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Finding the home of your dreams is just the beginning. You love the location, the floor plan, the back yard, and the local schools. So just buy it and move in, right? Okay, we know there’s some paperwork involved, and Peter Carlino is the guy who dots the i’s and crosses the t’s and makes sure your new dream home is finally yours. He’s a closing attorney here in the Charlotte region, and fills us in on what we need to know about closing the deal.

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A blue wave swept Mecklenburg County in the November elections, including an unprecedented takeover of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. The Board now seats 9 Democrats and no Republicans, after 3 longtime incumbent Republicans were voted from office.

One of those Republicans was in District 5, a traditionally conservative district in south Charlotte. The new commissioner, Susan Harden, has a Masters Degree in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Education– and is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at UNC-Charlotte. She gives Charlotte Real Estate Talk the scoop about school funding, revaluation, and her work with America’s future teachers.

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We can all use a moment or two in our day to relax and de-stress, to help us focus on our work. And we all need to spend a few hours a week outside of work, getting some healthy exercise.

Our next guest on Charlotte Real Estate Talk is one of Charlotte’s most popular yoga instructors, Rian Harris. Listen in on what turned him to yoga and how he enjoys helping students get their minds in the right place to focus their week.

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The real estate market has been pretty hot in Charlotte the last few years, and now we’re seeing several published reports that might make it hotter. Millennials – those born roughly between 1983 and 2000 – are starting to settle down, have kids, and move to the suburbs. Some are selling their starter homes for better schools and more family-friendly neighborhoods.
On today’s Charlotte Real Estate Podcast, Troy Meeks of American Security Mortgage fills us in on finding the right balance between selling one home and buying another.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:21 — 22.5MB)

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Charlotte is always growing, but lately, it’s been from the inside out. While development continues to push the outer rims to the county line, new growth is happening in areas around the city core that were forgotten or neglected for years.

It takes a special eye to create beauty that makes old Charlotte shine in a new way, and our next guest specializes in that. Paul Pennell is a Principal at Urban Design Partners, who is focused on infill design — like we’ve seen in older neighborhoods just outside of uptown, like Optimist Park, Villa Heights, and South End. Hear how he envisions what is old, becoming new again.

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Charlotte is a city of trees — a 47% canopy coverage, according to the non-profit TreesCharlotte, and a Tree City USA for 38 years running, according to the Arbor Day Foundation. Trees add to a neighborhood’s value — but caring for them takes work.

Our next guest on Charlotte Real Estate Talk LOVES trees, and made it his profession and his mission to care for them. Patrick George, of Heartwood Tree Service, speaks for the trees, and tells us what they’re trying to say to us.

The evidence of Charlotte’s continued growth is, literally, all over town — from the popularity of “hip” arts districts like NoDa and Plaza Midwood, to transit growth with the light rail and streetcar, to the booming apartment and brewery business in SouthEnd and LoSo. But probably the centerpiece of it all is uptown Charlotte.

Anyone who visited Charlotte for the 2012 Democratic National Convention would have to look a little harder to find barren lots — and getting a hotel room near uptown is admittedly much easier since then. With the Republican convention on the way in 2020, we checked in with the Charlotte Observer’s Ely Portillo on changes since the last time the political spotlight shone on Charlotte.

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Good roads and good schools have traditionally been two key factors in a city’s growth, and now more than ever, Transit is taking its place as another, very important part of shaping a city’s development.

Our guest on Charlotte Real Estate Talk has an important job in that regard — as Director of Planning for the City of Charlotte. Taiwo Jaiyeoba oversees the direction of growth in the Queen City, and has the Herculean task of revamping the city’s development codes. But he brings an important perspective to the office, with a background of 25 years in transit. His appointment to the planning director’s job this year is a strong statement about how Charlotte city leaders envision the city’s growth.

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It’s no secret that craft brews are a big business now — and Plaza Midwood, NoDa, and South End are neighborhoods where you can find great local beers in Charlotte.

And while breweries are part of a young, hip culture — they’re also a real estate phenomenon with WHERE they’re locating, and how they’re spurring growth around them in former low-rent, industrial areas.
Brad Shell — owner of Unknown Brewing in South End — has done all this and he’s our guest on Charlotte Real Estate Talk, with some great stories to tell.