Newspapers / The Charlotte post. / May 12, 2005, edition 1 / Page 11
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w http://www.thecharlottepost.com ®[)e Cljarlotte THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005 3D REAL ESTATE A&E ID Classified 6D Roland Hawkins A great place to live, play Thanks to last week’s Wadiovia Gk)lf Championship the secret is out: Charlotte is a great place to live and invest in real estate. Charlotte is slowly evolving into a major player in the sports and entrainment sec tor. The third Wachovia Championship earned rave reviews and was viewed around the world. It was just a year ago that the Panthers drew an enor mous amount of attention for Charlotte. We’re a month removed finm the new Char lotte Bobcats’ first season. In October, the new Charlotte arena is scheduled to open. Sports teams and entertain ment venues tend to attract new exposure and money to the city These venues always g^erate new jobs and finan cial opportunity for a dty and its surrounding communities. Career and iifest>de oppor tunities in Charlotte already makes our city one of the best places to reside in America. This growii^ popularity also contributes to the city beii^ estabhshed as the second largest financial center in the United States. Despite the area’s current growing pains, Charlotte is still very appealing to individ uals looking to relocate to the southeast region of the coun try As the demand for land and property increases, so does the respective increase in real ^ate value. Properties purchased in the uptown and BaUantyne areas a few years ago have already doubled in value. That is why it is said that wh^ investing in real estate the three most important factors is location, location and location. Everywhere you look there is construction, new homes and shopping centers in progress. It appears that the new homebuilders cannot build fast enough to satisfy buyers’ demands for new homes and subdivisions. There are seva*al new home contractors that are still building entry levd homes under $100,000 in every sec tor of Charlotte. Like the cur rent low interest rates, it is believed that this opportunity wfil not last too much longer. There is a stronger demand for new homes with base prices in access of $150,000. That is where a m^ority of the new homebuilders con centrate their building and marketii^ efforts. There are still a large number of afford able housing products for those individuals who do not wish to be house rich and pos sibly cash poor. Obviously your purchasing price range will influence where you may consider liv ing and how much home you can afford to buy There is an abundance of reasonable priced resale homes on the market today Most sellers are just as moti vated as you are. This motiva tion can be attributed to the current attractive low interest rates that is obtainable presently Low interest rates mean everyone can purchase more real estate and possibly pay less for it. Current homeowners can upgrade while maintaining the same monthly payments or maybe even lower the mortgage payments while gaining more real estate. Tb benefit fix>m today’s low interest rates, most sellers Please see GREAT/4D : It’s all about you PHOTO/ARA CONTENT ARTICLE RESOURCE ASSOCIATION The concept of “home” changes as we pass through different stages of life. For the young it is the starter home that may 'be updated and improved upon. As careers and families progress, so do the homes we occupy Homes at this stage of life may contain more space to accommodate children, and some amenities to reflect the owner’s lifestyle; but they are still defined by resources that must be divided between the need to have a suitable place to five and the need to save for the future. In the past, many of these were meant to be terminal homes. But now a new type of home and homeowner are emerging. These “nexers” are very dif ferent fix)m the generations that preceded them. People are hving longer and healthi er fives, and when they’ve outgrown the “family” home they are building their “next- stage” homes to meet their needs and wants. Py and Ida Mann are such a couple. After theii* kids moved out, they wanted a home just for the two of them. Ida says, “We realized that the home we lived in for many years was really not where we wanted to be when we decide to retire. We don’t want to move away to a retirement community We just wanted a home that was ours - for the way we five now.” The Manns set out to define what they wanted: the type and location of the lot; the stjde of the home; the number of ixx)ms and their uses based on their needs and interests; and the amenities they had previously done without. They both like the idea of get ting back to nature and pre fer outdoor activities but did n’t want to caie for a lawn. Since they both had always Please see HOME/4D Bring the islands home this summer PHOTO/ARA CONTENT .ARnCLE RESOURCE ASSOCIAVON If you could be anywhere in the world ri^t now, where would you be? One of the most pop ular answers to that question is on vacation in the islands, basking in the sun, bobbing in the waves and enjoying warm tropical breezes; but even people who five dose to the shore can’t get out there every day - So they’re doing the n^rt best thing - trans- formii^ their master bathroom into a place where they can get away fium it all. According to the National Kitchen and Bath Assodation, bathroom remodels were the most popular home improvement project last year - more than 8 million bathrooms w^e remodeled in 2004. About 50 perc^t of the projects involved simply r^ainting the walls and brining in dec orative accents; but more people than you’d think spent big bucks on their remodels. Nearly 320,000 households spent $11,000 or more on upgrades. Scott Ifennant of Acr>dine USA, a New Jersey company that spedalizes in massaging bath systems, says the most pop ular trend on the prider side ri^t now is expanding the size of the room by taking over an ac^oining doset, bathroom or bedroom. “When the majority of homes in America were built, bathrooms weren’t giv^ the kind of emphasis they have today They were tiny rooms with just the bare necessities. Tbday they are people’s private sanctuaries, really the only place left in the house where they can go to just relax andget awayfiomit all, and that’s Please see BRING/4D PHOTO/ARA CONTENT Comfort can cost much less ARTICIi: RESOURCE ASSOCIATION No matter what time of yem, the comfort of your home is always a concern. Unfortunately rising energy costs make it difficult to maintain reliable comfort during all the seasons. In fact, the Elnvironmental Protection Agency estimates the average U.S. family spends more than $1,400 a year on energy bills, with heatii^ and cooling fimctions representing 44 percent for $616j of that cost. This num ber is partially due to the amount of older fiamaces and air conditioners in use today Putting a cost-burden on the homeowner, these units typi cally operate at only 66 per cent effidency Ib combat this problem, maniifacturers fike Bryant Heating and Cooling Sj^tems design products which use energy more effi- dentiy than in the past - sav ing the homeowner money each month. In addition, the government has established guidelines that foUow a simple ratio which rates effidency The Seasonal Energy Effidency Ratio will tell you how your air conditioning unit com pares to what is on the mar ket today. The higher the SEER rating, the greater the effidency and the more money saved on monthly energy balls when compared to units with a lower SEER rating. Consumers shopping for a new Heating, Ventila tion and Air Conditioning sys tem should know that invest ing in a higher-rated model now will resplt in greater comfort and cost savii^ down the road. In reality an air condition ing unit rated at 13 SEER will deliver approximately 23 Please see COMFORT/4D Ml
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