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My wife, our 2 small children and I are considering a move to the NC area, mostly for cost of living and weather (we are from a Boston suburb and HATE the winters here) while we are still young enough. We will be doing a road trip down to Myrtle Beach in May - we plan on stopping in various locations along the way to test the waters - basically to see if we like the area. What I am looking for is suggestions on places to stop along the way. So far the Raleigh area and Wilmington area seem very intriguing, anywhere else? Here is what we are looking for in a community:
1. Safe community with good schools
2. Jobs - I am a firefighter/paramedic and my wife is a private investigator. Need somewhere near a city that has a decent job market.
3. Affordable - obviously we aren't millionaires - need an area that we can afford a decent home, probably in the 150,000 - 200,000 range.
4. We would prefer to live in a suburb near a city - small town feel but close enough to visit or work in the city without a huge commute.
We will not move until we have jobs and are sure that we like the area, just looking for a little advice to get us started. Thank you in advance for the help!
So far the Raleigh area and Wilmington area seem very intriguing, anywhere else?
The Raleigh job market is much larger than the Wilmington job market, especially if you consider the outlying counties like Johnston, Harnett, Orange and Chatham.
I think you should also consider the Triad (Greensboro and Winston-Salem) as the housing is more affordable than either the Triangle or the Coast.
2. Jobs - I am a firefighter/paramedic and my wife is a private investigator.
Need somewhere near a city that has a decent job market.
EVERYthing comes down to the jobs that you might find.
Which by extension usually means the 3 (or 4) larger population centers.
(Charlotte or Triangle or Triad and maybe Wilmington)
Use your firefighter (and PI) contacts to ferret out the inside info on which of these
several departments are hiring and how much they really pay (which won't be much).
And of course what benefits and opportunities for advancement might exist.
Then see if you can maintain your lives on that certainly lower than current number.
Thanks MrRational - I plan on stopping in at a local fire station in each area we choose to investigate to ask them some questions about their pay/benefits and how far it goes. Thanks.
The 150-200K is your biggest issue (besides jobs)...you may want to research your housing options in those markets and then ask questions about those neighborhoods.
Quick little story...had some close relatives living in San Francisco for awhile...they decided they wanted to buy a house and we looked through the book (before housing on the internet)...I kept calling out houses and asked about the neighborhood and my relative kept rejecting the neighborhood. I was throwing out houses listed for 500K...and I finally said...you know, you can get a lot of house in a nice neighborhood in NC for less than 500K. 6 months later they moved back to NC.
If there isn't something in your price range, find a good place that fits your price range.
Thanks hp - Just from looking online it seems there is many options in that price range in what looks like decent neighborhoods. It is just so hard to detect whether a neighborhood is nice or not just from looking on the internet. It is also difficult to predict how much of a monthly mortgage payment we would be able to afford without first having a job. It seems like most Fire Departments down there start at 30 - 35,000 per year. Not to sure what I would be able to afford with a salary like that
EVERYthing comes down to the jobs that you might find.
Which by extension usually means the 3 (or 4) larger population centers.
(Charlotte or Triangle or Triad and maybe Wilmington)
On the other hand, since "everybody" is clamoring to move to the 3-4 major population areas, job openings are flooded with applicants there; you probably have better odds applying to listings "off the (well-) beaten path" from the same-old "Charlotte/Raleigh/Asheville/Triad" places, presuming you can find such listings, of course. Your desire for a smaller place, as long as there is work, reinforces this.
And the Charlotte-Mecklengburg schools have MANY issues and have had for the past 15+ yrs! You have small kids to think about.
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