Andy Brantley (left), 24, and Eli Montague, 23, are UNC Chapel Hill grads and roommates renting a house in Myers Park with a third roommate for a combined $1,000 a month.
Posted on 07/26/2009 10:37:34 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
It's 3 p.m. on a recent weekday, and Andy Brantley, 24, and Eli Montague, 23, are relaxing on blue, oversized couches, watching “SportsCenter” on a 40-inch, flat-panel TV.
Montague's SUV is one of the only cars left on Idlewood Circle, a quiet, tree-lined street between Park Road and Freedom Park. Most of the neighbors are at work.
Brantley will have to leave in a couple of hours for his part-time job as a busboy at a nearby bar. Montague – who interns for the Panthers – plans to spend the afternoon playing Xbox 360 at the $375,000 house the roommates started renting in December.
“We love living here,” said Montague, who graduated with Brantley and a third roommate from UNC Chapel Hill last year. The three rent the house for a total of $1,000 per month.
The recession and poor housing market have given some young Charlotte residents a chance to live in some of the city's prime locations. As homeowners struggle to cover costs, younger people are gaining newfound access to some of Charlotte's traditionally elite neighborhoods by renting nice homes for cheap prices, some housing experts say.
Brian Augustine, a real estate agent for Elite Team Properties, which specializes in prestigious neighborhoods like Myers Park, said more young people are living the high life, as high-end homes that cost more than $400,000 sit on the market for months without selling.
(Excerpt) Read more at charlotteobserver.com ...
Andy Brantley (left), 24, and Eli Montague, 23, are UNC Chapel Hill grads and roommates renting a house in Myers Park with a third roommate for a combined $1,000 a month.
bttt
Good for them.
I’d rather have a house with 4 guys and odd hours next to me than a vacant one.
Of course the first time they had a wide party with cars racing up and down the road, people shouting at each other at midnight, etc we’d have a chat the next day.
The next time I’d call the cops and start mowing my yard at 6:00AM.
A lot of municipalities have ordinances that prohibit more than two unrelated people from living in a residence. This keeps single family residential neighborhoods from being turned into rooming house neighborhoods. Might be the case here and soon to be investigated.
Our son just moved into a home with friends. It belongs to one of the roomates grandma. They are all college graduates, 1 married couple. They all have full time jobs and are trying to save money/pay off loans and not have to live at home with parents any longer. They’ve known each other for years and get along really well. I think its a workable solution to trying to move on in life for these young people on a short term basis.
If we can just get the government to quit passing massive money bills transferring wealth from our children to Goldman Sachs, this will work out on it’s own.
And your point was.........
For those of you unfamiliar with NC and Charlotte, a $375,000 home there is a MAJOR piece of property and would equate with something in the Bergen Cty NJ area in the neighborhood of $850,000, and without the taxes.
I was born and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland and that sounds similiar to Bergen City, NJ. For 350 grand in MoCo, the best you could get is a relatively tiny condo.
They're probably renting from an owner who bought the home for a lot less than $375,000 -- but even so, this tells me the house isn't worth that much at all.
I don't care how nice the place is.
The kind of place you live in often has a big effect on how you view the rest of your life, including the success you have in your chosen profession, or the kind of mate you can attract.
Yep, it's a good deal for those guys. They get to impress college chicks that come in the house and eventually they'll hit it off and move out of the house to get married and you know the rest of the story.
That looks a lot like Easton, Pa.
bttt
And no housing associations....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.