Hidden Real Estate Gems: Charlotte, NC

I realize that my coverage here on Real Savvy tends to skew coastal and urban. That just happens to be where I spend most of my time. But there’s a whole big world out there I’m missing, so I’ve resolved to make an effort to seek out the hidden gems across America: places with a high quality of life, low cost of living, and gorgeous real estate options.

First up is Charlotte, NC. I’ve been hearing for years that North Carolina is awesome, and I’m dying to get there myself to check it out. In the meantime, I teamed up with the Interweb and zeroed in on Charlotte’s “NoDa” Arts District. Charlotte itself is an impressive city–second only to New York City in banking activity, it is America’s fifth largest urban center, home to a large educated workforce, and close to mountains, beaches, and world class golf.

Charlotte’s NoDa District is full of galleries, shops, music venues, and restaurants. It hosts a bimonthly Arts Crawl, where local galleries open their doors to the public.

Sounds pretty great, right? Just wait till you see this adorable little house within walking distance of NoDa’s center.

Let’s play a game.

Guess how much this 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom bungalow costs. You should know it has a separate in-law suite. And a huge backyard with a deck. Oh, and 3 fireplaces.

And a gorgeous kitchen…

The lot is a quarter of an acre, if I didn’t mention that already. Ready for the price?

Are you sure?

This property is listed for $329,000. Yep, that’s right. A big beautiful house in a great part of town for less than what a craptastic condo in San Francisco’s worst neighborhood costs.

When I see houses like this I start to wonder if all of us big city wannabe highrollers are out of our minds. Like, people in Charlotte have figured it out while here we are in big cities all stressed out, working our butts off so we can afford a tiny 1 bedroom condo for $500,000. But I suppose that’s a whole other discussion.

You can view this property and other Charlotte real estate on Savvy & Co Real Estate (nice name!).

What do you think? Are you ready to move to Charlotte? Are there other cities out there that make you question your city mouse lifestyle?