Anyone here move from Orange County, CA to CLT area? (Charlotte: daycare, how much)

[diggums]

If so, can you provide your observations? We are looking at Ballentyne or Waxhaw if we are south of town, Mooresville if north of town.

We are very worried about our happiness with a move out of Orange County in regards to weather, amenities, infrastructure, and overall quality of life.

We would be interested in houses in gated neighborhoods, if possible. Although, that is not required. We would look for a house as low as $600s and as high as $1.5M. We want a huge finished basement, 3 to 4 car garage, and good schools. Overall about 6000 to 8000 square feet. We have one infant and a 5 year old.

We aren't totally unfamiliar with the south, having lived in Lexington, KY, and Charleston, SC, prior to living in OC CA.

I'd love to hear from those of you who have made a similar move. We are currently in Irvine/Newport Beach.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[nascarnancy]

Born and raised in So Cal, lived in Yorba Linda for 15 years before we moved to Weddington, NC. DH lived in GA for 10 years while growing up and wanted to return to the south. Also, his brother is here so we do have family.

Been here 2 1/2 years and still get homesick, I miss my friends dearly, wait I feel a tear welling up, to late.

As far as amenities go, South Park Mall is very nice. A mini version of South Coast Plaza. You can go online and see what stores are available. Nordstrom, Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus. They've just opened Trader Joe's here.

We've got major league football which is a huge plus since the OC and LA haven't had teams in eon's unless you drive down to San Diego. Also have the Charlotte Bobcats Basketball team, almost made the playoff's but no cigar. Have the Charlotte Checkers Hockey Team and Charlotte Knights Baseball, I want to say minor leagues, but not sure if that is correct. And of course my favorite if you couldn't tell, NASCAR, also had the new Z-Maxx Drag strip open last Sept which is state of the art. So I think your covered in sports.

We do have a nice children's library in uptown along with the Discovery Center which I think they are remodeling. Bloomingthal Theater and local museums. Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens and 2 hours away in Asheville The Biltmore Estate. Winerys are becomming very popular. The only wine tasting I've done so far was at The Biltmore, would like to visit Richard Childress Winery one day.

Weather, we do get dustings of snow had 2 this year. It does get cold and to a So Cal Gal anything under 70 is cold, LOL. We have been in a drought but had lots of rain so they have lifted restrictions in Mecklenburg County, I think we are still on a 2 day a week watering plan for Union County. But coming from CA we know all about drought so that will be nothing new. Tornado warnings I could do without, I would rather be in an earthquake quite frankly.

I think the biggest thing for me is trying to make friends, it's a slow process but will probably be easier for you since you have children. We do have wonderful neighbors though, it just takes time.

Why we liked Weddington, it still has a country feel which reminded us of YL. We wanted a house that sat on a minimum of an acre. Close to shopping, Carolina Place, South Park, Blakeney, Arboritum, Cost Co and Trader Joe's. So a country feel but not too far out.

Also miss cruising PCH.

[movedtothecoast]

oh, waxhaw , weddington is too far out for me. living in charlotte you want to be closer in to get the little feel of a city that is there.
look in the older neighborhoods and you can still have a decent size lot.
if you are after a more urban feel why go out as far as weddington/waxhaw?
you can have that in some pockets of charlotte /southpark area.
look in carmel park, sharon hills, the cloisters, town&country area, mountainbrook, anywhere along providence road.
you will only be a few mintues away from the action , shopping, daycare,good schols,library. movie theatres, etc.
my 2 cents worth.

[stlterp]

My wife grew up in Orange County, not far from Irvine/Newport...I didn't grow up there, but both of us went to college in the area.

We've been gone from the SoCal for a while now, but visit on a fairly regular basis, including a trip next week. While the beach lifestyle certainly is attractive, I don't think we'd ever willingly move back. Certainly miss all the great ethnic food, the diversity and In'N'Out, never really cared for the traffic or endless subdivisions and strip malls, however nice they are.

In terms of weather, I like it here much better. You basically get a really long spring and fall, a short winter and summer. It'll get hotter and more humid than Irvine, but not hotter than Riverside, per se. There might be a few weeks of "cold", but it's on a relative basis.

Haven't seen a lot of basements around here, but we weren't really looking at new houses or anything "huge", either. Closest thing to Irvine that I've seen here is Ballantyne, though we looked almost exclusively from the SouthPark area toward town.

[diggums]

Well, after living in SoCal for 10 years in 1800 square feet or less, a huge house is what we want. I see a lot of houses with large basements in Charlotte, but they tend to be newer homes and not all newer homes have them.

We are looking farther out from Charlotte metro because we want the lower taxes, more space, and a slower pace in some regards.

Also, what is the deal with houses in Charlotte being almost all with gas log fireplaces, rather than real wood fireplaces? WTF I can have gas log here. I would love real wood fireplaces, but it seems none of the newer homes have them.

Thanks again for all the tips and thoughts.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by diggums

Well, after living in SoCal for 10 years in 1800 square feet or less, a huge house is what we want. I see a lot of houses with large basements in Charlotte, but they tend to be newer homes and not all newer homes have them.

We are looking farther out from Charlotte metro because we want the lower taxes, more space, and a slower pace in some regards.

Also, what is the deal with houses in Charlotte being almost all with gas log fireplaces, rather than real wood fireplaces? WTF I can have gas log here. I would love real wood fireplaces, but it seems none of the newer homes have them.

Thanks again for all the tips and thoughts.

But 8000 square feet!!!!! OHMYGOSH, all I can think is how much I'd dread having to clean that much house I would never consider something that large unless my family was equally as large.

Look, there are wonderful homes to be found here with 3000 and 4000 square feet for far less than your budgeted amount, get a good realtor and you'll be fine.

[Guy Fawkes]

Originally Posted by diggums

Well, after living in SoCal for 10 years in 1800 square feet or less, a huge house is what we want. I see a lot of houses with large basements in Charlotte, but they tend to be newer homes and not all newer homes have them.

We are looking farther out from Charlotte metro because we want the lower taxes, more space, and a slower pace in some regards.

Also, what is the deal with houses in Charlotte being almost all with gas log fireplaces, rather than real wood fireplaces? WTF I can have gas log here. I would love real wood fireplaces, but it seems none of the newer homes have them.

Thanks again for all the tips and thoughts.

I think real wood is kinda a hassle.
1) Go get wood, fix the fire, light wood, enjoy fire, clean out ash.
or
1) Turn it on. Turn it off.

=P

[nascarnancy]

Originally Posted by diggums

Well, after living in SoCal for 10 years in 1800 square feet or less, a huge house is what we want. I see a lot of houses with large basements in Charlotte, but they tend to be newer homes and not all newer homes have them.

We are looking farther out from Charlotte metro because we want the lower taxes, more space, and a slower pace in some regards.

Also, what is the deal with houses in Charlotte being almost all with gas log fireplaces, rather than real wood fireplaces? WTF I can have gas log here. I would love real wood fireplaces, but it seems none of the newer homes have them.

Thanks again for all the tips and thoughts.

We really wanted a wood burning fireplace too! No such luck with newer homes, ours is 10 years old. So we bought an outdoor firepit and burn our wood and twigs from around the yard. One night we cooked hot dogs. At least we get our fresh burning wood smell.

The older homes didn't have the open floor plan that we were looking for so we pretty much had to go newer or remodel and that wasn't going to happen as we had just spent 5 years remodeling our home in So Cal. Our home is at least twice the size as our home was in CA. It just feels so nice and open, not so closed in.

That's why we bought in Union County as the taxes are lower than Mecklenburg, well for now anyway.

[south.charlotte&union]

Stating the obvious here, Piper Glen and Ballantyne Country Club in the Ballantyne area. In Union County, Longview, Providence Downs/Providence Downs South, Highgate, Firethorne, Stratford, Skycroft. Of these, Longview and Skycroft are gated, PDS is supposed to be gated, not sure if gates are closed yet.

Also consider Providence Plantation. Though it is not in Ballantyne, it is in South Charlotte and has some beautiful homes. It is a very striking neighborhood, with mature landscaping and nice lot sizes in many instances.

[diggums]

Originally Posted by nascarnancy

We really wanted a wood burning fireplace too! No such luck with newer homes, ours is 10 years old. So we bought an outdoor firepit and burn our wood and twigs from around the yard. One night we cooked hot dogs. At least we get our fresh burning wood smell.

The older homes didn't have the open floor plan that we were looking for so we pretty much had to go newer or remodel and that wasn't going to happen as we had just spent 5 years remodeling our home in So Cal. Our home is at least twice the size as our home was in CA. It just feels so nice and open, not so closed in.

That's why we bought in Union County as the taxes are lower than Mecklenburg, well for now anyway.

This is exactly what I'm thinking - the older homes with wood fireplaces are simply inadequate for our needs and desires without a remodel. And I don't want that nightmare.

And yes, we want a huge home that has soaring ceilings in the great room, lots of windows, etc. I'm finding a ton of homes that I like that fit our criteria in Waxhaw to the south and Mooresville to the north.

Its a very tough call.

Fortunately, we are at least a year or two out but I'm doing serious homework now and will be visiting the area very soon.

Oh, and i do appreciate the comments regarding cleaning a 6000 to 8000 sq ft home as opposed to a 3000 to 4000 sq ft home. But after living in CA where land is at a tremendous premium and we get very little space for our money, we want a sprawling house with a great yard and tons of space for everyone in the family. And we've had maid service for the last 8 to 10 years - that won't stop no matter the size of the house or where we live.