The other day I was out with a client when the conversation took a turn toward a question I had not given much thought to in the past. Most of my buyers are from the area or have already lived here a little while and know the general area they want to live.
This person had just moved here about a month ago. We were out looking at homes I had sent her in the area she had requested. Because it was the weekend; the traffic to and from the area was mild to moderate at best. But what about her daily commute to uptown Charlotte for work?
Living in the area and having worked in uptown Charlotte I explained to her the traffic congestion that goes on daily trying to get to certain areas of Charlotte during "rush hour". This is a question I never thought of asking her in the past. I had done my qualifying in regards to what she wanted and price range, schools, etc... but never considered the commute.
When I explained the typical commute to her she frowned. A consideration that is very important to her was getting to and from work in a reasonable amount of time. Part of why she said she chose where to look was the direct access to certain roads to get her to work and the distance to work.
I recommended she take the commute home via going to the house she is interested in putting an offer in on. I said this way you will get a first hand experience as to what you can expect on a daily basis going to and from work. Needless to say, the commute was substantially longer than she had anticipated.
A lot of times the distance traveled does not equate out to the time to travel. That is especially true in the Charlotte region. With growth being so high so fast, the state has not been able to keep up with the growth in terms of roads and widening of major thorough ways.
So, if you are considering a home in an area you have not lived in before try the commute to that home one night...it might make the difference betweeen buying that house and not.
Dave diCecco
Realtor/Agent
www.davedicecco.com
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