My wife and family have lived in Charlotte for almost 25 years.  This city continues to be the best place we have ever lived!  Let me tell you of the choices we had for things to do this weekend:  There was a tennis tournament with the over 30 stars, a “Blues Brew and Barbecue that was held in the Arts district, the Southern Womens Show, The festival in the Park at Freedom park and on and on.  The best part of all of this is it’s affordable, easy to get to and from and great place to visit.  In fact my wife and I ran out of time and could only attend 2 of the events.  So when I hear James Taylor sing, “I’m going to Carolina”, for us it doesn’t get any better.  Our children are now grown, our lives are our own once again and we love driving with the top down and tooling around.  It doesn’t get any better!!

Keith – a Broker on the team - grew up in northern Virginia and attended school in Raleigh, NC.  He always knew he wanted to return to the east coast to settle down.  His search began as a general one – somewhere between DC and Atlanta.  For many reasons, he quickly ruled out both of those cities, and eventually narrowed the field down to either the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina, or Charlotte.

Charlotte’s welcoming feel and opportunities won him over in the end.  He introduced his wife (from Kansas City – Go Chiefs!) to the area and she was convinced as well that this was where she wanted to raise a family.  They love living in Charlotte and don’t plan on ever moving.

Chiefs vs. Panthers? – tough call.

Cathy, a Broker on our team, was looking for a place to bring her daughters back to the US for High School after living on Providenciales in the Turk & Caicos Islands.  She could have chosen anywhere to live.

She had a “laundry list” of things she was looking for, such as:
1.  4 seasons with a mild winter (having lived 10 years in the Caribbean and 10 years in  the Rocky Mountains, she wanted normalcy).
2.  Good schools
3.  Good colleges
4.  Reasonable cost of living
5.  International airport
6.  Good people

Charlotte had all of this and more!  It was an easy decision once she did some preliminary research.

The central North Carolina location has both the mountains and the beach – both passions of Cathy’s, and two lakes within 30 minutes!  Cathy says that, “Charlotte is the first place I have lived that immediately became home and I know I will stay for a very long time.  I am thrilled everyday that I live in such a lush and beautiful ‘city in a small town.’ ”

Having sold real estate on Providenciales, it was natural for Cathy to become a Charlotte Real Estate Agent.

Once upon a time . . .

Deb (Closing Coordinator for the team) and her husband are originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan. They relocated to Massachusetts for her husband’s job.  Since then, they relocated two more times; all due to his employment.  So far, they have lived in Michigan (twice), Massachusetts and North Carolina. Their move to Charlotte brought a career change for Deb and she became a Realtor®.

Deb states that several things factored in to their decision to move to Charlotte – the cost of living was similar to the Midwest (where they were coming from), the location provided easy access to both the beaches and the mountains, Charlotte sports events, and a major airport nearby (makes it easy to visit family!).  All of these factors combined to convince Deb and her husband to make that fateful move to Charlotte, NC – a move that the entire Schwebel Team is glad that they made!

It was 1982.  Lynn Welles (Marketing Director for Irv’s team) had just become engaged with plans to live in central NJ after getting married.  But fate has a way of stepping in and changing your path.  What was it that John Lennon said – “Life is just what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.

Lynn’s fiance arrived one evening (nervously) to break the news that his company was being sold and he may have to relocate to Charlotte, NC.  To his relief, Lynn’s reaction was a good one.  A new adventure!  Someplace new to explore!

And so it was, a few months later that they found themselves driving down to Monroe, a small community just outside of Charlotte.  Quite a culture shock at the time, which prompted a move to Charlotte after just a year.  And that is where they reside to this day.

Echoing Irv’s sentiments, Lynn feels that, “Charlotte is a great place to raise a family.  All three of my children have attended public schools, with the oldest now at North Carolina State University’s School of Design.  You’d be hard pressed to get me to move back North!”

So how did Irv Schwebel, successful real estate agent, wind up living in a far away city called Charlotte?

A lifelong resident of Oceanside, NY, Irv was working in another profession when a transfer to Charlotte, NC opened up.  Irv knew nothing about Charlotte or the surrounding area.  He relied heavily on information from the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce to learn about his future home.  Remember – this was before the internet and other ‘instant’ sources of information that we have at our disposal currently.

With two children aged 4 years and 6 weeks in tow, the family uprooted their deep Long Island ties and headed south to what was known to them as “a southern city”.  Little did they know that their move to Charlotte would serve to provide them with “a better quality of life than we could have ever realized in Long Island”.  (a direct quote from Irv -  I think he likes it here!)  Charlotte has since developed into “a city in the south”, according to Irv.

From the opportunity to purchase an affordable home to the absolute beauty of the Charlotte area, Irv and his family couldn’t be happier.  Charlotte has truly been a wonderful place to raise a family.

Irv states that living in Charlotte is “like being on permanent vacation – and oh, by the way, I go to work.”  Nothing could ever cause Irv to leave this area.  He will likely retire here, and watch his children have families.

There is nothing finer than to be in Carolina!