First weekend trip to Charlotte

[SusanF]

Hello
My husband and I just got back from Charlotte. We both loved it. It definately exceeded our expectations. My husband is from the South and is looking for a slower pace of life, better quality of life and warmer weather. I also want those things but also want to be in a somewhat metropolitan area with people from different places and different types of restaurants. I also like change of seasons, and being near the mountains and the ocean. I lived in South Florida but didn't feel that that was the right fit but also NY for us is really not the best fit either SO...we were hoping that Charlotte would be a good compromise and we both left with a very positive feeling from the visit.
The people we met were very nice and from many different places, the traffic was nothing compared to NY. The shopping and restaurants were great. I loved the myers park and dilworth areas but I think we would live in south charlotte in a newer area, but it was nice to see those places and nice to know that we could go there anytime. All in all Charlotte seems like a good compromise. Anyone have any advice. We are in our early thirties, and do not have any kids yet.

[NC2STAY]

I just moved down here from Long Island, NY to Waxhaw, NC. I too am in my 30's, but my hubby and I have one son who is 7 yrs. old. What I have to say as far as advice goes is: research, research, research! It took me 7 months of research just to make the trip down to NC, but it was all worth it in the end! I hooked up with an awesome realtor who showed us the ropes of these areas here in Union County. His focus for us was: the best school district, a quality home, resale value and development potential, enough room to roam and grow in the house as a family, etc. We worked well with him and I recommended him to other people I was chatting with on-line with before we moved down here. Well, between my research info. that I passed on to others in the chat room and after hooking up with my realtor... 5, yes 5, other families from Long Island, NY have now decide to relocate here to Union County! Isn’t that crazy?!! Lol! Well, out of those 5... 3 are actually here now living the NC life, 1 is in contract for a house in UC, NC and 1 still can't find what house they want. If you want his name and #, I would be more than happy to pass it on.

His name is Keith and I will tell you about him. This guy spent his 4th of July with us last year for about a week "area hunting”. He had great patience, especially with my little guy in the car with us. Anyway, after we return home, I did more research and we decided we were going to make the move. Both my hubby and I could not come back to NC together a second time though, I had to come back to NC, ALONE, for the first time in my life. I was scared, but Keith… he practically took care of me – just as he promised my husband he would. Keith spent every day for the week with me while I was down last September – helping me narrow down neighborhoods and the like. And once I decided on the area I wanted, the development I wanted and the lot I wanted… don’t ya know I forgot my checkbook back at the hotel!!! I couldn’t leave a deposit on the lot I so desperately wanted and there were customers heading out to those very lots we were standing in, we knew this because we overheard parts of their conversations in developments on site “office”. We raced back to the office, told the developers my story and all they could say was sorry, we cannot temporarily hold the lot you want to get your check book because it is not fair to others – which, when you think about it, it is only fair, but I guarantee you, I was NOT thinking that at that time. Well, I felt I was on the brink. Saddened and in despair. I thought my world was going to come to an end – all that research for nothing I thought. So what does Keith do, without blinking an eye… he whips out his check book and rights the $1,000.00 check for me to hold the lot. I looked at him and was astonished. No one in my life had ever done anything like that for me before… ever. I was deeply touched and new then for sure what kind of person he was/is. To put so much faith and trust in me and my resolve to move to NC, it was refreshing.

The next day we went to the developer to “do the deal”. How scared I was to sit down and actually start the process of buying a lot and stuff - it freaked me out, but Keith took care of it all for me. He told me what to do when it came time to decide on the structural aspects of the house. He new we had a tight budget and that we were stretching it greatly to live where we do now, so we had no room for fluff. He told me things like, add the 3rd garage... for resale he said. I was like what? That like 8G's more!?! He said trust me... and boy was he right! I would have died without that 3rd bay now not having a basement! Or when he said... add the bath or add this or that... he always said resale, resale... and ya know what? The whole “resale” thing didn't click until after I was here. Then I understood what he meant by resale. I kept saying, but I don't want to sell, I want to stay. How naive I was, but Keith wasn't - he was always on the up and up with us... always looking for our future – honest in every way, if you know what I mean - and thank goodness he was or else we might have screwed up. For us, with the move and the house, we told him we had only one opportunity to make the right decision for ourselves, our son and our future. One opportunity to find the right schools, the right lot, the right house and the right town for us, our little family, and thanks to - yes, myself and my husband and our research - but truly thanks to Keith, we are now living what seems to be our “dream” life. We will be forever grateful for what he has given our family. (see next post for end of story.) :-)

[NC2STAY]

...and in conclusion:

When I wakeup in the morning and look at my "mini" woods in the back of our property at how the sun starts to shine on the changing leaves of the trees or when I sneak up to take a peek at the green heron (a big bird) that flies in every morning to grab a snack before his day begins from my pond in my back yard or when the bells rings and it is yet another happy child calling upon my son t come out and play or when I hear my neighbors talk about home much our homes have all gone up in value since our development sold out - I have to say in my heart - I thank Keith for it all.