November 13, 2008

Why You Should Move To The Carolinas

If you’re reading this, you probably already have your share of reasons why you should move to the Carolinas. Well, it’s our turn to tell you some of the reasons we love the Carolinas.

Aside from great climates, affordable living, jobs, and quality lifestyles…

The richness of history and natural beauty is one of our top reasons why we love North and South Carolina. In the span of four hours you can go from the Smoky Mountains in Asheville, to the blue waters of the Atlantic outside of Charleston.

From the streets of Charleston, to the historic sand dunes of the Outer Banks, history surrounds you in the Carolinas. One of the best ways to experience the heritage of either state is to spend some time on the Heritage Trails.

Both states take advantage of the temperate climate and pack their calendars full of events year round. Some of the more famous include the Bele Chere music festival in Asheville, the performing arts festival, Spoleto, in Charleston, and the Beaufort Water Festival, in Beaufort, SC.

North Carolina is famous for the Research Triangle Park outside Raleigh and Durham (largest research park in the world), the Piedmont Triad Research Park, near Winston-Salem, and University City outside Charlotte (second largest banking center in U.S.). Many other cities, including Columbia and Charleston have blooming business centers. The Carolinas are crisscrossed by 6 major interstates and over 100,000 miles of state highways with some of the greatest amount of growth is occurring along the I-85 corridor and if you need to go far, the Carolinas are home to 6 major airports in convenient locations. Hot jobs in the Carolinas include medical, technology, banking, education, and manufacturing. Once known as a textiles center, in the past couple of decades many manufacturers moved overseas. Many corporations have taken note of the skilled workers, and tax benefits and moved in.

The Carolinas is about comfort, family and food. North Carolina is especially known for its barbecue. There are two types of barbecue; Eastern, with its red pepper and vinegar based sauce, and Western, which uses a tomatoes and brown sugar in addition to the red pepper and vinegar.

The Carolinas are known for their great seafood as well, and especially in South Carolina. South Carolina’s distinctive style for cooking seafood is called, “Calabash.” Originating in the town of the same name, Calabash style cooking dips the seafood in evaporated milk, then a breading mixture and then it’s deep-fried and the mountains of Western North Carolina specialize in river trout.

No matter whether you decide you should move to North Carolina or South Carolina, both states have excellent health care facilities. North Carolina is home to four medical universities and South Carolina has a medical college in Charleston, and major hospitals in Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg.

Everyone has there own reasons why they should move to the Carolinas. What’s yours?

Please tell us by leaving your comments below.

Filed under Best Places, Relocation/Retirement, Lifestyle by Bob

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November 7, 2008

How To Know What Type Of Community Is Best For You

Retirement Communities today are much more than a group of houses in the same neighborhood or geographic area. Communities set a standard for design and development and provide a sense of assurance your investment will be protected and maintained. It’s not about the community being “gated” as much as it is about the fact that they are “planned”. With or without a gate or guard house, people feel safer living in a community with like minded people with similar interests and are becoming very popular especially with people in retirement. Most all communities are deeded real estate. Today, there are many different types and styles of “communities” which have various levels of amenities.

An “Active Adult Community” is an age-restricted community requiring at least one household resident is age 55. No one under age 19 may be a permanent resident. Residents usually engage in community activities and are retired, employed in some manner or have their own business. Many Adult Communities maintain the property for the residents. I like to call them Active Lifestyle Communities because, for the most part, the focus today seems to be more on lifestyle and amenities, rather than age. Some communities are centered on boating, golf, horses, fitness or some other outdoor activity. They have a certain “style” to them.

“Private Residence Clubs” is deeded real estate ownership (fractional ownership) without the added responsibility of owning. The price varies with residence and number of weeks in your plan. With “Destination Clubs” you don’t own any of the real estate and for only a membership fee and yearly dues, provide access to houses throughout the world. Both types provide high-end housing at resort destinations with five-star amenities.

New Urbanism communities tightly cluster a wide variety of home types, foster interaction with; residents are diverse from the retired to young families; feature walkable Main Street shopping, restaurants and a mix of commercial development; de-emphasize the need for a car, undeveloped common “green space” and residents of different ages and economic backgrounds.

New Ruralism fosters connection with nature, privacy, and community involvement only as desired. Home sites are large and separated by nature preserves, natural features, and agricultural land. It is characterized by undisturbed open spaces shared by everyone.

Co-housing is a new type of community real estate where people are committed to helping each other and becoming popular with the same generation that gave us the commune. Residents own a townhome or condo and share a “common house”, participate in the design, operation and maintenance of the community. The common facilities usually contain a kitchen, lounge, children’s room, recreational facilities, meditation room and workshops.

There are many different types and styles of “communities”. Whether you’re retired for wanting to relocate to yourdream place, communities offer a wide variety of lifestyles. There’s no better way to find out more about communities, than taking a trip to visit them. Many offer “discounted” weekend packages. Also, many provide a video or DVD of their community, so you can get to know them without ever leaving home.

Filed under Communities, Relocation/Retirement by Bob

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October 31, 2008

What To Watch Out For Buying Your Dream Home In the Carolinas

We're all very well aware that the housing markets everywhere have been in a free fall tumble!

Some markets have been hit harder than others. North and South Carolina did not experience the hyper-growth of Arizona, California and Florida. They grew at a steadier, even pace. Consequently, real estate in the Carolina's has not seen the drastic price corrections of those areas. The resort areas like Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington have probably seen the biggest price corrections in the Carolina's. Especilly if you bought a condominium.

The wild speculation and "flipping" of properties to make a cool $100,00 overnight, prevalent at the height of the market in 2005, has stopped.

However, something else has all but stopped also, construction of new and existing projects!

This has now created a very treacherous situation for people who have already bought in planned communities, or are thinking of doing so.

I can't tell you when the market will be at its lowest point or when it will comeback, no one can.

However, I can tell you what you must watch out for!

Because of the real estate slowdown, many communities for the age groups of 50 and over, have either not been finished or not been started.

The lure of most of these communities is their amenity rich environments. They have gyms, golf courses, restaurants, walking trails, pools, tennis courts, health spas, clubhouses, etc. They're based on creating a resort, country club atmosphere.

In today's housing downturn, many of these communities haven't even finished the infrastructure of roads, water and sewer, lighting, paving, sidewalks and drainage, let alone the luxurious amenities they promised buyers.

So…..What to do?

Well, there are several things you must do. First of all, research the financial strength of your developer. I don't care how big they are. I want to know how liquid they are. How many projects are they building at once? Will they be able to get through an economic downturn and finish your community?

I don't even care what their track record is, because in an economic downturn, even the best of them walk away if they have to.

One way to make sure your community gets finished is to find out when the developer is allowed to use buyer's deposits. Also, and most important, find out if performance bonds have been posted and for what amounts. These bonds guarantee completion of work in the amount of the bond.

Ask the developer for a schedule of completing the infrastructure and amenities in the community, and see if it's reasonable or not. Find out how they will be maintained after completion.

Today is a time when you must do extreme due diligence to protect your investment. Make sure you talk to the local residents.

I wouldn't want to see you end up owning a beautiful lot in the Carolinas overgrown with weeds, because the developer has never finished what they promised!

Read "28 Things You Must Know When Choosing A Planned Community", for more insider tips to protect your investment.

Have you already had a bad experience with a developer? Find out what options you have. Click the "comments" button below and share your story.

Filed under Communities, Money Matters by Bob

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October 24, 2008

Where The Jobs Are In The Carolinas

Many of my readers are from the boomer generation. In looking for their Dream Place in the Carolina's, they ask me if they'll be able to find a job in the Carolina communities they plan to retire or relocate to.

Even though all of us are affected by what's going on in the economy today, most of my subscribers planned to be doing some type of work anyway. Whether it be full or part time.

As far as I'm concerned, I feel that's a good thing. Not only for your pocket book, but for your sense of pride, accomplishment and keeping your mind stimulated and productive. It's definitely healthier to be contributing and have a sense of purpose.

A new report was just published entitled, "Best Performing Cities 2008…Where America's Jobs are Created and Sustained." This report ranks the nation's 200 largest metropolitan areas and 124 smaller ones. It also tells you where they ranked in 2007, as compared to this year.

It becomes clear which areas are prospering due to the growth of jobs and salaries. Of course some of the information is affected by the economy. It's common sense to realize that places like Florida, California, and Arizona which have been drastically affected by the downturn in housing and construction, didn't do very well.

However, I' m here to tell you how well we did in North and South Carolina, so for those many of you who always ask about jobs, you'll know where they are!

The Top 25 Best Performing Large Metropolitan Areas included:

Raleigh/Cary, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Charleston/North Charleston/Summerville, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach/North Myrtle Beach/Conway, South Carolina
Durham, North Carolina

Charlotte/Gastonia/Concord, North Carolina was number 26.

the places in the Carolinas on the Biggest Gainers list, which compared where they were in 2007 versus 2008 were:

Asheville, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Greenville/Mouldin/Easley, South Carolina

Other resources I use to research job information in the Carolinas is:

www.bls.gov (The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

www.retirementjobs.com

www.retiredbrains.com

www.senior4hire.org

www.workforce50.com