Thinking of moving to NC.... (Charlotte, Raleigh: how much, house, neighborhood)

[sunsky778]

Hi, my family and I currently live in FL and are originally from NY. Needless to say like many NY'ers we came to FL looking for good housing prices and quality of life. Yes FL does offer you quality of life as far as activities goes, but that is it. Schools stink, everything is way over prices including housing. We are now selling our home and are wondering about NC or going back home to NY. The problem is will we afford a 500K plus house now?

Prior to moving to FL we visited many areas of NC, Wilmington, Charlotte, Cary, Apex, and Raleigh. I truly thought NC was one of the most beautiful states I have ever seen.

Here is the downfall, my family and I are middle class Hispanics, and when we went there we were told that we would be treated like immigrants by our realtor. He told us that culture wasn't well known and that our children might face racial issues. As you can all imagine I was frightened, and we didn't make that choice. It seems now that NC is still growing and I just wanted some input from people from that state.

Jessica

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by sunsky778

Hi, my family and I currently live in FL and are originally from NY. Needless to say like many NY'ers we came to FL looking for good housing prices and quality of life. Yes FL does offer you quality of life as far as activities goes, but that is it. Schools stink, everything is way over prices including housing. We are now selling our home and are wondering about NC or going back home to NY. The problem is will we afford a 500K plus house now?

Prior to moving to FL we visited many areas of NC, Wilmington, Charlotte, Cary, Apex, and Raleigh. I truly thought NC was one of the most beautiful states I have ever seen.

Here is the downfall, my family and I are middle class Hispanics, and when we went there we were told that we would be treated like immigrants by our realtor. He told us that culture wasn't well known and that our children might face racial issues. As you can all imagine I was frightened, and we didn't make that choice. It seems now that NC is still growing and I just wanted some input from people from that state.

Jessica

Ohmygosh! I CANNOT believe a realtor told you this!! Sounds to me like that realtor had a personel problem or was prejudiced themselves. Please come to Charlotte if you are at all worried about "fitting in". This place is a true melting pot. I'm sure there will always be the occasional ignoramous who expresses racial prejudice, but that really is not the norm. There are so many people here from other places you wouldn't be out of place at all. Let me know what specific questions you have and I will try to answer them

[sunsky778]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Ohmygosh! I CANNOT believe a realtor told you this!! Sounds to me like that realtor had a personel problem or was prejudiced themselves. Please come to Charlotte if you are at all worried about "fitting in". This place is a true melting pot. I'm sure there will always be the occasional ignoramous who expresses racial prejudice, but that really is not the norm. There are so many people here from other places you wouldn't be out of place at all. Let me know what specific questions you have and I will try to answer them

Thanks for the rapid reply, I have tons of questions. How are the schools there in Charlotte? What is the weather like year round? The summers here are horrible, very very humid... What about housing prices?

Jessica

[CharlotteAgent]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Ohmygosh! I CANNOT believe a realtor told you this!! Sounds to me like that realtor had a personel problem or was prejudiced themselves. Please come to Charlotte if you are at all worried about "fitting in". This place is a true melting pot. I'm sure there will always be the occasional ignoramous who expresses racial prejudice, but that really is not the norm. There are so many people here from other places you wouldn't be out of place at all. Let me know what specific questions you have and I will try to answer them

I could not agree more.

[SusanF]

I too am from NY, lived in Fl for a while and am back in NY but strongly considering charlotte. We recently visited and loved it. I felt very comfortable there, a lot of people from everywhere. Although you did get an ignorant realtor-too bad, it really seems like a nice place to live! My advice would be to find another realtor!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by sunsky778

Thanks for the rapid reply, I have tons of questions. How are the schools there in Charlotte? What is the weather like year round? The summers here are horrible, very very humid... What about housing prices?

Jessica

Okay Jessica, here are some things for you to know:

Charlotte is a huge metro area now so the first thing you want to do is to plan to live on the side of Charlotte you will be working on, or as close to it as you can get. This makes your commute better and your life infinitely better and less stressful.

I love the weather here. Probably the worst time is late July into the mid part of August - temps can hover at 90 for days. BUT, I come from Louisiana so to me this kind of heat is bearable because the humidity is so much less. Same thing with the winter, the cold is a "dryer" cold (less humidity normally) and I have no problem tolerating 25 degree weather whereas in Louisiana 40 degree weather can be miserable. The fall and springs here are just beautiful with all the color changes. However, we do get bombed with pollen in the spring, so beware if you have allergies. It is hard to beat the beautiful dogwood and cherry blossom trees in bloom though - just in time for Easter usually. Winters are not bad either. If we are lucky we will get some snow at least once, but sometimes twice a year. It is usually not more than 6 inches at a time. We do tend to get ice storms here that can kind of paralyse the city about once a year for a few days.

Now, the big question...approximately how much can you spend on an house? That figure will determine the best areas for you to try to live in.

Schools in Charlotte are sometimes good, sometimes bad - depends on the neighborhood. There is overcrowding at all the best ones because those are the areas that are booming. Other surrounding school systems can be very good though so again, a lot depends on where you might work and how much house you can buy

[sunsky778]

My husband can spend up to $350K we would love to be under that though. I have two sons 8 yrs and 12 yrs.

[sunsky778]

To love mountains: I am also graduating this summer from college and will be applying for a teachers position in Elementary school..

[CharlotteAgent]

What do you like to do on your down time? What side of town will you be working on.

If you need any help in Charlotte please let me know! If it helps I can put you in touch with a 100% bilingual agent.

[CharlotteAgent]

I believe the new elementary School in Cornelius is in need of Teachers. This is N. Charlotte....