Sun City Carolina Lakes|An Over 55 Active Adult Favorite in Fort Mill, Close By Charlotte
Amenity Rich, Over 55 Living, at Del Webb’s Sun City Carolina Lakes
Long a Terry’s Top Ten Community Sun City Carolina Lakes remains the top selling community in the greater Charlotte area, but now the deals are in new homes.
If you want to live in or near Charlotte, or close to excellent Charlotte Airport, and want to live in an over 55 community, there aren’t a great number of choices. Del Webb pioneered the active adult lifestyle a generation ago, today, Pulte pulls in many of the same resources to deliver quite a community- Sun City Carolina Lakes is still selling new in their 4th year.
Did I mention South Carolina has lower taxes? In the summer of 2007, they reduced property taxes statewide so that if you buy a home today, it is roughly .80 /1000, so a $300,000 home has taxes of $2400, +/-, making Sun City Carolina Lakes one of the most affordable active adult communities in the country. 
A few months back, re-sales were king, but today, they are literally dropping prices to unheard of levels at the new home center. And they drop more using a Buyer Agent- I’ve evidence from earlier in the year on this.
Their clubhouse is the center of community activity- it has a large fitness center,
indoor pool, work out rooms and meeting rooms. 
the smaller photos are thumb nails, just click to enlarge.
They like to think of themeselves as a golf cart community, and now with the new Harris Teeter open, you can go to the grocery store and not get in your car if you don’t want to…
You are entitled to a Buyer Agent and IÂ will represent only you. Why not take a minute and call me? I’ll save you money and time promise-Â 704-351-1519
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Sun City Carolina Lakes- Living in Carolina Lakes, Homes for Sale Report
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Charlotte Homes For Sale- map based intuitive search
Siemen’s Expansion| Energy’s Big Day In Charlotte
March 12th, 2010 categories: About Charlotte, Charlotte Business
Siemens Expands in Charlotte- $135M Expansion is Another Big Energy Get for Charlotte
Siemens, an international leader in energy, has been in Charlotte for more than a decade and yesterday announced a $135M expansion to its Westinghouse Rd facility, creating over 800 jobs in the next 5 years. This will more than double the size of Siemens in Charlotte-already the German company’s largest installation in the US- they will be manufacturing turbines and generators for nuclear and steam power plants, making Siemens a key player in the US energy future.
Siemens expanison is on top of a $50 M 75000 sf expanison begun in November. It is now just one of many major energy companies, Duke Energy and the Shaw Energy Group are the largest players so far. This expansion will make Siemens the largest manufacturer in Charlotte. This is good news for Charlotte’s desire to become an energy hub.
In Real Estate News
February Home Sales Prices up from February 2009 with the number of houses, condos and townhouses up 3.6% from our local board of Realtors- and their median ome price rose 4.6%. I’ll look at actual square foot increases next week over at Charlotte Real Estate
Realty Trac announced a 6% increase in foreclosure filings, the smallest increase in more than 40 months. These are primarily unemployment related foreclosures.
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The Relocations are back… so far we will move 6 families in the first half of the year to Charlotte- these are all moves by choice to Charlotte. Cost of living and the quality of life are the most often cited reasons. Vistit Terry’s sister site to Search for Charlotte Homes for Sale
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Charlotte Real Estate and Business On the Move
March 8th, 2010 categories: About Charlotte
It’s a beautiful day in Charlotte… finally. March 8th, temperatures in the middle to upper 60’s, feels like 80’s, thank goodness.
I’d like to say thank you to Ray Terry for inviting me on Ray’s, About Your House Radio program this past Saturday morning. We had a fun and hopefully informative 2 hours together fielding questions from 2nd living quarters to hardwoods floors. see more About Your House
Custom home at Springfield
Custom home at Springfield
Clear Springs is developing real estate again, and it is good to see.
Yes the folks who brought you the successful Baxter Village which is all but complete, are building another mixed use project at Springfield, also in Fort Mill, but on the eastern side of 77, and a little closer to Charlotte.
The 300,000 square foot Springfield Town Center will feature a “main street” feel (like Baxter and ahem Birkdale) and begins its development with a Harris Teeter in the fall in Phase 1. 17 Acres are cleared now, expanding to 37 acres eventually, and as the new home market revives plans are on to add up to 600 residential unist, multi famil and signle family in a major community along Springfield Golf Course.
The proposed town center is just a short distance from Springfield- Fort Mill’s nicest and most expensive community and also nearby is the Ann Close Greenway, a 2500 acre park donated to the city by the Springs-Close family.
This is good for Fort Mill and good for Charlotte.
Related Fort Mill Posts
Fort Mill Real Estate- A Market Report
Fort Mill First Home Buyer Report
Duke Energy is on the move.
Duke was names as a minority investor in a $17M venture-capital investment in General Compression, Inc, a company that plans to solve the problem of intermittent supply of solar and wind power. Essentially it is a “green battery” able to store power for those days when there is little wind or sun, solving a major utility issue with wind and solar.
Duke, through it’s Duke Energy Generation Services, is a major wind energy company in the US. It is the 10th largest producer of wind power in the nation, producing about 735 megawatts at full capacity… each megawatt would run a Walmart, or power about 800 homes. Duke is “testing the waters” in the Atlantic off Pamlico Sound with a 3 Turbine project to designed to measure cost, ecological impacts and performance in tropical storm conditions, but sees the Atlantic Coast as the major source of wind energy that it is.
Duke brought a 99 MW wind farm online in Wyoming in in December, and is looking to Texas for an additional 300 megawatts wind farm, and has negotiated local tax concessions and will move forward once if finds and contracts with a long-term buyer.
I’ve said it before, I think Charlotte’s economic future is about Energy… nuclear, renewable and sustainable energy. Banking will always be a major player here, our local economics favor it, but the city’s economic future is in Energy, and Duke will play a key leadership role…
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Charlotte News- 2010 So far…
February 20th, 2010 categories: About Charlotte
Most of our news is good for the economy, so I’ll start with that…
Two new major discount firms are coming to Charlotte. Nordstrom Rack is taking over an old Circuit City location on South Blvd- this will make ladies venture out on South Blvd I am sure!
Not to be outdone, Ollie’s Bargain outlet announced plans to open in big boxes stores on a temporary basis as Close Out stock permits. This chain store recently bought 350,000 pair of Crocs- and are selling the $30 shoes at $9.95/pr. Stores will open in Matthews and Mooresville.
The New York Times reports fewer 4th quarter mortgage delinquencies and B of A announced that late credit card payments declined 7.35%in January.
Charlotte was the major statewide winner in the high speed train sweepstakes last month, landing a $152,000,000 to build an expanded train station in 3rd Ward, out of a total of $400m or so awarded the state to improve the rail speed between Raleigh and Charlotte.
White Water Center lenders have forgiven (written-off) 2/3’s of the $38M loan offering the center a chance at the future. This is good news. While I feel for the lenders (not really that much) I like even more the resource this provides the Charlotte Community. They make money from operations- there just wasn’t enough to pay a $38M note. Very good.
On the bad…
the NY Attorney General has something about us Charlotte folks and can’t let the B of A matter rest. Obama administration regulators thought a fine sufficient, but he thinks it’s criminal. What are we talking about? The shotgun wedding between Merrill Lynch and B of A , orchestrated by the Treasury Department, that Bof A may not have disclosed all the bonuses agreed to be paid… yes I know I hate bonuses too-but this is 2nd guessing after the fire. Or it is suing the good Samaritan who stops at the accident because you don’t think he did enough. Merrill Lynch would have been dead if B of A doesn’t do the deal- dead like Lehman within 48 hours. At the request of the Treasury, they did the deal. Maybe they didn’t disclose everything, maybe in the rush of the weekend, they didn’t have time. To hold them criminally liable?
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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Update
February 11th, 2010 categories: Charlotte Schools and Education
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Announces Teacher Auditions In Place of Traditional Interviews
Years ago my wife and I were considering an extremely successful private school for our children. In an interview with the Head of School, I asked the founder what made his school so successful? What was the “difference-maker”? His response more than a decade a go still provides a roadmap for success:
“That’s easy: Great Teachers! If I put a great teacher in front of your children, they’ll get a great education. Now what we do in here (waving his hands around the office) is important, but I hire the very best teachers I can find, help get them some in service work that might make them even better, and then try and stay out of their way and let them do their job.”
How refreshingly simple, and difficult to achieve.
Great Teachers = Great Teaching = Student Success
Last year CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman announced he wanted pay for performance compensation for his teachers. This was met with the usual wailing and knashing of teeth. Yet he has invited teachers to participate and work through the difficult issues- and there are many- to come up with a formula that pays teachers based on student achievement, performance, or a pay for performance hybrid. It won’t be easy. Many have tried and found a lot of ways that don’t work. It will be difficult and contentious. Never the less, if Great Teaching = Student Success, and our students are NOT nearly successful enough, then there isn’t nearly enough great teaching- Is it me? Or isn’t this logic inescapable?
Current teacher compensation does not reward excellence. It demotivates the excellent, as they see colleagues with more years of experience receive much more pay- yet all the students are begging to get into the great teacher’s class, and this is where students excel.
A pay for performance plan would reward the excellent teachers, encourage the good teachers to want to become great teachers, the average teacher to want to become a good teacher- and the ones not interested in becoming good teachers need to be helped out the door into a new career better suited for their skills and talents.
So, CMS is proposing pay for performance, Teacher Auditions, Special pay for excellent teachers to move to tougher schools… I think CMS gets it too!
In full disclosure for the record, our children attended quality private and public schools. Lets get on with it- your child, my grandchildren, everyone’s child deserves to have a good teacher in every grade and every class, and deserves great teachers working to become even better too!
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Saints!
February 7th, 2010 categories: Buy A Charlotte Home
What A Game… Talk aobut Coaching Courage. NFL Football the way it is supposed to be played!
Go Saints! Love that Sean Payton- Drew Brees and Jamar Nesbit!
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Charlotte Arts and Science Council Begins 2010 Fund Drive
January 28th, 2010 categories: About Charlotte
Charlotte’s Arts and Science Council- or ASC for short, is one of the most successful, if not the most successful independent fund raising group for the arts in the nation. After a decade run of steadily increased funding for the arts, in many years ranking only behind New York City in funds raised, the economic slide and uncertainty led to a dramatic drop in ASC funding in 2009, from $11.2M to $7.2M and the wrenching of budgets began for non-profits across the city.
This year’s goal is $7.3M, running through March 12, reflects the uncertainty still in the economy. However, $2.5M is already pledged from the biggest players in town- Bank of America, Duke, Wells, and they are increasing their support over 2009. That is welcome news.
Here is he Mission and Vision of the Arts and Science council from their website:
Mission & Vision
The Arts & Science Council (ASC) is:
• The community’s chief advocate for arts, science, history and heritage
• A gatherer and steward of public and private community resources
• An investor of those resources in the cultural sector and community
• The strategic planner for the community’s cultural sector
• The public art agent for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Mission:
Building appreciation, participation and support for the arts, science, history and heritage in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Vision:
Shaping a vibrant cultural life for all.
Please give generously,
your personal donations start here, business donations start on this page.
Thank you ASC for your excellent work. Good Luck in 2010.
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Help In Haiti
January 15th, 2010 categories: Everything Else
Haitian Relief-
verified. Ok. There are scammers out there, but here is the easiest and fastest way to donate:
American Red Cross: Text the word HAITI to the number 90999- a $10 charge will appear on your next phone bill, they have now raised over $6M through this text alone! AT and T guarantees an immediate donation to the Red Cross.
Salvation Army: You may donate $5 by texting the word “Haiti” to 45678,these funds will go directly to the Salvation Army
Stop reading start texting 
Save the Children has a huge ongoing relief effort trying to sort out and re-connect children to families, make a donation here
Once again the US armed forces will be on display as a force for good in the world. My son, himself a Navy helicopter pilot, has East Coast pilot friends shipping out of Norfolk as we speak. Lets see what the US and the world can do for these impoverished people.
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