small town near Charlotte? (Raleigh, Greensboro: homes, school district, live)

[Carolina Girl]

Originally Posted by Serendipity11

DIZLIZ,

What you mentioned about Gilmore Girls town feel, that is exactly what my boyfriend and I are looking for. We plan to move to NC at the end of the summer. We are looking outside the Raleigh area, because I keep hearing that Charlotte is so congested.

Good Luck finding Stars Hollow, if I find anything when we visit NC in June, we will let you know!!

Cary is your trendy town in the Raleigh/Wake County area. There is also Apex and Wendell but they are not the primary area. There is another one that I will try to think of and post later.

[Carolina Girl]

Originally Posted by Carolina_native

Depends on your definition of small town. I would say that crime is low and there is plenty of housing to choose from.

Charlotte has pretty much connected itself to its booming neighbor to the north called Huntersville. Charlotte is expanding north and Huntersville to the south, hence they have met now.

North of Huntersville is Cornelius, then Davidson (small college town) and then Mooresville. I would say Davidson has the best "small town" feel out of all of these and is closely followed by Cornelius. Cornelius recently upgraded its entire downtown area, it looks really nice and emphasized on keeping its small town feel.

These are also lake communities. There was space to build on the lake and was affordable about 10 years ago, now it is like owning property on the beach. Expensive, especially in the affluent Cornelius' "Peninsula" neighborhood.

To really get the 'small town' atmosphere, one has to go on up I-77 to Statesville these days.

[Carolina Girl]

[quote=Serendipity11]I was on this website and reading some comments about Raleigh.

It was not very useful, but it did make me think it talks about Raleigh's lack of culture and diversity. It also says there is no place for liberals. I am not a very political person, I would say I am more conservative on some things and liberal on others, but take a look at this site it paints a bad picture.

Don't worry I am not scared just wondering what you guys think. I am still Raleigh Bound!!


Take it from a moderate Liberal, we aren't plentiful. One day we WILL be a blue state though, just wait and see. John Edwards is from Raleigh though, so there is hope...'Hope is on the way. ;-) However, I will be quite honest and say that just as many of the conservatives are newcomers as are locals. Unfortunately, we have been misrepresented in that area or is it 'misunderestimated' as one famous person puts it.

[Chap]

Originally Posted by Carolina Girl

To really get the 'small town' atmosphere, one has to go on up I-77 to Statesville these days.

So which would be an easier commute to Charlotte? Mooresville, Davidson, or Cornelius. I am flying down Tuesday to start looking at my options

[Carolina Girl]

Originally Posted by gottagetaway

would u mind expounding on this statement, please? My husband and I are making the relocation to NC sometime within the next 2 months, and choosing between outside of Raleigh or Charlotte has been a huge challenge for us. For a while, we were dead set on Raleigh, then heard about the redistricting of the school system every year and the shuffling of kids from school to school, and also the value of the homes depreciating and decided to start looking around the Charlotte area.

Most homes in Charlotte are NOT depreciating. I'm a Realtor and I know. However, there are some homes that were purchased at stupid prices that should reflect their 'real' value and some might call that depreciation when it really isn't.

Originally Posted by Sue_in_CT

I am self-employed here in CT, a state which has state income tax also. I am responsible for making estimated quarterly payments just like I am for my federal taxes. However, I only pay taxes based what my Adjusted Gross Income number is on my federal tax return. (This means the final number after I take deductions for a home office, business vehicle, etc.) Does anyone know if that is the same situation in NC??

(In other words if I made $50,000 in income, but my Adjusted Gross Income was $28,000 after business deductions, I only pay taxes on the $28,000.)

***Sorry for the math class !!

I am self-employed and I only pay taxes on 'after expenses' income. I pay an estimated tax quarterly and file as everyone else and either get a refund or pay more. I try to overpay because if you don't owe more that a certain amount, they don't 'fix' a set amount for you to pay quarterly. But, if you are short a certain amount, they will tell you how much to pay regardless of what you make. I think that is Fed (which is the same everywhere) but state works similarly.

Originally Posted by canine7

i wanted to buy some land in nc for under 12,000-i love the state.
ANY SUGGESTIONS,I couldnt find anything in raleigh for under 14,000 listed at realtor.com(garner 14,000 for half an acre).
i heard north of high point is a good investment,but i cant tell which lots are in the north.They do have a few listed for a couple thousand.
any sugesstions

Not that I know of and I'm a Realtor. Land isn't nearly as cheap as many have been led to believe. The natives are too smart to give away the land. Never heard that about High Point, but could be. I think is is somewhat depressed in the job market.

Originally Posted by Chap

So which would be an easier commute to Charlotte? Mooresville, Davidson, or Cornelius. I am flying down Tuesday to start looking at my options

No, not an easier commute. You would have to pass Mooresville, Davidson and Cornelius to get to Statesville but you would get more of a real small town atmosphere. Statesville is more 'unspoiled' if you will than the others and also less pricey. Davidson and Moresville are quite pricey (depending on location) and Cornelius isn't far behind. You are talking communiteis 'on the lake' and anything within seeing distance of the lake is enormously expensive. Statesville is basically 40 miles from downtown Charlotte and anything up I-77 is a nightmare for commuting (which all of these are). However, they have a HOV lane on I-77 now which helps a little. It's simply a matter of whether you prefer a small town or a small town that is trendy.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by canine7

i wanted to buy some land in nc for under 12,000-i love the state.
ANY SUGGESTIONS,I couldnt find anything in raleigh for under 14,000 listed at realtor.com(garner 14,000 for half an acre).
i heard north of high point is a good investment,but i cant tell which lots are in the north.They do have a few listed for a couple thousand.
any sugesstions

I think you are confusing people here because you've mentioned several sites but haven't listed your objectives. Do you want to buy a large section of land for speculation? For personal use? Future retirement issue?

If you want 10-50 acres in an area that will see future development, you're going to have to hand over large $$. As Carolina Girl noted, the natives (and early speculators that came in decades ago and bought used up farmland) are holding on to that land in anticipation of the value growing.

I think you mentioned cheap land around Lenior in another post. That's a "wellll .. maybe" kind of thing. If you are just looking at it on paper, you might get rooked. You don't know how well the land lays for development or the kind of access it has to roads and utilities. It might be listed as cheap because it will take yay amount of bucks to develop.

[*cringe* Gawd, I hate myself for saying this; this is one thing that infuriates me about the development in this state and the surrounding ones] *sigh* You might want to check out the recreational/vacation/second home/retire-to-a-scenic-area kind of land. We're not supposed to post links so google United Country+Blue Ridge Parkway. We spoke to a realtor up in Virginia (Fancy Gap). He said that speculators from the NE and Florida are snapping up tracts of land to chop up and sell to people who want to build very twee log homes with beautiful views and brag that they are living "the rustic life" *spit* There are even magazines devoted to that issue. <rant/> All I know is, when I take my bike and go riding up on the BRP, I look out to see my view spoiled by these developments and sometimes wish I had a Stinger missile mounted on my handlebars </rant>

ANYWAY, it appears that land speculation is moving in that direction. It's still best to be here to see it, unless you have agents who know exactly what you are looking for and can zero in on the right kind of land. Google linville+land harbor to see what I'm talking about.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by Carolina Girl

Take it from a moderate Liberal, we aren't plentiful. One day we WILL be a blue state though, just wait and see. John Edwards is from Raleigh though, so there is hope...'Hope is on the way. ;-) However, I will be quite honest and say that just as many of the conservatives are newcomers as are locals. Unfortunately, we have been misrepresented in that area or is it 'misunderestimated' as one famous person puts it.

<donning flameproof clothes, just in case>
Yes, we have John Edwards, but there is also Virginia Foxx. Her first term in Washington and she is already having an influence on local elections. One loser noted that her support for one candidate probably factored in the loser's fate. His note: "it looks like she's trying to purify the party."

[dizliz0925]

Carolina Girl....
Interesting to here you talk about the congestion. IT seems that Matthews, Mint Hill, etc are so close to Charlotte, that they will eventually blend together.

As far as Gastonia, it seems a little further out, and according to the realtor web site we've been on, Gastonia seems to have many more options in the way of pre-WWII era houses, which is really what we are looking for. Something out of cottage living magazine. As far as Davidson, Matthews, etc, all the houses seem nice, and built in an old style, but HUGE, 2500-3000 sf. We are looking for a nice little bungalow, 1600-1800 sf.,

We will be up there in a few weeks for a 'tour' of the lake Norman area, so we should get a good idea.

Two more questions for you...
1). How are the schools? Are we better off going private (which is what we would do if we stayed in FL)
2). What about the McGuire Nuclear plant? That is kind of freaking my wife out.

Thanks.

[Carolina Girl]

Originally Posted by silverwing

I think you are confusing people here because you've mentioned several sites but haven't listed your objectives. Do you want to buy a large section of land for speculation? For personal use? Future retirement issue?

If you want 10-50 acres in an area that will see future development, you're going to have to hand over large $$. As Carolina Girl noted, the natives (and early speculators that came in decades ago and bought used up farmland) are holding on to that land in anticipation of the value growing.

I think you mentioned cheap land around Lenior in another post. That's a "wellll .. maybe" kind of thing. If you are just looking at it on paper, you might get rooked. You don't know how well the land lays for development or the kind of access it has to roads and utilities. It might be listed as cheap because it will take yay amount of bucks to develop.

[*cringe* Gawd, I hate myself for saying this; this is one thing that infuriates me about the development in this state and the surrounding ones] *sigh* You might want to check out the recreational/vacation/second home/retire-to-a-scenic-area kind of land. We're not supposed to post links so google United Country+Blue Ridge Parkway. We spoke to a realtor up in Virginia (Fancy Gap). He said that speculators from the NE and Florida are snapping up tracts of land to chop up and sell to people who want to build very twee log homes with beautiful views and brag that they are living "the rustic life" *spit* There are even magazines devoted to that issue. <rant/> All I know is, when I take my bike and go riding up on the BRP, I look out to see my view spoiled by these developments and sometimes wish I had a Stinger missile mounted on my handlebars </rant>

ANYWAY, it appears that land speculation is moving in that direction. It's still best to be here to see it, unless you have agents who know exactly what you are looking for and can zero in on the right kind of land. Google linville+land harbor to see what I'm talking about.

I guess 'cheap' is relative. I know you can buy less than 100 acres in the Lenoir area for around 350,000-400,000. but that is a long way from 12,000.

[Carolina Girl]

Originally Posted by dizliz0925

Carolina Girl....
Interesting to here you talk about the congestion. IT seems that Matthews, Mint Hill, etc are so close to Charlotte, that they will eventually blend together.

As far as Gastonia, it seems a little further out, and according to the realtor web site we've been on, Gastonia seems to have many more options in the way of pre-WWII era houses, which is really what we are looking for. Something out of cottage living magazine. As far as Davidson, Matthews, etc, all the houses seem nice, and built in an old style, but HUGE, 2500-3000 sf. We are looking for a nice little bungalow, 1600-1800 sf.,

We will be up there in a few weeks for a 'tour' of the lake Norman area, so we should get a good idea.

Two more questions for you...
1). How are the schools? Are we better off going private (which is what we would do if we stayed in FL)
2). What about the McGuire Nuclear plant? That is kind of freaking my wife out.

Thanks.

Sure. As for Matthews and Mint Hill, for all practical purposes (traffic included) they are Charlotte. That blending occurred 20-25 years ago and is continually getting worse. If you think we are joking about Charlotte traffic, I made a judgment error today that cost me 2 hours. I was in Gastonia and knew I should leave by 4:00PM but delayed until 4:45. Our traffic could teach New York more than a few things. I have even heard people from LA lament that it is worse than theirs.

Gastonia is 30 miles from Charlotte and it was formerly a cotton mill town. There are some other towns such as you describe in that area too and it is a bit less price in areas. The people are nice but tell it like it is. Davidson is more the 'old style' than Matthews but both are 'attitude' towns. Gastonia isn't. I can almost promise you won't find anything in the Lake Norman area anywhere within the 'normal' pocketbook. Most are near of far above a million dollars and are huge. That isn't water front or even water view.
It is 'near' if you are lucky.

I am moving to a small town, but I really don't want to say where. If you know how to send me a private message and tell me how to send you one back, I will give you some names that you may want to look at.

Hum...Schools. If you can afford a private school, there are some really great ones in the area. The public schools in Mecklenburg are not great. Public schools in Gaston County are somewhat better though I am not certain how well funded they are. I do know some parents who are quite happy with it but then their expectations may not have been high enough. I can get you a website for the Board of Education there.

As for McGuire, there are some areas that I would not live in because of McGuire. There are some areas that I think are far enough away that there would be sufficient time to evacuate. Just as I would tell someone in the path of a hurricane, I would say prepare to take care of your own. You can purchase at almost any pharmacy in the country iodine pills to be taken. There are a few areas that I understand there are governmental requirements along that line, but it isn't a huge area. I think she should feel quite comfortable in certain areas but not within close proximity to the plant. Although I have a safety background I am not a certified expert in that area though.