Happy Groudhog Day!

Forbes Ranks Charlotte NC #2 nationwide

Top 10 Cities Where It's Smarter to Buy than to Rent.


For people who want to own a home, the premium to buy—the spread between what they’d spend to rent and what they’d pay for a mortgage—is much lower than the 15-year average in many cities.

To determine what cities are smart buys, Forbes magazine computed the premium and also identified locales where economists predict home prices will go up the most over the next five years.

Here are the top 10 cities the magazine chose as the best places to buy right now.

  1. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.
  2. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C
  3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.
  4. Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
  5. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo
  6. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.
  7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
  8. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
  9. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.
  10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V.


Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (01/21/2010)

Follow this link to read the full article Forbes.com. Click Here

 

Scott A. Pridemore, Realtor

704-562-0792

One of the Fastest Growing Neighborhoods in the Charlotte, NC Real Estate Market is the South End

Charlotte’s Historic South End is the new eco-chic urban neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. Only minutes to homes near Uptown, NoDa and Dilworth, The LYNX light rail train runs through the heart of South End and the district’s four train stations put you only steps away from home in South End or other destination. With an wide assortment of residential options, there are unique restaurants and night spots, eclectic retail shops, thriving businesses, plus spectacular arts and cultural venues.

South End, with its restored mill buildings and warehouses, is a model of urban redevelopment, with contemporary housing, shops, entertainment, and art galleries. Established around the thriving textile industries in the 1890s, this community – immediately south of Uptown – sprouted up along the tracks running through its center South End flourished for many years. As families moved to the outer suburbs from Charlotte’s Center City, the neighborhood experienced a decline in ‘70s. The neighborhood and homes in the South End underwent a dramatic revitalization in the 1990s and reemerged as one of the city's fastest growing neighborhoods in the Charlotte, NC real estate market today.