love. Although it is growing by leaps and bounds (two new elementary schools are slated to open in Fall 2009), it still has many quaint spots and open, green space. One of those open green spaces being the Anne Springs Close Greenway. This wide open space consists of 2300 acres of trees, lakes, and pastures. There are hiking trails, cycling, picnicking, horse-back riding and even two Dairy Barns that can host both formal and informal parties and weddings!
Over our Christmas Break, my son and I took a hike through the Greenway. It was a warm, sunshiny winter's day. (another plus of living in the South!). We decided to hike and earn some credits towards our Boy Scout Achievements. We started at the Nature Center and walked along the path that took us to the "swinging bridge". After crossing the bridge we came upon some friendly horses and then stumbled upon two historic log cabins. The cabins were not open that day, but we managed to peek inside for a little taste of history. At the mid-point of our hike we were able to see the Dairy Barn that was built in 1946.
Hiking back to our starting point, I was glad that I took the time to spend with my son. He had a lot of fun exploring - we will definitely do it again! All in all a great memory maker of a day!
Well, December statistics for the York County area are out. I wanted to give you some comparison stats as well for the year 2007. The information comes directly from the Piedmont Regional Multiple Listing Service. Here they are:
TOTAL SOLD AVERAGE DOM EXPIRED TOTAL ACTIVE
2008 173 157 151 2816
2007 250 124 117 2815
FYI-Expired Listings are the homes that went the full term of the listing agreement, but still did not sell. More than likely due to overpricing.
Total homes sold for December 2008 compared to December 2007 by Price Point
$100-$199 $200-299 $300-399 $400-499 $500-599
2008 68 23 12 8 5
2007 104 45 17 22 5
$600-699 $700-799 $800-899 $900 & up
2008 1 (yes, 1) 2 3 1
2007 2 1 0 1
Total Homes Sold By City for December 2008
Fort Mill Rock Hill Tega Cay Lake Wylie Clover York
37 57 5 6 7 12
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these numbers. I'm hoping for a better "turnout" by December, 2009!
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Real Estate Consultant and Buyer's Specialist for Allen Tate Realtors. . Servicing York County, Lake Wylie, Fort Mill, Charlotte & surrounding Metro Area. Licensed in both SC and NC.
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