There was an article in today’s Rock Hill Herald that, in a tongue in cheek manner, listed some of the potential jobs available here in York County that Tommy Bowden, who resigned as head football coach at Clemson, could potentially land:
- Dog watcher. York County has animal rights activists falling over each other to decide whether dogs should be tethered. What real people call “chained.” Bowden could dog sit.
- Dishwasher at the Varsity Restaurant. Owner Roy Russell soon will have to spend time shooing away smokers when the city decides coffee and cigarettes together is illegal, so Russell might need help in the back.
- Fort Mill mayor. The current mayor forwarded an e-mail that wondered if Barack Obama might be the antichrist. He then wondered why anybody would care, why the media cared when it became an Internet sensation, and why some said he may have been silly or stupid to do so.
- Chaffeur, York County Council. Meetings in York are a long way from Fort Mill if you aren’t supposed to drive.
- Rock Hill police officer. Wait, the city management prefers hiring consultants over cops.
- Avon salesman. A classified ad in The Herald on Tuesday stated “Income Unlimited!” I guess that means millions.
Of course, with a $3.5 million buyout, chances are Coach Bowden won’t be coming to York County any time soon looking for a replacement job!
Filed under Carolina Business News, Fort Mill SC, Life In the Carolinas, Rock Hill SC by 
The news was reported late last week that Wachovia was in discussions with several potential suitors as they looked to get back on stable ground following the recent mortgage meltdown we’ve been reading about on the news. Well, this morning it was made official, Wachovia is selling their banking business to Citigroup, the country’s largest bank holding company.
While the AP reports say the new combined retail bank will remained headquartered here in Charlotte, one has to wonder if it’s only a matter of time before Citigroup will begin moving operations back to their current headquarters in NYC.
Regardless, a stand-alone company that will retain the Wachovia name will remain here in Charlotte. It will include Wachovia Securities brokerage firm, the Evergreen asset management arm and insurance services.
So, what exactly does this mean for the Queen City and the surrounding areas like Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC?
Well, there will undoubtedly be some uneasiness for a time. It is projected that some 20,000 Wachovia employees in the Charlotte area will end up losing their jobs, which is a huge number.
The real estate market will certainly feel some of the after effects of this transaction, but the Charlotte business community remains a great asset to the region. I suspect there will be some reprocutions from this sale and that we’ll see our real estate market remain a strong buyers market.
However, I still expect our market to remain strong when compared to other areas of the country that have been hit hardest with the current financial rollercoaster ride. I think property values will continue to appreciate and if you have a house you MUST sell, while it’s unrealistic to expect the huge amounts of appreciation this area enjoyed 5 years ago, it’s still not out of the question to expect to see a fair amount of appreciation for your property.
As always, it goes back to making sure you have your home priced correctly and that you do as much as possible to make it stand out from the crowd of other available properties.
In terms of buying a house, again, it’s a buyers market right now. You can find some great values if you put in the time and effort required. Or, you could hire a real estate agent that knows the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC markets and what’s available.
Give me a call today and let’s chat about either buying or selling your Rock Hill SC or Fort Mill SC home today!
Filed under Carolina Business News, Carolina Real Estate, Charlotte NC, Fort Mill SC, Life In the Carolinas, Rock Hill SC by
After several years of rapid growth, the Fort Mill SC School District started the 2008 school year with fewer new students than previously expected. While overall the enrollment numbers were up from the 2007 school year, a 6% growth rate, the enrollment was down from the 10% that had been expected.
From the Rock Hill Herald Online:
School officials say the current drop off in growth might signal a slowdown in the number of newcomers flocking to Fort Mill.
Another indicator of that, officials say, is a sudden drop last month in revenue from impact fees.
Fort Mill is the only district in South Carolina that still charges the fees, which amount to $2,500 per new housing unit. Developers generally pass the cost on to home buyers. The school district uses the money to build new facilities.
In July, Fort Mill received $230,000 in impact fees, an amount similar to what it had received in the previous months. In August, however, the amount dropped sharply, to just $57,500.
In spite of the slowdown in growth, the Fort Mill SC remains a very strong real estate market and as more people flock to the Charlotte NC area, it will continue to be. With SC’s lower taxes and slower pace of life, the Fort Mill SC and Rock Hill SC areas offer new comers to the area a great alternative and as a result, our real estate markets will continue to be active.
Filed under Fort Mill SC, Life In the Carolinas, Rock Hill SC by
In the wake of Hurricane Ike hitting the Texas Gulf coast late last week, we’re still feeling the pinch at the pump here in the Carolinas. Even though there is still plenty of supply flowing into our area, prices in the Rock Hill SC area ranged from $3.87 to $4.15, which is up from last month’s average of $3.50.
Across the state of SC the average price yesterday for a gallon of gas was $4.12 and today, here in the Rock Hill SC area the average price sits at $3.96.
If you missed my previous post about the AAA fuel price finder which helps you find the cheapest gas prices in your area, here’s another link to this fuel price finder:
Filed under Life In the Carolinas, Rock Hill SC by
As I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting news and tidbits of information about the Rock Hill SC, Fort Mill SC, and Charlotte NC, I’ll occassionally come across articles or blog posts that really jump out at me. The one I came across today is one of them.
This article ranked the top 25 most over-rated ‘things’. There were things like crocs, Donald Trump, owning a car (uuuhhh, they’ve obviously never been to middle America!), and even owning a home. I think that right there should tell you how credible this list is, but the one that really jumped out at me was when they listed ‘Charlotte NC’ and then asked if it was the ‘worst city in America’. Excuse me!?!
Some of the reasons they listed were a rising crime rate, a weakening economy thanks to some big hits some of the local companies have been taking, namely Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lowes, and “driving to the beach or the mountains isn’t as easy as it once was, with rising gas prices, traffic and sprawl.” Uuuuhhh, did they suddenly demolish the interstates that lead to either the beach or the mountains?
Now I may be a bit biased, but I think the Charlotte area’s a fantastic place to live and I believe it will continue to be for many years to come. Are there some issues like rising crime and urban sprawl that need to be dealt with? Absolutely, but what city in America doesn’t have those issues?
Granted, the recent hits taken by Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lowes are certainly downers, but they’re not going anywhere any time soon. They’re all behemoths in their respective industries and there’s no way they’d decline to a point where it totally destroys the Charlotte economy like we’ve seen when local factories decimate small towns. Charlotte’s just too big and diverse for that to happen.
I guess overall I was a bit surprised by the ‘honor’, but when you consider they also listed amongst their things that are over-rated Angelina Jolie and the Nintendo Wii, and they suggest buying a mid-90′s Geo Metro instead of a Toyota Prius, you can draw your own conclusions.
So what’s your take? What do you think about Charlotte being ranked as one of the top 25 most over-rated ‘things’?
Go ahead and leave your comments below.
You can read the whole article on Charlotte HERE.
Filed under Carolina Real Estate, Charlotte NC, Life In the Carolinas, Opinions by
