Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2012 · 256 posts · 64 votes
Does anyone on the forum invest in the Charlotte area?
Have heard good things about the rental market, was curious to see what your typical pricepoints are to purchase properties and what rent income is usually in decent blue collar areas. I visit there often, but don't know the market very well. Thanks!
Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 6 votes
11y
Charlotte is a great market and has a great outlook. Expected population growth of 70% over the next 20 or so years. The market is competitive, but there are deals. I have a few properties in Charlotte and NJ. I personally like single family homes with at least 3 bedrooms. I had a few 2/1 duplexes that did ok but they aren't as desirable as 3/1.
Be careful of the neighborhood. I have found that properties in the $550 to $750 p/m price point typically have high turn rates. I have seen properties in that price range turn tenants within 8months. The acquisition price may look good but the NOI.. no bueno!
I am always up for a good RE convo. Feel free to connect!
Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 491 posts · 253 votes
13y
Welcome Morris -
My wife and I both live and invest here in Charlotte. We are buy and hold investors with two properties at the moment. There are quite a few areas around Charlotte I would consider "blue collar" and I am sure they have different price ranges. Just to give you a quick idea our properties are in the 100-125K range in older neighborhoods and did not need any rehab before renting. We are cash flowing $275-$375 on each.
Real Estate Investor · FL · Member since 2009 · 53 posts · 4 votes
13y
@Morris Lucas I am not sure but 25-30K will be tough there..but I am doing my research only for couple of weeks.
@Chris T. Congratulations on your good investment. Since you live there, will you be Kind enough to give couple of good areas around charlotte for rental income and may be less than 100K per unit...It will benefit all here on BP who are looking Charlotte as an alternative...I sent you a colleage request..thanks in advance!!
Real Estate Investor · Salisbury, NC · Member since 2010 · 67 posts · 16 votes
13y
I hope this doesn't qualify as an advertisement but I live in Salisbury which is about an hour north of Charlotte up i85. I own several rentals here in town and have others available for sale. Salisbury is certainly what i would consider a blue collar community, even rural in many parts of town. I paid much less than $100k for all of my rentals and they all cash flow quite nicely.
So, yes it is certainly possible to buy good cash flowing rentals in the Charlotte area. I find them quite frequently.
Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 491 posts · 253 votes
13y
@Nil K When I have been looking at properties and areas to invest around Charlotte I have always used the criteria, if a friend was moving into town where would I suggest them to live (NoDa and Plaza-Midwood come to mind). Granted there are many of those places that are a bit higher price range than I would be looking, but there are often older neighborhoods nearby that might offer a lower price point but be close to the desired area.
I can't take credit for this but check out this map of Charlotte Neighborhoods to get one persons take on different areas of Charlotte. For the most part, the generalizations are true. My one exception is the Central Avenue area. While there are parts that are rough, I do believe that there are areas that are starting to turn around. I have seen houses being flipped in this area that seem to be selling.
I hope that helps. If you have an area that you see something I might be able to give you a better idea of at least my opinion of the area.
Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2012 · 256 posts · 64 votes
13y
Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I think i will do a drive-around on my next visit and check out some of the areas on that map of Charlotte and maybe even get with an investor-friendly agent there to learn the market for rentability(is that a word?) lol
Real Estate Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 40 posts · 5 votes
13y
@Morris Lucas I'm not sure what you're looking for exactly, (and I'm new to all of this too, so my advice might not be the best) but if you spread out to the towns just outside of Charlotte you may be able to find some better deals -- I know Huntersville has some areas worth looking at, and as @Bob Yon suggests there are more blue collar areas as you go further north.
@Chris T. you mention NoDa and Plaza-Midwood as good areas to live/invest -- and I know NoDa has that one very artsy strip, but everything I've read about the neighborhood itself mentions very shady things going on, such as drug deals in the middle of the street. Is this activity confined to a certain area? Am I looking at old/biased information or something?
Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2012 · 266 posts · 128 votes
13y
I'm a small-time investor who is in the process of making my first out-of-state investment, and Charlotte is on my short-list of cities that I'm looking at. From what I can tell so far - it looks like there are a lot of great pockets to invest in.
@Morris Lucas In a price range that low your going to be looking at homes in C/D areas that can rent in the $400-$700 range. Many of these homes could be section 8.
Investor · Santa Clara, CA · Member since 2012 · 42 posts · 10 votes
13y
At this moment I am not actively looking for any deals out in Charlotte, but I know there were good deals to be found (few months ago) in commercial real estate in Charlotte, if you are interested in buying retail strip centers etc.
Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2013 · 491 posts · 253 votes
13y
@Anthony McDougle - Yes NoDa does have that one artsy strip (N. Davidson St.) and there are some rougher areas, but I would not hesitate to recommend that general area. In fact one of our properties is in the NoDa area. There are some great destination restaurants and bars that bring the younger crowds to that area to live and play. There have been some new developments there as well as a lot of the houses being rehabed and sold in the $250-$300K range. The artsy strip is expanding so I believe this is a good area to find a deal where the rehab might not have already expanded to and find a good deal.
As another bonus, Charlotte just broke ground on an expansion to its light rail system that will be going through NoDa and will have two nearby stops. That should bring more development and travel to both Uptown and the University Area from there.
Belmont, NC · Member since 2013 · 139 posts · 21 votes
12y
That's a really cool map. Has anyone else noticed that Google Maps has started separating the neighborhoods on their site as well? I noticed it when looking in the NODA area. We like investing in the suburbs of Charlotte since Charlotte is such a melting pot and you can throw a rock in almost any direction and hit a lower income rental neighborhood.
Real Estate Investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2013 · 3 posts · 0 votes
12y
Hi all,
I'm quite new to investing. I have been doing some courses and reading a lot in the last few months. I'm now fixed on Charlotte as my destination for my first property and i'm looking for a real estate agent that is familiar with investors that are not local (I live on the line btw Israel -> NY these days ...). Anyone knows someone they can recommend?
Investor · Winston Salem · Member since 2014 · 114 posts · 26 votes
12y
Hi. Statesville is about an hour north of Charlotte and there are quite a few homes you can find the price point you are looking at. My rentals are currently in the lower income area. All were purchase for under $25k and rents are $350-500. With up to $45k you could pick up something in a nicer area and charge more. There are plenty of people who live here and in Salisbury that commute to Charlotte for work.
Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 12 posts · 4 votes
12y
Ive had nice success in the Lake Norman area just Northwest of Charlotte.. The sleepy town of Denver is a winner though the market has really tightened.. Mooresville is hot and is a great rental market.....Statesville still hit or miss in my opinion.......
Investor · Huntersville, NC · Member since 2011 · 63 posts · 36 votes
12y
@Bob So what are the numbers up in Salisbury? Are SFH renting quickly up there? I have had a few opportunities up there but just passed but now you have me thinking.
What kind of prices are you buying and then renting at? How about retail flips?
@Christine I have thought about Statesville and have had a couple opportunities up there but wasn't sure about the area. What kind of prices are you buying and then renting at? How about retail flips?
@Steven so your buying in the Lake Norman area? If so, send me a note on what your looking for.
We have 8 townhomes/4 duplexes locked up to wholesale at this time, and working on a couple other SFH, so we hope to have our wholesaling kicking soon!
Investor · Ashland, VA · Member since 2008 · 41 posts · 20 votes
11y
I have an investment property in Waxhaw, NC off market, 3/2 with good renters, lease expires 2/1/16, rent is $1050 and should be raised, check rentometer.com recently repaired, if anyone is interested contact me through BP.
Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 6 votes
11y
Charlotte is a great market and has a great outlook. Expected population growth of 70% over the next 20 or so years. The market is competitive, but there are deals. I have a few properties in Charlotte and NJ. I personally like single family homes with at least 3 bedrooms. I had a few 2/1 duplexes that did ok but they aren't as desirable as 3/1.
Be careful of the neighborhood. I have found that properties in the $550 to $750 p/m price point typically have high turn rates. I have seen properties in that price range turn tenants within 8months. The acquisition price may look good but the NOI.. no bueno!
I am always up for a good RE convo. Feel free to connect!
Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2014 · 378 posts · 82 votes
10y
@Morris Lucas - Great question. I've been actively buying in Charlotte (rehabs, tear-down/new construction, lots, etc). If you're considering rentals, the price point can vary from street to street.
A quick tip: Make sure that you run your numbers from top to bottom and ensure that the property has equity built in when you purchase. This will allow you to exit in a pinch if you have to!
charlotte is strong i personally moved here from the west coast about 10 years ago to invest in rental property.
In the last 10 years we have run a turn-key company and bought, renovated, leased and sold 500+ properties just int he charlotte area.
the $25-50k price range only bring a lot of heart ache in my experience. We target investment properties that in the $70k range (b- / C+ area) - $125k (A- / b+ area)
We target areas in a 10mile radius of the downtown area for the potential of highest growth potential but our main focus when investing is making sure the property will cash flow strong.
We are in good areas and cashflow after mortgage, taxs, insurance, and property management costs tends to be $300-$350/mo...
there are many suburbs and outlying cities around charlotte which several others have mentioned in this thread and those areas have their own isolated real estate market different then that of Charlotte Main.
Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2015 · 5 posts · 1 vote
10y
I am currently in process of researching Charlotte Market to buy a few more rental houses… I have invested in 2 other cities with turn key companies there and all 5 properties I have purchased have gone pretty well for me other then some minor maintenance stuff the property manager had to deal with…
Principal · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2010 · 200 posts · 89 votes
10y
hello @Morris Lucas i was working as plumber living in portland, Oregon when i bought my first property... i was 19 year old and just purchased my first investment with good ol' fashion savings... through a series of rehabbing and refinancing i built up a good little portfolio before moving out to charlotte buy investment property full time. it was then i set up my turnkey company. I used a variety of private and bank funds to get my transactions done over the years and even now that is how i still operate. we always have some of our own money in every transaction (sometimes by choice, most times because that is what lender requires) . For each of us building a portfolio looks different... building it right in the right market with the right property is essential to the long term performance. their is not a one size fits all ... so figure out what you want your future portfolio to do for you and then you will know exactly how to build it. I started with the end in mind when i started building my portfolio and i am still in the building process as "my end game" has changed a bit as life changed (kids, family vacation, etc.) hope this helps somehow.