[BigHouse9]

Originally Posted by CT-Guy

Not wanting to sacre you off...but 38K per year is peanuts...and wont give you a quality lifestyle. I make 68K working as a software developer...my wife makes about 35K at her job...and between mortgage and car payments on out run down home in Bridgeport, we dole out roughly $3k per month!

Private schools for our two kids (public school in teh big cities (hardford, New Haven, Bridgeport) are horrible)

There are lots of rich folks in these parts...which is why my wife and kids will be relocating to NC shortly...for me jobs down that side pay the same as jobs here..i can now actually buy a brand new house ...2400 square feet for less than 250K....and send our svhools to public schools in one of the best school districts in teh nation. compare that with our current 1200 square feet home, where we pay $5K per year for prop taxes...increased utility bill, $500 per year for car taxes (2 cars ) etc

Don't drink the North Carolina Kool-Aid!!! I agree completely with JViello on this one. NC has become suburban hell. Strip malls, traffic, postage stamp sized lots, bad drivers and more traffic. I have found that it actually costs me more to live down here. I make less money as a software developer than I did in CT. Yes, my RE taxes are less but EVERYTHING else costs more here. My car insurance went up, my cable and utilities cost more, you have to drive everywhere to do anything since we live on a .18 acre lot. We have HOA fees and groceries and wine, beer are all more. There is just a more hectic feel than CT too. And as far as the schools go, at least in Wake County, they are overcrowded and most are heading to year round schedules. There are so many issues with the school systems that it is reaching nightmare proportions.

Be careful on the house thing too. Yes, it may say 2500 sf for a house but JViello is right too, that includes the garage and we have absolutely no storage space. Our 'new' house is so drafty and inefficient too.

If you do decide to come down, do A LOT of homework ahead of time.

[stormweary]

THanks, jv about your mom, I hope to teach part time and I do have money saved ; i think of it as semi-retiring. I will be using an IRA for monthly expenses and want to have a decent "income" from that.
You are right too about the TV news!! Can't tell you how many times people have called me or I them about weather related issues and its always that the news makes it look SO much worse!! TV usually focuses on the absolute worse case even if its only one house or a small area!!
DRiving: well, y'all are just crazy yankees I do remember that the roads are cleared quickly up there as opposed to other places that only get snow occasionally and it shuts everything down for days..... I'd liked to get an all AWD vehicle, I drive a "regular" VUE now and want to see how Saturn's hybrid version fares......

[JViello]

Originally Posted by stormweary

THanks, jv about your mom, I hope to teach part time and I do have money saved ; i think of it as semi-retiring. I will be using an IRA for monthly expenses and want to have a decent "income" from that.
You are right too about the TV news!! Can't tell you how many times people have called me or I them about weather related issues and its always that the news makes it look SO much worse!! TV usually focuses on the absolute worse case even if its only one house or a small area!!
DRiving: well, y'all are just crazy yankees I do remember that the roads are cleared quickly up there as opposed to other places that only get snow occasionally and it shuts everything down for days..... I'd liked to get an all AWD vehicle, I drive a "regular" VUE now and want to see how Saturn's hybrid version fares......

Sounds a lot like my mothers "deal". She's a 60's girl as she puts it, and just lives simple and honest...and to be real I think she's got it right. Nothing wrong with that.

A lot of people buy Subaru's around here. It's a New England thing. The AWD is very handy and you get SUV utlity for the most part without the "waste" if you know what I mean.

Crazy Yankee? lol Sometimes, but hey - a boy has to have some fun sometimes too.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

Don't drink the North Carolina Kool-Aid!!! I agree completely with JViello on this one. NC has become suburban hell. Strip malls, traffic, postage stamp sized lots, bad drivers and more traffic. I have found that it actually costs me more to live down here. I make less money as a software developer than I did in CT. Yes, my RE taxes are less but EVERYTHING else costs more here. My car insurance went up, my cable and utilities cost more, you have to drive everywhere to do anything since we live on a .18 acre lot. We have HOA fees and groceries and wine, beer are all more. There is just a more hectic feel than CT too. And as far as the schools go, at least in Wake County, they are overcrowded and most are heading to year round schedules. There are so many issues with the school systems that it is reaching nightmare proportions.

Be careful on the house thing too. Yes, it may say 2500 sf for a house but JViello is right too, that includes the garage and we have absolutely no storage space. Our 'new' house is so drafty and inefficient too.

If you do decide to come down, do A LOT of homework ahead of time.

Totally agreed. Not for me. And if you are used to New England living, it's a big shock to the system. We like our space, we like our freedom, we like our history and our culture. From anywhere Indiana it might not be that big of a change. To each his own as they say.

[stormweary]

I'm partial to the VUE because I can fit a 4ft x5ft painting in it......yea, boys and their toys........

[CT-Guy]

Originally Posted by kd83

lol I like your hair on fire statement haha. Seriously tho I am moving to charlotte in May and I can understand why you feel like that about certain spots b/c they are developing outrageously in some places. Obviously you're looking at smaller properties and closer neighbors in the city but if you look at certain spots of concord, huntersville, and other surrounding towns you can find some houses that look as good as they do on paper. Jviello is that really how they measure sq ft in NC..by including garage space? In ct they only use livable space so your basement and garage dont get included unless they are furnished with rug and something else that I cant remember right now. The houses outside of atlanta and charlotte that I've been to made me go "wow" when I saw them and granted they're not rural connecticut plots of land but like I've seen you agree, to each his own. I would rlather have a smaller yard myself b/c I'm lazy and dont like yardwork. I dont make much use of my yard which is an acre right now other than letting the dogs go **** and rarely playing horsehoes in the summer. I also agree with you on the 103k salary thing. Bridgeport is more expensive but even then you should be fine on 103k. Granted I live in a cheaper part of CT but I made only 32k last year and still managed to save a good 5k of that in a savings account. I dont need a high car payment like the rest of the world and I'm not compelled to eat out and go to the movies and do expensive things all the time. It can be done, as long as you keep yourself busy with inexpensive activities and employement.

We live in a 1200 SF home in the run-down depressed city of Bridgeport, where public schooling is so poor, there is no alternative but to come up with a handsome $400 per month to send our daughter to private school. My 2 yo son will start soon..the quote we got for his school is $170 per week. And you are talking about perhaps the poorest city in the entire connecticut (never mind other towns such as Fairfield, Stratford, shelton etc)

When you have to pay $360 per month for property taxes in a not so great neighborhood, close to $200 per month for electricity alone (no one is at home in teh days...we do laundry once per week for a family of 4, refridgerator and about 3 tvs, and Furnace)...its hard to understand how people survive in this state.

I have done my research...looked on photos online, and wil be travelling to NC in coming month sto get a first hand look...but I am 100% sure based on what i've seen so far that it looks alot better than what Bridgeport will ever be able to offer me and my family.

I'd be very interested in finding out how you manage to survive on a sub 40K salary...for instance, do you have kids? do you pay mortgage/property taxes?

98K per year between myself and my wife...I wonder everyday too why we seem to struggle to make ends meet. My aunt in charlotte makes significantly less, and in my mind, lives a far better quality of life than I do (Bigger house, better school for her kids) etc.

Please share your secret!

[skytrekker]

Get out of Bridgeport and Fairfield county- North Carolina and the south are not the answer.

[Lincolnian]

Originally Posted by CT-Guy

We live in a 1200 SF home in the run-down depressed city of Bridgeport, where public schooling is so poor, there is no alternative but to come up with a handsome $400 per month to send our daughter to private school. My 2 yo son will start soon..the quote we got for his school is $170 per week. And you are talking about perhaps the poorest city in the entire connecticut (never mind other towns such as Fairfield, Stratford, shelton etc)

When you have to pay $360 per month for property taxes in a not so great neighborhood, close to $200 per month for electricity alone (no one is at home in teh days...we do laundry once per week for a family of 4, refridgerator and about 3 tvs, and Furnace)...its hard to understand how people survive in this state.

I have done my research...looked on photos online, and wil be travelling to NC in coming month sto get a first hand look...but I am 100% sure based on what i've seen so far that it looks alot better than what Bridgeport will ever be able to offer me and my family.

I'd be very interested in finding out how you manage to survive on a sub 40K salary...for instance, do you have kids? do you pay mortgage/property taxes?

98K per year between myself and my wife...I wonder everyday too why we seem to struggle to make ends meet. My aunt in charlotte makes significantly less, and in my mind, lives a far better quality of life than I do (Bigger house, better school for her kids) etc.

Please share your secret!

Come up to the HTFD area. If you can't live on 100K up here you need to sit down with a financial planner.

Wherever mass crowds move with the hopes of a better life there are bound to be problems. Too many people without any ties to their families. Disillusioned by the hopes of a much better opportunity to achieve the television version of the American dream.

New England has its history and culture. If we can preserve that by resisting the temptation to just give up and move it will be an even better place to live.

As far as Bridgeport goes there are tremendous opportunities in the next Real Estate up-cycle. Your new beach is better than Rocky Neck. The whole harbor area is ripe for redevelopment. What is needed is a good, honest, and committed group of people to be involved in the city's government to put the needs of the city first. The city's tax structure needs to be completely redone providing relief to homeowners and the infrastructure needs to be conducive to business. Bridgeport needs to capitalize on connecting to NYC and other cities on the coast.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by kd83

lol hell ya! last year when I had my evo and a set of blizzaks on there I looked foward to going driving in the snow haha AWD + winter tires = FUN FUN FUN!


Ya I hear the commute downtown to charlotte is rough..I was interested in working at BOA too but now I dont know maybe I'll just waiter or something haha. We have pretty much narrowed it down to concord and university area only b/c my girlfriend will be commuting everyday to UNCC as well as working full time so the 50 minute commute from matthews or south charlotte is a no go.

I have an 05 Evolution VIII in the drive too.

I havn't been to Charlotte in a while, but if things are still somewhat similar, the North Davidson area, and Elizabeth park were up and coming "younger" areas and close to DT.

BOA has so many buildings, I would find out where you would be working first. The BOA building in DT has easy parking and is fairly nice. I was on the 57th floor with great views.

Good luck down there, and don't forget where ya came from.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

Get out of Bridgeport and Fairfield county- North Carolina and the south are not the answer.

I agree 100%.

Not to say people don't move down there and do well, some do. But it's not the silver bullet you might be thinking it is.

My wife and I live a pretty comfortable life on two private acres on a dead end street outside of the Hartford area. We make a lot less than you do and have two 05 cars (Not cheap bargain specials) and it gets tight sometimes but it's continuing to get better.