The 48 story building will begin showcasing some of it’s lighting capabilities, which includes 2 minute shows at the top of every hour beginning at 8pm tonight.

According to the Charlotte Observer, “the lights will display a default white setting from 30 minutes before sunset each evening until after the final show at midnight. The lights will come on again at about 5 a.m. for the morning commute, then turn off after sunrise.”

If you’ve been around Charlotte for any length of time than you know that this won’t be the first building to be lit of with a variety of different lights and colors, but I believe it might be the first one that has the ability to create motion with the lights.

To read more about this exciting new feature of uptown Charlotte, visit http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/08/17/1628169/duke-building-light-shows-start.html#ixzz0wtYnUQIm

How can I say such crazy things?

Here are 5 reasons why I believe it’s such a great time to buy a Fort Mill or Rock Hill SC house:

1. It’s a buyer’s market. I don’t think this one comes as any surprise, but today’s buyers have an opportunity to dictate a lot of the transactions.  While you should still expect to pay a fair market value, given the state of the economy overall today’s fair market value is considerably lower than what it has been. As a result, there are some real gems available for those willing to do the work and find them.Or you could simply hire a savvy Fort Mill real estate agent to do all of the hard work for you.
2. Interest rates are still at all-time lows. I personally don’t remember the days when interest rates where close to 20% so I can’t really speak from personal experience, but I do know that any time interest rates are around the 5% mark we’re dealing with some very inexpensive loans.All of the banks have definitely cracked down on just giving away loans so you’ll need to have good credit and the ability to pay, but that should really go without saying anyway.
3. All of your competition is on vacation. With the summer in full swing a lot of your home buying competition is at the beach, in the mountains, or over the river and through the woods to visit dear old grandma.  As a result, you’re less likely to face competition when bidding on that new home of your dreams.
4. The Fort Mill and Rock Hill SC real estate markets are relatively strong. Unlike other areas of the country, the Charlotte metro area has remained relatively strong, in spite  of the many job losses we’ve experienced.York County has done a great job of bringing in new companies and with some of the highest rated schools in the state of South Carolina, chances are we’ll continue to see an influx of people moving to the Fort Mill and Rock Hill area, either for jobs or simply to escape much of the chaos that is the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system.
5. The school year is rapidly approaching. As summer moves towards the fall season, it means that school will soon be in session.  Whether you’re hoping to get a child enrolled in one of SC’s highest rated school districts or the home seller is looking to be moved out before the school year starts, right now is definitely the time to take action.Remember, it takes 30-45 days to close on a typical residential real estate transaction, which means you’ll need to get moving soon in order to beat the school bus to the corner!

Finally, just keep in mind that any time there is uncertainly and ‘gloom and doom’ talk about the economy it means there are LOTS of great deals available for those willing to put in the time and effort required to uncover them. With a little bit of real estate knowledge and experience (or having someone on your side that has these), you can find that perfect new house that you’ll be able to enjoy for many years to come.

A recent story run by WCNC news station talked about the glut of lakeside homes that are available in Lake Norman, and many of them are listed at steep discounts. For example and as quoted in the Charlotte Observer,

“It’s 7,000 square-feet,” said broker Jason Noblitt as he looked at pictures of a waterfront foreclosure in Mooresville. “It was on the market for approximately $1.7 million.”

The 5-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath house is under contract now and Noblitt thinks it’ll sell for under $1 million. That’s a $700,000 discount.

“In our current market you absolutely are not going to get what you did in 2006 or even 2007. We need to look at where prices were in 2004 and 2005,” he said.”

And it’s not as if there isn’t competition either.  An MLS search showed 470 lakeside homes listed in the Lake Norman area, which means it’s a highly competitive housing market.

Of course on the flip side, if you’re looking to purchase a lakeside home, now is certainly a great time to act!

Down here in the Fort Mill SC area, it’s still most definitely a buyer’s market, but as I’ve always said, if your home is marketed and priced correctly, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t expect to get a fair value for your home.

To learn more about the Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC housing market, contact me today and I’d be more than happy to show you exactly what the Fort Mill SC real estate market looks like.

At any rate, I absolutely LOVE how pretty snow is and certainly enjoyed this past weekends snow fall.

This photo comes courtesy of the Rock Hill Herald.

While it all sounds like a bit of a contradiction, overall the feeling from the poll shows that Charlotte is very open to new comers as well, as it should be.  It’s very difficult to find many native Charlotteans and even some of the cities most well known people, former Charlotte Observer owner D.A. Tompkins and former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl just to name a few. I can honestly say that’s one of the reasons I love the Charlotte NC area so much is because of the diversity brought about by people coming from all over the country. It truly is a melting pot of cultures and ideals.

Some of the areas cited as needing improvement include the quality of the schools and the economy. The economy is certainly an easy one to understand when you consider that much of Charlotte’s economy is based on the banking industry, which has certainly taken a beating over the past 18+ months.

In terms of the school systems, I really don’t know what to say about this one. It certainly is a bit of a mess and as much as I’d love to say we can see a light at the end of the tunnel I don’t know that that’s the case.

Fortunately, for those of us down here in the Fort Mill SC and Rock Hill SC area, we don’t have to deal with the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System’s troubles.  Fort Mill SC school district is rated as one of the top school districts in the state of SC and many people are choosing to purchase the new home in the Fort Mill SC area for this very reason.

Overall, I’d say that Charlotte NC definitely has a ton of great features and is a great place to live.  At the same time, the Fort Mill SC and Rock Hill SC areas offer many additional benefits PLUS we also get to take advantage of everything that Charlotte has to offer because of it’s close proximity!

It seems as if Thomas Currence, the owner of Currence Family Restaurant in Chester SC for over 15 years is taking the belief that ‘it’s better to give than to recieve’ to heart.  Facing 21% unemployment rate in Chester SC, Currence has decided to close his restaurant for all but 3 days of the week in order to encourage his patrons to visit other restaurants.

According to the story in the Rock Hill SC Herald,

“There’s a lot of weak in this city right now,” Currence said, noting how plant closures and the resulting unemployment have put a tangible weight on the collective shoulders of Chester County that’s drained the community of its spirit.

If being closed three extra days during the week will help others get more business, even just a little — and therefore help turn around the economic misfortune — Currence believes it will be worth it.

Personally, I think it’s fantastic that someone like Thomas is putting his beliefs into action. There’s a lot of talk these days about helping those that really need the help and it’s very rare to see someone actually take action like what he’s doing.

My hats off to Thomas and I’d say if you’re in Chester, definitely go visit him and help him out on the 3 days a week he is open!

Anyway, for all you parents out there, here’s a copy of the Rock Hill SC School District’s 2009-2010 calendar.  Just click on the image below.

“The number of initial unemployment-insurance claims fell last month, and the year-to-year increase was just 5 percent – compared with a 76 percent year-to-year jump in June, according to N.C. Employment Security Commission figures released Monday.”

While this is certainly good news to use locally in the Charlotte NC area, it mirrors information from across the country that the recession does appear to be slowing down. While there were still some 274,000 jobs lost in July, the unemployment percentage actually fell by .1% from June, which is the first time that number fell since April of 2008.

Obviously, this informatio boads well for the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC areas as well as people continue to look to York County for an alternative to Charlotte NC and seeing the number of job losses slow down certainly helps our real estate market.

And in spite of all the bad news nationally, we’ve always enjoyed a relatively strong real estate market here in the Rock Hill SC – Fort Mill SC area and I don’t expect that to change any time soon!

Location
Tega Cay is poised on the shores of Lake Wylie, a mere 20minutes south of uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
Tega Cay enjoys close proximity to other major cities as well.  Columbia, South Carolina is 82 miles away.  Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina is 155 miles; Charleston, South Carolina is 185 miles; and the cities of Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia are less than 250 miles away.

Climate
Tega Cay has a humid subtropical climate.  The city experiences four distinct seasons, although the variation between the seasons is not as extreme as in other parts of the US.

Taxes

South Carolina has one of the lowest per capita tax rates in the country according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census

Recreation
Tega Cay has its own 27 hole, championship daily-fee golf course with pro shop.  There are eight lighted tennis courts for year round play.

The new Beach Club offers an eight lane Jr. Olympic pool, children’s wading pool with raining umbrella, a sandy beach, volley ball, picnic facilities, gathering room and fitness room for fun year round.

A marina provides covered and uncovered boat slips.

Tega Cay has two lighted ball fields that can accommodate a number of team sports.

The Tega Cay Athletic association coordinates sports activities for younger residents including T-ball leagues, Little League, soccer, softball, football and a swim team.

A spacious new golf clubhouse and event pavilion accommodates all sorts of special events and business functions.

City Services
Tega Cay residents are protected by the city’s own 24-hour Police Department and Fire and Rescue Department.

Some of the criteria that helped Charlotte rank so well include the number of professional major league sports teams, popularity of tools and hardware, and frequency of monster truck rallies.  I guess it pays to live in NASCAR country, huh?

Anyway, I don’t know if this high ranking is such a good thing or not, but I guess anything that brings some noteriety and attention to this region is a good thing.  Even if it implies a we might be just a little more ‘country’ than some other places around the country!

What do you think?  Is this ranking a good thing or a bad thing for the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC area?  Go ahead and leave your comments below.