Is this the right place?

Finding the right place means both finding a place that is in the right place for you and equally important, a place where your investment will hold its value.

Start by thinking about what is most important to you. Create your dream neighborhood. What does it look like?  Do you want to sit on your deck and look at great scenery?  Walk to downtown?  Not see a single neighbor?  Make a list.   Everyone is different....

Check out property taxes and public services like the library and other services important to you. What do you like to do?  Find a place where you can do what you find enjoyable whether it is streets you can jog on, or as in Lake Lure, a place to enjoy boating and fishing and the beauty of nature.

Got kids?  Then the local school system should be your starting point.  If your kids have special needs, check out the district's special services. Most school districts have websites full of information.  Talk to people with kids in the schools.

Explore the neighborhoods or towns you like.  See too many for sale signs?  For rent signs?  Empty businesses?   These days most places have some level of trouble (which means it's a great time to be a buyer) but if every other property listed for sale is a foreclosure, that gives you a pretty good idea about what is going on. It's a red flag.  You have to figure out your level of comfort with risk.

Listen for noise. Anything that is going to bother you?

Don't be shy. Talk to people.  Approach a stranger and ask them if they live there.  What do they love?  No place is perfect .  What don't they love?  You may discover an issue you have not thought about.  Did you like the people you met?   Is the area culture something that suits you?   Tweaking your new home is pretty simple.  Changing your neighborhood is not. I once lived in a neighborhood where no woman walked to her mailbox without putting on her lipstick first.  Not for me.

Take your time.  Explore.

To learn more about Western NC visit: http://www.DiscoverLakeLure.com