If you are reading this post, there is a good chance you either live in Charlotte or are considering a move to the beautiful Queen City. It’s becoming more and more rare to find a true born and raised, “Charlottean”, like myself, and there is good reason as to why. Some find themselves moving here for work, with the Charlotte job market being a prominent hub for finance and technology. Others move here to escape the dark, gray winter weather up north, and others feel it would be a great place to buy a home and raise a family. For any and all of the above reasons, let me be one to say, “welcome, friend”!
Charlotte is a large metropolitan area that, fortunately, still has affordable housing opportunities. Even though the current 2021 housing market may make this hard to believe, Charlotte’s cost of living is 1.5% lower than the national average, according to MyMoves Guide to Charlotte Moving. With an average of 120 people moving to Charlotte each day, the question remains: where is the best place to buy?
One of the most common questions I get from buyer clients that are ready to buy their first primary residence or a secondary home as an investment property is “where is the next hot area”? There are plenty of people kicking themselves for not scooping up some real estate in South End in 2016 before it became the “hotspot” that we know it as today. We all want our home to appreciate in value over time and it’s even better when you can buy it before the word gets out and then sit back and watch your asset grow!
While you can track trends of gentrification and where builders are buying and flipping homes, it is still a bit of a gamble when purchasing a property in a less sought after area. That is another way I love providing value to my clients and all of you!
In my opinion, if you are wanting to buy in ahead of the curve and make some money off of your investment, I would consider the following neighborhoods:
1. Camp Green/Enderly Park: Location, location, location. This neighborhood is where West Morehead and Freedom intersect just 1 mile from uptown. Builders are buying up homes to tear down and rebuild just as quickly as they are listed. While it is still on the early side of gentrification, home values will appreciate at record speeds in the next 5-10 years. In the last 5 years, closed sales are up 47% in this neighborhood with the current median sales price being $377,750 compared to $109,950 in 2017...talk about appreciation! Don’t sleep on this area and reach out to me to see the new builds popping up all over Camp Green and Enderly Park.
2. Smallwood/Biddleville: These two neighborhoods hold endless stories of civil rights movements and the challenges of bridging the gaps between an originally all black Biddleville and predominantly all white Smallwood. After decades of crime and economic hardships, the last 10 years have given way to some much needed recovery and revival. These neighborhoods are now known as some of the most ethnically and culturally diverse neighborhoods in Charlotte. The median price per square foot in 2015 was $146, compared to the current median price per square foot of $244 today. You can find homes that have been beautifully renovated or ultra modern new builds from $350k all the way up to $1.5 million. Still, these neighborhoods are just minutes from Uptown and have more affordable real estate options for those who want a community neighborhood feel while staying close to the city.
3. Seversville: This area sits right below Smallwood and Biddleville and is sprinkled with both original upfitted historic homes and modern new builds, which have helped bump the already skyrocketing current value of homes here. Taking a look at recently closed comps in the Seversville neighborhood, the list to close price sits at a whopping 100.9% with an average of 39 total days on market. Also worth noting, the average home price in Seversville is $495,400, which is up 19.4% in just one year!
4. LoSo: the Lower South End area, or LoSo, has become one of the most concentrated areas of Charlotte for new builds and flipped homes that I have ever seen! While the land value of these homes start out a little higher than the above mentioned neighborhoods, this area neighbors the Dilworth and Madison Park communities, both of which hold insane property value. If you drive back behind the Chick-Fil-A on South Boulevard, you won’t have to drive very far to see which homes I am referencing! Builders are utilizing height since these lots aren't usually more than a quarter of an acre. This transition of the LoSo area puts this newly named title up in the big leagues of the Charlotte area all-stars. The custom homes that are popping up all over LoSo hover around the $1 million dollar mark and they are just getting started with their appreciation and value. Average homes are sold at $303 a square foot and most newer builds in this area are built upwards of 4,000 square feet. If you want to invest big now in LoSo, you can count on an even bigger return on your investment later!
An honorable mention that didn’t make my list is Cotswold, which is just an absolutely beautiful place to be.
I love being a resource for you and love being an expert in the Charlotte real estate market. If you would like to chat about these or other areas in the QC, drop me a message or give me a call. I would love to help you become the newest savvy homebuyer or investor in Charlotte!
Best realtor in North and South Carolina!!