Best towns or areas for investments near Charlotte, NC?

Question

Hi there,

I'm thinking of expanding beyond my area and finding great locations near Charlotte, NC to invest. Mainly single family or STR, 3/2 homes that are not in HOAs. Seems like there are quite a few suburbs that would work like north of Charlotte near the university. Curious to hear where people believe growth will occur within next 3-5 years.

Best,

Ava

Levi Bennett · Answer

Hey Ava, I'll try and give you a realistic assessment.

I grew up just north of Charlotte and lived in uptown for a time, I've been practicing some form of real estate for the last 7 years, whether a licensed agent, rehabbing, wholesaling, or developing.

Charlotte suburbs have been red-hot pretty much since the 90s (with the brief exception of the nation-wide downturn).

In my opinion, the "investor-havens" like Belmont, Kannapolis, parts of Union County, Rock Hill are a little over-rated. Granted, they usually provide reliable returns, but the problem is that the word has been out on these areas for quite some time. The number of eyes that are on "the Charlotte metro" market from out-of-state and out-of-town investors is extraordinary. There are literally thousands of new investors every month, wanting to buy in the Charlotte area that have never actually been here. I'm not implying that's a bad thing, but the problem (for them) is that when they ask in forums like this, or on the phone, the casual investor will tell them, "Gastonia, Kannapolis, Belmont, etc.." but, everything is certainly picked over, and the competition to get property in those exact areas is outrageous. Everything is trading wayyy high in what I call, "the investor havens".

However, there is good news for the out-of-town investor, which is find those "unpopular" suburbs that people don't talk about, but are still growing like crazy. If you're an agent, you can isolate on the MLS towns, neighborhoods and zip codes and see for yourself the skyrocketing numbers for appreciation and median sales price, and the plummeting numbers of inventory and days on market. People from out of town think they need to hit a hot spot. They do not. I can almost guarantee you will over-pay if you try and buy in these popular areas. There are so many other great areas around Charlotte, that are performing very well and have huge potential, search the areas that are accessible to Uptown, but people don't talk about, and then test the numbers. You'll notice prices and inventory are much more friendly.

There is so much more to this conversation, but if you want, feel free to reach out, otherwise I hope this helps. I hope you find success in Charlotte like so many other people have, and that you get the help you need!

Melissa Belk · Answer

Union County, adjacent to Charlotte is also a super hot spot!  Rental rates are $1400-3300 on average for a nice home in a good area!

Jim Kittridge · Answer

Hi @Ava Miller,

The tertiary markets around Charlotte have remained strong for us in cash flow and appreciation. We have rentals in all of them except for upstate SC due to the increased property taxes for landlords. Although we likely find better deals than OOS investors with our relationships, you can still purchase solid deals on the MLS that produce 10% cash on cash and in areas that are gentrifying and growing. It's much harder to achieve that inside of Charlotte without buying in rougher areas.For example, this house (1836 Arkray Street) just traded for $85,000 in Gastonia on the MLS. It probably needs $15k in repairs. We have 3/1's in the area that rent for $1200-1300/mo.BP analysis with reasonable assumptions: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Jim Kalish · Answer

@Ava Miller you mean you don't want to pay 20-30k over asking when asking is already 30k higher than it should be because people in Charlotte think their homes are made of gold? :)  Thank you for asking this question!  There are some great responses above.  A friend of mine gave me a tour of Belmont a couple of weeks ago.  Belmont is getting really hot but there are still a lot of opportunities.  Thousands of mill houses that would be great rentals.  Concord is the same.  Like Belmont Concord has a lot of high end properties but there are still a lot of affordable homes there as well.  Marketing is the key in these areas looking for distressed properties and distressed downers.  Once they hit MLS you know as well as I do that you will be competing with the folks who just watched some flipping show and think its easy so they overpay.

Best of luck.  Let us know how you make out.

Elias Hicks · Answer

I'd say 28208 and 28215 would be your best bet to look for investment properties.

Buzz Rohlfs · Answer

Hello Eva,

I agree that the Concord/ Kannapolis areas are growing quickly as well as Gaston County. The University area will always be expanding. Are you considering fix n flips or turnkey properties?

Zachary Jones · Answer

Good info here.. thank you!

Robert Feiler · Answer

@Melissa Belk thanks for the tip, Melissa!

Eugene Rabinovich · Answer

i havent invested in anything yet but i am working on it. With that being said, i think Rock Hill, Belmont, Concord/Kannapolis and really anything outside of Charlotte are good areas. It really depends on your budget and goals.

Best towns or areas for investments near Charlotte, NC?

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