Considering relocating to NC (Charlotte, Raleigh: attorney, employment, transfer)

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by sommer

My husband and I are thinking about moving to Asheville North Carolina, we are a interracial couple, I'm not sure how it will be for us living there, can someone give me some feedbacks on live in Asheville as an interracial couple.

Thank you

A very close family friend of ours more family than friend have lived in Asheville since the late 60's they are an interracial couple and they love their lives in Asheville. They have 2 daughters who are older now and have gone off to college but they would never think of moving and they have tons of friends in their community. They have never once mentioned any problems there. In fact for years they have been trying to get my mother to move there. They truly love it and have never thought of leaving. I am looking forward to visiting them once we move to Charlotte.

[Cassie]

Originally Posted by thisguy

Daver,

From what I have read on this message board a lot of blue collar work down in NC is not paying very well, especially compared to what you get paid in the north. Part is cost of living and part is immigration and workers willing to do it for less... I've read this same thing on 4-5 different threads in past month.

If its something very unique that might be one thing but if its just residential home building that seems to pay a lot less down in NC

Yep. The pay is considerably less plus the trades are extremely competitive and hard to get into if you're new to the area unless you have some type of specialized field that there's a big demand for here. The exception to that, at least in the Triad area, is for those with HVAC training, certification and experience. I've seen so many ads along those lines and I've been surprised (actually shocked) by the high pay that is offered, most often along with benefits such as health insurance, paid vacations, 401K, etc.

None of the high volume production builders here use punch out or trim carpenters and neither do most of the smaller companies if that's the kind of woodworking the original poster does. They also use the cheapest subcontractors they can get for everything else. He could try getting on with a custom builder (a *real* custom builder - not one who offers some "custom options" and calls the homes custom homes 'cause those are production builders and they aren't custom built homes) but there isn't the turn over in those positions that there may be elsewhere. People tend to keep those jobs until they retire.

Cassie

[Daver]

Cassie Thanks for taking the time to give me a good idea of what to expect. I do Post and Beam work on my own in NJ.. I will have to see what is available when I go down there.. Thanks!

[Cassie]

Originally Posted by Daver

Cassie Thanks for taking the time to give me a good idea of what to expect. I do Post and Beam work on my own in NJ.. I will have to see what is available when I go down there.. Thanks!

Glad to help, Daver. I saw an ad in today's (Sunday) Greensboro newspaper for a construction manager with post and beam experience. The company does pre-fab work. No salary was listed. Let me know if you're interested and I'll e-mail it to you privately.

If not, best wishes with your move and job search.

Regards,

Cassie

[Daver]

Is this anywheres near Statesville?

if so you can send it to me.. Thanks Daver

[Cassie]

Originally Posted by Daver

Is this anywheres near Statesville?

if so you can send it to me.. Thanks Daver

It's about 34 miles from Statesville. I'll p.m. it and you can either trash it or pursue it.


Good luck!

Cassie

[TANC]

Dazed at how quickly the quality of life in Florida has slipped so suddenly, and Confused about moving out of here. North Carolina has me very very interested and my wife and I are visiting Asheville and Raleigh for 8 days in a couple of weeks to explore. Have been to Asheville briefly awhile ago, and we visited Raleigh last year for 3 days and we were impressed enough to raise our interest in relocating. Here's the dilemma I need help with:

I'm still about 15 years from retiring so I need an area with a strong job market. I'm currently a mortgage banker and love it so I would prefer to stay in that field, but it is highly dependent on the housing market. Any signs of problems in the housing market in Raleigh or Asheville or both? It appears from data that Raleigh is better positioned to continue growing at a sustainable pace although we all know that can change quickly.

Lived in Los Angeles for 25 plus years so horribly bad traffic is not something I want to "relive". Don't want to be near a lot of crime either (been there and done that, and don't want it again).

Need some culture though (performing arts, etc.) so I want to be near enough to a significant city to have access to this, and good restaurants, etc. BUT, we love the beauty and peacefullness of the countryside.

We don't want to have the risk of a direct hit from a hurricane. We have had 3 direct hits in two years and that's enough for my lifetime I think (as Ernesto approaches and we still have another two months of hurricane season).

We have a fair amount of equity in our home (assuming we can even sell it!), so we would love to get a lot more for our money, have a small mortgage and chunk away lots into retirement savings for the future. Can we get a really nice 3BR 2B min home in the $250 to $300K range with some privacy and space? Seems so....

So, given these vague and general requirements is there anywhere else in NC to consider other than Asheville and Raleigh? Or, is that where we should be focusing? What are the areas we should AVOID. I'm confused....

Much thanks....

[Davidas]

Originally Posted by scottinmass

Will you smile to a RED SOX fan Like me, I might end up living next to you?

Hmmm...I'll have to think about that one! I am a Yankees fan through and through! I even got my daughter to become one - started at 4 years old -- now she's six (Hideaki Matsui is her favorite player). I went to college in Amherst, MA, so I always had a rivalry going with my friends who lived in MA. As long as you guys don't win anymore World Series, I'd be proud to call you my neighbor! Just kidding.

[thisguy]

Originally Posted by TANC

Dazed at how quickly the quality of life in Florida has slipped so suddenly, and Confused about moving out of here. North Carolina has me very very interested and my wife and I are visiting Asheville and Raleigh for 8 days in a couple of weeks to explore. Have been to Asheville briefly awhile ago, and we visited Raleigh last year for 3 days and we were impressed enough to raise our interest in relocating. Here's the dilemma I need help with:

I'm still about 15 years from retiring so I need an area with a strong job market. I'm currently a mortgage banker and love it so I would prefer to stay in that field, but it is highly dependent on the housing market. Any signs of problems in the housing market in Raleigh or Asheville or both? It appears from data that Raleigh is better positioned to continue growing at a sustainable pace although we all know that can change quickly.

Lived in Los Angeles for 25 plus years so horribly bad traffic is not something I want to "relive". Don't want to be near a lot of crime either (been there and done that, and don't want it again).

Need some culture though (performing arts, etc.) so I want to be near enough to a significant city to have access to this, and good restaurants, etc. BUT, we love the beauty and peacefullness of the countryside.

We don't want to have the risk of a direct hit from a hurricane. We have had 3 direct hits in two years and that's enough for my lifetime I think (as Ernesto approaches and we still have another two months of hurricane season).

We have a fair amount of equity in our home (assuming we can even sell it!), so we would love to get a lot more for our money, have a small mortgage and chunk away lots into retirement savings for the future. Can we get a really nice 3BR 2B min home in the $250 to $300K range with some privacy and space? Seems so....

So, given these vague and general requirements is there anywhere else in NC to consider other than Asheville and Raleigh? Or, is that where we should be focusing? What are the areas we should AVOID. I'm confused....

Much thanks....

I think either Charlotte or Raleigh might be of interest to you. Asheville sounds beautiful but is a smaller town than the other 2. In your job field you want turnover of homes and volume so you'd want to be in a bigger city I'd think. For a country feel you can have that within 30 minutes of either city. Charlotte seems a little less diversified in terms of its business base from my research so a downturn in the banking industry (which invariably happens) could hurt it, whereas Raleigh seems to be diversifying more after being hit hard by technology slowdown in the early 2000s. Sounds like Lake Norman and surrounding areas would be idealic for you around Charlotte, and in Raleigh there are areas that are more 'country' outside the 540 highway in the north of Raleigh and much of southern Raleigh has not yet been developed - meaning 10-15 miles south of the city. I ran into some small places with horses even in the Apex area of all places so I imagine farther out from the city core you get all you want. Also the farther you go out the more house you would get, but that said even at $300K you can get a great 3 bedroom place in any part of these cities and their metros. As for culture I always look to (aside from a big metro city) college towns, usually you can find a lot of neat things... Raleigh has orchestra, ballet company (I believe) - I glanced very briefly and they had all these big city things...

Those are the 2 "big cities" in NC, with big being relative to say a Chicago or NY... and Raleigh seems to have the more job growth hence more people moving in, and housing construction hence for your job maybe has the slight advatantage although Charlotte has the same things but maybe at a slower pace from the research i have done.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by TANC

Dazed at how quickly the quality of life in Florida has slipped so suddenly, and Confused about moving out of here. North Carolina has me very very interested and my wife and I are visiting Asheville and Raleigh for 8 days in a couple of weeks to explore. Have been to Asheville briefly awhile ago, and we visited Raleigh last year for 3 days and we were impressed enough to raise our interest in relocating. Here's the dilemma I need help with:

I'm still about 15 years from retiring so I need an area with a strong job market. I'm currently a mortgage banker and love it so I would prefer to stay in that field, but it is highly dependent on the housing market. Any signs of problems in the housing market in Raleigh or Asheville or both? It appears from data that Raleigh is better positioned to continue growing at a sustainable pace although we all know that can change quickly.

Lived in Los Angeles for 25 plus years so horribly bad traffic is not something I want to "relive". Don't want to be near a lot of crime either (been there and done that, and don't want it again).

Need some culture though (performing arts, etc.) so I want to be near enough to a significant city to have access to this, and good restaurants, etc. BUT, we love the beauty and peacefullness of the countryside.

We don't want to have the risk of a direct hit from a hurricane. We have had 3 direct hits in two years and that's enough for my lifetime I think (as Ernesto approaches and we still have another two months of hurricane season).

We have a fair amount of equity in our home (assuming we can even sell it!), so we would love to get a lot more for our money, have a small mortgage and chunk away lots into retirement savings for the future. Can we get a really nice 3BR 2B min home in the $250 to $300K range with some privacy and space? Seems so....

So, given these vague and general requirements is there anywhere else in NC to consider other than Asheville and Raleigh? Or, is that where we should be focusing? What are the areas we should AVOID. I'm confused....

Much thanks....

Have you thought about Charlotte? It is after all the #2 banking center in the nation (second only to New York). The housing market in NC is strong - much better than the rest of the fast growing areas of the country because we have had slow steady appreciation in values, not the ridiculous over inflated ones like in Miami. Your really couldn't go wrong in either of these 3 regions of the state (Charlotte, Raleigh or Asheville), except that Asheville is much smaller and finding a job might take a little longer. The only area I would personally recommend avoiding is the coastal cities - as nice as they are, the overcrowding there is getting ridiculous. Your $300,000 would go furthest in Charlotte. But it is hard to beat Cary (near Raleigh) for quality of life. Good luck!