Real Estate Information

Happy Fat Tuesday friends!  Did you know that today is a day you are supposed to eat fatty, rich foods?  Fat Tuesday in French means Mardi Gras and marks the start of "carnival" season.  Today is to be celebrated with indulging in foods before the ritual fasting of Lenten season beginning tomorrow in Anglican and Catholic traditions.

The celebrations of Mardi Gras vary in different cultures but it's safe to say the most famous celebration in the U.S. occurs in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Other places famous for Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro, Columbia, Quebec City and Mazatlan Mexico.

How did Mardi Gras get to the U.S.?  Well, in the 17th century King Louis XIV sent his people to defend their claim to the territory known as Louisiane which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.  By 1723 the colonists who settled in these areas of the South brought their customs and they were embraced by residents, even those not of French or Catholic heritage. 

When did baring breasts for beads come into the picture?  It has no cultural significance and is only a "tradition" since the last decade of the 20th century.  This is practiced mostly by tourists, not locals and in a very small amount of celebrations like in New Orleans. 

Laissez les bons temps rouler!  (Let the good times roll).

You may be one of the lucky ones off today but how many of you know what President's Day is.   This federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February was originally established to honor of our first president, George Washington.

Implemented by congress in 1879, it wasn’t until 1885 that it became a federal holiday to celebrate Washington’s birthday.  It was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen.  Much later, during the 1980’s, President’s Day was created under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and incorporated the celebration of both Washington and President Lincoln’s birthday. 

While today may offer some great shopping deals it is more importantly a day to honor our American Presidents, veterans and Purple Heart recipients.  Happy President’s Day!

According to recent analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau, Charlotte has been ranked 59th in the nation as most affluent city.  That's a big accomplishment since the rankings were determined by evaluating 942 markets.  The Queen City is also ranked third in the state of North Carolina for wealthiest, beat out just slightly by Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill.

Nearly 30,000 of the 648,000 households in the Charlotte metro area, earn more than $200,000 annually.  That is 4.6 percent of households in our city.  So which state is number one?  Connecticut, where 16 percent earn more than $200,000.

30-year fixed rate mortgage loans have remain unchanged and are holding at record lows with an average of 3.9 percent for the week ending today.  For the last 11 weeks, rates have been below 4 percent.  Rates have remained below 5 percent for the last 52 weeks.

These continued low rates have been a factor in boosting the housing market especially here in Charlotte where as we reported last week, home sales in Charlotte went up by 9.2 percent since January 2011.

Each week we feature a great community in the area.  If you love your neighborhood, let us know where and why, and it may just be next week's featured neighborhood.  This week's neighborhood is Myers Park.

Myers Park is conveniently located just minutes from Uptown Charlotte and is one of the city’s most sought-after neighborhoods.  Historian Tom Hanchett with the Levine Museum of the New South has called Myers Park "Charlotte's finest planned suburb.”  Although the planning for this nationally registered historic neighborhood began in 1905, Myers Park hasn't lost its original appeal.  

Gorgeous homes of all styles can be found here, on streets like Queens Road West and Selwyn Avenue, nestled under a giant canopy of the some of the most famous willow oaks in the world.  Homes are comfortably setback with expansive sidewalks providing a chance to get out and experience the beauty while visiting with neighbors.   Easy access to popular Freedom Park offers residents many opportunities to stay active, and the campus of historic Queens University provides a beautiful backdrop to the community.

Whenever someone visits us in Charlotte, we always make it a point to drive them through Myers Park.  It is a neighborhood that should make every Charlottean proud!  Today's available homes in Myers Park range from $249,900 to over $2 million.  Click here to see the available homes or call us for a tour today.

Here are some helpful links if you'd like to learn more about Myers Park:

Myers Park Homeowners Association  http://mpha.com/index.html

Festival in the Park   http://www.festivalinthepark.org/

Park Rd. Shopping Center  http://parkroadshoppingcenter.com/

Levine Museum of the New South  http://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/

Myers Park Country Club  http://www.myersparkcc.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp



Stop by and say hi!  Check out this gorgeous home & fantastic deal at today's open house.

Sunday, 2/12 1pm - 3pm

See Virtual Tour

Good news for our city.  Home sales in Charlotte rose 9.2 percent from January 2011.  This positive increase shows our housing market is continuing to improve.

The average price of homes sold has remain relatively unchanged, a small dip of 0.1 percent resulting in $187,785 from January 2011's average sales price of $187,971. The median sales price has increased by 2.4 percent in the last year from $143,127 last year to the current $146,550.

Another sign we are headed in the right direction is distressed property sales are way down, by 35.9 percent in fact.  This is all great for Charlotte and we are excited to see things continue to improve.

Each week we feature a great community in the area.  If you love your neighborhood, let us know where and why, and it may just be next week's featured neighborhood.  This week's neighborhood is Dilworth.

The Dilworth community is conveniently located just minutes from Uptown Charlotte and through the decades it has retained its charm while embracing commerce- local cafés, galleries, restaurants, and popular boutiques continue to make Dilworth one of Charlotte's most sought after locations.  Dilworth has a rich history as Charlotte’s first street car neighborhood, and it’s now nationally registered as a historic neighborhood. You can find out more about the history and the neighborhood by checking out www.dilworthonline.org.

Dilworth’s tree-lined streets feature many styles of homes in all shapes, sizes, and price-tags including inviting bungalow’s, hip condos, stately mansions, and lots of unique architecturally designed homes.   Easy access to Freedom Park and Latta Park, two of Charlotte's most popular public parks, helps promote an active and healthy lifestyle to Dilworth residents.  Today's available homes in Dilworth range from $144,900 to $1.6 million.  Click here to see the available homes or call us for a tour today.

Charlotte has the No. 10 spot on Penske Truck Rentals annual list of top 10 destinations for U.S. resident relocations.  The list is based on the number of reservations for one-way moves during the period of one year.

The list is dominated by warm weather locales although Chicago, Denver and Seattle have also made the list.  This is the second year on the list for the Queen City.  Click here to check out all top 10.

Please join us in wishing our friend and teammate

Andrea Roether

a wonderful birthday!