New dumb question (Charlotte, Huntersville: apartment, to rent, insurance)

[vpcats]

Since I am obviously totally geographically disoriented:
Are towns from Union County to Fort Mill, SC, to Charlotte uptown/downtown, kind of close to each other? And what is considered "close"??? 10 miles in any direction? 20? 30? Thanks.

[CharlotteAgent]

Yes they are very close. Depending where you were going and coming from about 20 miles.

Hope this helps some...

[vpcats]

So I can live/work within a 20 mile radius pretty much. It all depends which comes first - that ole chicken or the egg thing. Housing first and then limit work options or the other way around. You have no idea how much I "dislike" traffic. Most of my life in NY worked in the city but lived in the suburbs. It got unbearable. Here, I sold a house in the Miami "suburbs" because I was almost suicidal spending practically 3 hrs in traffic every day. :-). Now, I am 9 miles away from work and I only spend 1.5 hrs.! But I would love to make it 30 min round trip. :-)

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by vpcats

So I can live/work within a 20 mile radius pretty much. It all depends which comes first - that ole chicken or the egg thing. Housing first and then limit work options or the other way around. You have no idea how much I "dislike" traffic. Most of my life in NY worked in the city but lived in the suburbs. It got unbearable. Here, I sold a house in the Miami "suburbs" because I was almost suicidal spending practically 3 hrs in traffic every day. :-). Now, I am 9 miles away from work and I only spend 1.5 hrs.! But I would love to make it 30 min round trip. :-)

Well, with that in mind as a high priority for you I would recommend this - find a job first. THEN you should look for the best place to live based on your budget that is closest to the job

[lisaf]

I completely agree with lovesMountains (gee, that's the 2nd time today!). Find your job first and then move where you work. Even if you have to do a short-term 3-6 month apartment. Trust me, it will be worth every dime.

We moved here and bought a house in South Charlotte, and then hubby ended up with a job in Huntersville. Duh! that's a near 1 hour commute!

Needless to say, the commute has been killing him for over 2 years now!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by lisaf

I completely agree with lovesMountains (gee, that's the 2nd time today!). Find your job first and then move where you work. Even if you have to do a short-term 3-6 month apartment. Trust me, it will be worth every dime.

We moved here and bought a house in South Charlotte, and then hubby ended up with a job in Huntersville. Duh! that's a near 1 hour commute!

Needless to say, the commute has been killing him for over 2 years now!

Thanks Lisa Great minds do think alike sometimes!

Sorry to hear about your situation and your husbands long commute Any way you could sell in south Charlotte and move up to Huntersville? Other than that how are you enjoying south Charlotte?

[vpcats]

Deep in my heart, I definitely agree about trying to find a job first and I had thought about renting until I familiarized myself with the territory. Since another one of my priorities is to be "mortgage-free", I also don't want to be priced out of the market. NC is the "hot" spot now it seems. I am in Miami and I could sell high enough to try to do that but selling here is not easy now. I would have to give myself a lot of time and that's why I was thinking of looking into pre-construction type buying. It would give me time on both ends. If I don't have a mortgage in NC, or have a very small one, (obviously I'm not interested in the most upscale McMansion), it would mean a lot less to worry about in terms of employment and salary. The other little problem I have is about pets. Two dogs, 4 cats. How easy would it be to rent?

On another note: I read a couple of posts earlier regarding homeowner's insurance ballpark figures and they said between $400 -$900's. Mine is $3850/yr!!!! and I haven't even had any hurricane claims, nor am I THAT close to the coast. Haven't even gotten the quote for the new policy yet and the current one expires in December.

Lots to think about.

[south.charlotte&union]

Originally Posted by vpcats

Deep in my heart, I definitely agree about trying to find a job first and I had thought about renting until I familiarized myself with the territory. Since another one of my priorities is to be "mortgage-free", I also don't want to be priced out of the market. NC is the "hot" spot now it seems. I am in Miami and I could sell high enough to try to do that but selling here is not easy now. I would have to give myself a lot of time and that's why I was thinking of looking into pre-construction type buying. It would give me time on both ends. If I don't have a mortgage in NC, or have a very small one, (obviously I'm not interested in the most upscale McMansion), it would mean a lot less to worry about in terms of employment and salary. The other little problem I have is about pets. Two dogs, 4 cats. How easy would it be to rent?

On another note: I read a couple of posts earlier regarding homeowner's insurance ballpark figures and they said between $400 -$900's. Mine is $3850/yr!!!! and I haven't even had any hurricane claims, nor am I THAT close to the coast. Haven't even gotten the quote for the new policy yet and the current one expires in December.

Lots to think about.

$3850?? Oh my gosh...and I would say $1000 is on the high end of what you would pay here...

Preconstruction may give you some time...in many of the communities build time is 6-7 months. What you may want to consider is choosing a builder that offers a contingency option if your house in Miami doesn't sell. Just a thought! Feel free to PM me if I can help with this. Best of luck!

[vpcats]

Good idea.

I'm pretty sure my house will sell just probably not as quickly and I may not make as big a profit as I would have last year. Its location is great if you want to be close to everything but not IN it and it's all remodeled.

You know, I have to say that this forum is GRRRRRRREAT! What a nice helpful bunch of people. I'm glad I found it.