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I will like to read some experiences of people that moved from New Jersey to NC.
We Are a family of 7, 5 kids! 2 teens, two one year old and one in elementary school. We live in Bergen county NJ and pay 2200 for rent. Our income is not so much is about 80000k.
We want to buy a house and the Taxes in nj are too high.
Is not a secret that taxes and voy of living is less in MC but I wanted to know about other families how easy was to adjust to life in the south, lots of things to do? How is the school system?
Well, I'm originally from Bergen County [ edit, I lied, I lived in NYC until I was about 10, but you get the point ], and had lived in Morris County for about 14yrs before JUST moving down here. We're actually in Fort Mill/Indian Land, just over the border, and I can vouch for the taxes being lower (FYI, Indian Land's taxes are REALLY low, comparatively)
Our kids have not entered the school system yet, but I have heard pretty good things, and getting acclimated to the new surroundings.
Coming from having moved down here in the middle of June, I can say that you may wind up driving a little longer (like 3-5 min more) to get to places, and there are wider spaces, but it's pretty, and there doesn't really seem to be a shortage of places to go, shop, or eat.
I haven't really had a chance to try many of them, and there's a bit of a cultural shift with things like BJ's and supermarkets carrying alcohol, and seeing ammo storage cans when you walk in, or Wal-Mart being 3X as big, and selling groceries, but it's not like they speak a different language, and I will say this, I saw gas for $1.93/gal and that was a nice shift.
If only I could get used to the heat/humidity, or what FEELs like a difference, anyway.
The people have been beyond friendly and helpful, so there's that.
Compared with Jersey, most Northeast and Midwest states, and California, taxes in NC are lower versus low in SC. At the top of this Charlotte board, read the entire moving to Charlotte thread to answer many of your likely questions. $80K devided by 7 people will go further in SC; relative education quality varies and like art, quality or beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Good luck!
What do you like to do?
What is your price range for a house?
What area/how far out from downtown do you want to be or are you willing to be?
I ask because that will determine the type of school you will be looking at sending your kids to.
I am only familiar with the South end for the most part. Charlotte-Mecklenburg covers a large school area and there are good schools and not so good schools.
Union County is also an area to look into. Most schools are quite good.
If you want specific school info, I can give you a little more info.
I would recommend Greenville-Spartanburg, SC. $80,000 income and the expense / savings for five children will go further there and the traffic is not as bad to areas you could afford and have good schools.
Ideally you would cut your housing payment below 30% of your gross income from the 33% today.
Your income isn't or shouldn't be the problem so much as what your Debt to Income ratio comes back at. Taxes here compared to NJ (I'm from NY and moved here a year ago) are SIGNIFICANTLY lower so that helps a lot as much more of your payment is relegated to Principal and Interest versus having to pay taxes. Our mortgage payment in NY was split almost down the middle with roughly 50% of what we paid each month moving to escrow in order to cover our taxes.
As long as your credit is decent (best case starting at around 640), and your debt is low you stand a good chance. Additionally, you would hopefully maintain this income in a move. Again, what would be important is that you're staying with the same employer, or at a minimum staying within the same field of employment.
Bottom line is that depending on where you look and your specific circumstances and time line it could very well be possible. Additionally, there are down payment assistance programs that at your income level may even be able to help provide some funds to cover costs. Look into North Carolina Housing Finance Agency if you're looking in the NC area for some guidance. They have good information available on their website.
First question would be to make sure that you can still make $80k in Charlotte. Cost of living is lower here than NY/NJ, but a lot of times so are salaries.
If that's the case, you can certainly do okay here on an $80K salary, but with 5 kids that's going to take up a lot of that salary. Depending on your other debt, I would think you couldn't go much higher than $250K or so, which if you want a house to comfortably fit all those kids, won't get you into the "better" areas of the metro. But if you can comfortably afford $2200 a month, that could get you into the $300K range depending on your down payment which would give you some more options, although still on the low side for a large home especially if you're looking for highly-regarded public schools. Lots of people from NY/NJ in the Charlotte area, but a lot of them come here with huge down payments thanks to selling their house up there.
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