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I originally was looking at eastern TN but after a lot of research I do not think TN would be the right move for my family. So we are shifting our search east a bit. I currently live in Erie PA. about 15min out of the city and suburbs in what we call the county. Erie is a nice mid size city, but we only get a few months of warmth. The lake is only usable a few months a year and even on warm days we probably have 4-5 footers.
My main concern is to be in a good school district. I have two daughters ages 8 and 10. I am a public school fan unless I no choice. It doesn't have to be a "top rated" school just good teachers, safe, and nice facility. Our current school district has roughly 600-700 kids in the high school. I would like to stay around 1000-2000 kids. It looks like all of the schools around the lake are very highly rated.
We would really like to have a house on the lake. If we are going to do this we figure we should try to go all out. If it is not possible to be right on the lake I would like to be within 10-15min of the marina. The dream of sitting on the porch looking out over the water would be ideal. 3-4 bed room 2000 or up square foot. Our budget is a hard $350,000 max.
Jobs: I am willing to commute 1hr but would really like to stay closer to 45min tops. I am a Facilities maintenance supervisor at a large upscale nursing home. I have 18yrs experience. I have HVAC license, skilled in electrical, plumbing, electronics, and carpentry. Maybe I'm an optimist but I feel I would be able to find work. My wife may be able to bring her job with her and work from home which would be ideal.
I have read that Norman is really busy on the weekends and Wylie is not as bad. My question is how crowded is crowded? Is it such a mad house that you would not want to be out with your kids wakeboarding or tubing? We visited Deep Creek lake Maryland this past summer and the weekends were insane with not just shore to shore boats but very inconsiderate boaters.
We do not have to have all the restaurant and night life Norman has to offer but also would mind it.
My wife and I were both born and raised here and have never moved before so for some moving is not a big deal but for us it will be. I apologize if some of these questions have been asked before we are just trying to do as much home work ahead of time as we can. We plan to travel to the area in February and look at some homes and tour some schools.
Thank you in advance.
In regards to boating: Wylie tends to have a few less boaters and less of the very large yacht-type boats that people use for partying. Lake Norman is bigger and tends to have a good amount of boaters on weekends from April-September. The summer holidays are the only days where I've been out and I felt like the crowd was noticeable. It's fairly easy to find a quiet cove or area for you guys to enjoy water sports without much interruption, except perhaps someone looking for a place to fish.
I also have the impression that Wylie is a little more shallow than Norman - but I haven't been out on it as much as Norman.
You will have a difficult time being on the water at Lake Norman in your price point but withing 10-15 minutes it is doable for sure, It would depend on where you would want to live I would suggest the Denver side of Lake Norman over the other side for a better price point
I originally was looking at eastern TN but after a lot of research I do not think TN would be the right move for my family. So we are shifting our search east a bit. I currently live in Erie PA. about 15min out of the city and suburbs in what we call the county. Erie is a nice mid size city, but we only get a few months of warmth. The lake is only usable a few months a year and even on warm days we probably have 4-5 footers.
My main concern is to be in a good school district. I have two daughters ages 8 and 10. I am a public school fan unless I no choice. It doesn't have to be a "top rated" school just good teachers, safe, and nice facility. Our current school district has roughly 600-700 kids in the high school. I would like to stay around 1000-2000 kids. It looks like all of the schools around the lake are very highly rated.
We would really like to have a house on the lake. If we are going to do this we figure we should try to go all out. If it is not possible to be right on the lake I would like to be within 10-15min of the marina. The dream of sitting on the porch looking out over the water would be ideal. 3-4 bed room 2000 or up square foot. Our budget is a hard $350,000 max.
Jobs: I am willing to commute 1hr but would really like to stay closer to 45min tops. I am a Facilities maintenance supervisor at a large upscale nursing home. I have 18yrs experience. I have HVAC license, skilled in electrical, plumbing, electronics, and carpentry. Maybe I'm an optimist but I feel I would be able to find work. My wife may be able to bring her job with her and work from home which would be ideal.
I have read that Norman is really busy on the weekends and Wylie is not as bad. My question is how crowded is crowded? Is it such a mad house that you would not want to be out with your kids wakeboarding or tubing? We visited Deep Creek lake Maryland this past summer and the weekends were insane with not just shore to shore boats but very inconsiderate boaters.
We do not have to have all the restaurant and night life Norman has to offer but also would mind it.
My wife and I were both born and raised here and have never moved before so for some moving is not a big deal but for us it will be. I apologize if some of these questions have been asked before we are just trying to do as much home work ahead of time as we can. We plan to travel to the area in February and look at some homes and tour some schools.
Thank you in advance.
You won't get on the water in your price range in any lake area I know of in NC/SC. But, you can get really close to the water in Tega Cay in your range. I prefer Lake Wylie myself
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by nailem
I originally was looking at eastern TN but after a lot of research I do not think TN would be the right move for my family. So we are shifting our search east a bit. I currently live in Erie PA. about 15min out of the city and suburbs in what we call the county. Erie is a nice mid size city, but we only get a few months of warmth. The lake is only usable a few months a year and even on warm days we probably have 4-5 footers.
My main concern is to be in a good school district. I have two daughters ages 8 and 10. I am a public school fan unless I no choice. It doesn't have to be a "top rated" school just good teachers, safe, and nice facility. Our current school district has roughly 600-700 kids in the high school. I would like to stay around 1000-2000 kids. It looks like all of the schools around the lake are very highly rated.
We would really like to have a house on the lake. If we are going to do this we figure we should try to go all out. If it is not possible to be right on the lake I would like to be within 10-15min of the marina. The dream of sitting on the porch looking out over the water would be ideal. 3-4 bed room 2000 or up square foot. Our budget is a hard $350,000 max.
Jobs: I am willing to commute 1hr but would really like to stay closer to 45min tops. I am a Facilities maintenance supervisor at a large upscale nursing home. I have 18yrs experience. I have HVAC license, skilled in electrical, plumbing, electronics, and carpentry. Maybe I'm an optimist but I feel I would be able to find work. My wife may be able to bring her job with her and work from home which would be ideal.
I have read that Norman is really busy on the weekends and Wylie is not as bad. My question is how crowded is crowded? Is it such a mad house that you would not want to be out with your kids wakeboarding or tubing? We visited Deep Creek lake Maryland this past summer and the weekends were insane with not just shore to shore boats but very inconsiderate boaters.
We do not have to have all the restaurant and night life Norman has to offer but also would mind it.
My wife and I were both born and raised here and have never moved before so for some moving is not a big deal but for us it will be. I apologize if some of these questions have been asked before we are just trying to do as much home work ahead of time as we can. We plan to travel to the area in February and look at some homes and tour some schools.
Thank you in advance.
Your budget is doable on Moss Lake aka Kings Mountain Reservoir. Look for jobs in Gastonia first then the western half of Charlotte.
Thank you for the responses so far. I knew being lake side would be a stretch. I'm 15min from a bad lake now so being 10-15min to a nice lake would be more than acceptable. I total remodeled my current home my self and really don't want to do it again but I'm always tempted on the savings.
Thank you for the responses so far. I knew being lake side would be a stretch. I'm 15min from a bad lake now so being 10-15min to a nice lake would be more than acceptable. I total remodeled my current home my self and really don't want to do it again but I'm always tempted on the savings.
Google the town of Tega Cay, I think you'll like what you find
Seems like you could get around 2k sq ft for 350k on Lake Wylie. At the link, one is 1644sq ft for $320k and another is $357k for 2460 sq ft. Belmont schools are good.
I looked at what eddiehaskell linked to and I have to say, I'd rather be landlocked than buy those places. That's just me.
As for the job, you would be best to find employment and then see where you need to be as far as your desires. If you have to go to work at 9am, it'll take 45 minutes to just get out of some neighborhoods. Okay, a bit of a stretch, but Charlotte rush hour can be brutal depending on where you are and where you are going.
I'd be sure you have a job in your field before moving here. There are a lot of places looking for that kind of experience and credentials, but few want to actually pay for it. I am in a similar field and was looking a while back. $12/hr and you supply your own car and tools ain't a real good offer. Having HVAC cert would have got me $1/hr additional pay. I have 15+ years in the business and wasn't asking for high pay, just reasonable pay. If your relocation depends on both of you being employed, do not come here unless you have a firm offer. There are tons of people looking to get into property management and they will take a low salary. If you want to be a maintenance guy, you'll be fine. If you want a management position, be ready to lay out your A game and have to compete with a bunch of recent grads with hospitality management degrees or small business degrees. And they're probably willing to work for less than you are since you probably know what the job is worth.
Wow, $12/hr is less than my maintenance guys make. Actually it is a little less than my 3rd shift security makes. I have
Loosely looked for jobs but its hard to get serious at this point since our move would not be happening for 9-18 months. We are hoping my wife's employer will let her work from home. They have loosely discussed it and it could go either way. I have a lot of reading to do but even with the lower cost of living I would not be able to do it on those wages.
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