Scott Patterson, a college dropout-turned-[tag]real estate investor[/tag], flings open the door of a vacant bungalow in north Charlotte and shouts to scatter any vagrants who might linger inside. The run-down house emits a musty odor, its walls are grimy and rust covers the bathroom fixtures. Patterson likes what he sees. “You never know which house will be a moneymaker,” he says.

In a city remarkable for its can-do economy and penchant for business deals, Patterson and others like him fill a special — and risky — niche. They snap up dilapidated houses and duplexes for less than $100,000, long before the neighborhoods become popular with newcomers and urban pioneers. They renovate and sell the properties for more than $300,000 in some cases. “Everybody’s trying to predict what the next hot area will be,” said Mike Jaffa president of Graham Investment, which writes loans for some of the city’s biggest individual speculators. In some neighborhoods, real estate investors have reduced blight, raised property values and lured young professionals to long-neglected areas. But not everyone is thrilled.

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