Whistle stop tour of N.C.!! (Charlotte, Raleigh: for sale, real estate, foreclosures)
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We returned to the U.K. last week following a 5 day 'tour' of N.C. (We just ventured over the border into S.C..) We had come to look at different areas that we'd researched beforehand with a view to buying a small investment property, around the $150,000 price point, placing it in the hands of a management company and renting it out. Does anyone know what the rental market is like in Charlotte at the moment? Have you been looking for a rental property and found that there is a huge amount to choose from?
Also I can't seem to find many rental managements via the internet. Does anyone have one they could recommend if we go ahead with this.
Obviously we could only cover a small amount of ground during the time we were in Charlotte. But we visited Monteith Park and loved it, especially the style of homes. Saw a couple of new townhomes there, (and met the dreaded sales people aforementioned in this forum!!!) They were quite pleasant to us - perhaps it was the english accent that did it !! I believe resale prices there are less than the new homes. Visited Gilead park as well, but the pylons put us off a bit.
The Ballentyne area was really nice, and we both felt we could pack up tomorrow and move to Tega Cay! (wonder if our children would notice we'd gone!?)
So... does anyone out there have any words of wisdom on rentals. We liked Raleigh too, but I spoke to a letting agent there yesterday who said that their inventory of homes was quite large and the market was quiet, but picking up slowly.
Any help would be much appreciated
My wife and I have a rental property in Sapphire Valley, NC. The main resort in the area manages the property for us. They take 28% for a management fee, and charge $60 for a cleaning. There is a 2 day minimum rental, and it rents for $175 per night. So $350 x 28% = $98, plus $60 cleaning fee, equals $158. So I net $192 for every two day stay. They also have rentals at $1050 per week. My net is better with a weekly rental because there is only one cleaning for the week.
We purchased in a resort area because of the volume of people going to the mountains. We looked at a local house but decided against it. We now have a place in the mountains we can use as a 'vacation home', plus we have all the tax benefits of a rental, so we killed two birds with one stone. YOu may want to take a look at this type of rental.
Thanks for that. I have looked at both websites but can't find anything about property sales - I'll keep looking though. Unfortunately we didn't get time to visit the mountains and I haven't done any research on that area, but it looks like a good year round resort. Just realised I should have titled this thread Rental market!!! Stupid of me, but I'm only just getting the hang of this type of communication!
The rental market in Charlotte is strong. Obviously it depends on what market you are focusing on. Middle America has a strong market but it is a little longer to find a tenant lower income is easier to rent due to credit problems and such.
I think we would be looking at a 2/3 bdroom townhouse. I guess the rental income would be around $1000-1100 per month? Obviously depends on area, but as I said, somewhere like Monteith Park really appealed to us. Is that the sort of price bracket that it's best to aim for? We have to take management costs and HOA fees into consideration of course.
Now then CharlotteAgent- it is you that wanted the Salad Cream, Right!?
Sorry, we couldn't oblige this time, but when we visit again, maybe then!! Don't you have anyone in the U.K. who will send you out emergency supplies and PROPER chocolate? I know that in Florida , Publix sells Cadbury's Fruit and Nut but it's definitely not the right stuff!!!
Yes I have a supply for Chocolate but they keep the good stuff!!
As far as Property management fees you are looking at 8-12% of collected rent. So if you by a town home not only do you have HOA fees monthly but also prop. mang. fees. This can eat away at any positive cash flow.
I'm distinctly getting the feeling that a SFH is easier to rent. Don't know that we would find anything in our price range though that is in Ballentyne or Huntersville. However, I have noticed a few Foreclosures on the internet. Can anyone tell me if you go about the purchase of a foreclosure any differently to a 'normal' sale? Can a realtor still act for you in the same way? What pitfalls could there be for us? I suppose it depends on how far down the line the process has been taken.
hi -
glad you liked Raleigh. I can tell you this - there is a lot of inventory right now for sales - but the market is definitly stronger for rentals, i have a few properties in parts of downtown and i've been able to increase rents at every one of them when they become vacant.
I would think twice, though, about getting a long-distance rental. I kept my first house in Texas and, did ok with it for years, but then the last few tenants treated it poorly, and pretty much all the property manager did was respond to calls and collect my (and THEIR) money.
I don't recommend buying rental property that you can't look in on - most property owners will tell you the same thing
Unless you visit it at least once and year and carefully make sure your property manager is obligated to do basic routine maintence (mine in Tx described what she does with her OWN properties, but she didnt' do with the ones she manages!)
the caveat would be if you buy in a complex of some sort where the entire building or resort is managed, that might be different, i'm speaking of private 1-off residences
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rental property from afar
