New town home by Lite Rail

[Eric Knowles]

Hey everyone, looking to buy my first place.  Based on work and our lifestyle south Charlotte is the best location for my wife and I but also seems to be a really hard area to find good deals in.

Our goal is to buy something, live there a year or two, then start renting it out.  While a small multifamily 2-4 unit would be great, they are incredibly hard to find in this area.  We have been looking at town homes or houses that we could put some work into and then rent with some cash flow.  

Obviously buying a new town home is not exactly going along with the plan above, but the property I am considering (Hadley at Arrowwood) is intriguing because it is being built right by the Arrowwood lite rail station.  

I have the opportunity to get a nice 2br town house build there for around 250k.  This would be getting in at the very beginning of this community.

My questions are:

1. Is the lite rail really a good enough of a draw to attract people and businesses to the area?  Is it good to consider in getting a future rental property?

2. The rent in the area for other 2br apts is not high enough to cashflow on this property, but the nearby apartments are not as nice as these town homes either and are also not right by the lite rail.  How could I get an idea of what type of rent I could bring in with a place like this without anything to compare it to?

3. Should I be looking at new at all?  I have never looked at buying new and don't know if it is just a bad deal or if this potentially is a good time to get into this community.

I went to see these and my wife and we really liked them, but I don't want to be blinded by the prospect of getting into a nice pretty house for a while to find out later on that it was a terrible idea financially.  

Thanks in advance!

[Johnny Situ]

@Eric Knowles right now I am focusing on the western side of uptown Charlotte, looking for value-add single-family house that does not have HOA. Those areas are definitely rougher than the southern Charlotte, let alone Ballantyne. But it seems changes start to gradually take place and a lot of old houses are being renovated and upgraded. Being it's also closer to uptown, it makes even better not only for cash flow but also potential appreciation, although I never invest in appreciation.