NJ to NC? (Charlotte, Wilmington, Asheville: homeowners insurance, condo, crime)

[leenerbups]

Hi all,

Yes...the last thing you want..a NJian moving to your area.
Believe me, I feel your pain. The reason I have to leave the town where 4 generations of family has lived is because of the people flooding into NJ and driving up the prices, taxes, overpopulation, etc.

Here is where we are at: My fiance is in insurance, I am a licensed massage therapist and artist. We are old salts from what was a small seashore town and the ocean is in our blood. We are young and don't make enough to buy $300 houses, we only make about 45k a year right now. We need work and we need ocean. We also need to be around friendly people. If i walk into another Shoprite at 5:30 pm and get hit with the rudeness and negativity for another year, I'll scream. I am asthmatic and can't handle enviromental pollution.

Any suggestions on what to start looking at? Or to even pass NC by? Some of our friends have moved to Asheville, which is why we are considering it.

I would also like to hear from transplanted NJians and your experience.

[LARLAN13]

ay there i am from hazlet n.j currently live in fla for the past 10 yrs and we are now moving to ft mill s.c just outside charlotte n.c been there a couple of times very, very nice the schools are tops in ft. mill if you have kids , the housing and taxes are way , way affordable compared to jersey. we are getting a brand new spec home 5 bed room 3 bath 2 car garage 2300 sq. ft. for 160k with taxes only around 1200 a year compared to jersey ...holy !@#$ ....if you have any questions e-mail me at larlan13@tampabay.rr.com i will try and help ya out....good luck

[berryjuice4life]

Originally Posted by LARLAN13

ay there i am from hazlet n.j currently live in fla for the past 10 yrs and we are now moving to ft mill s.c just outside charlotte n.c been there a couple of times very, very nice the schools are tops in ft. mill if you have kids , the housing and taxes are way , way affordable compared to jersey. we are getting a brand new spec home 5 bed room 3 bath 2 car garage 2300 sq. ft. for 160k with taxes only around 1200 a year compared to jersey ...holy !@#$ ....if you have any questions e-mail me at larlan13@tampabay.rr.com i will try and help ya out....good luck

we live in jackson NJ and also the taxes here omg are just ridiculous at this point and we too are looking into NC and Im getting very excited about it, anyway wish you the best of luck and once you leave DONT ever look back is what they say!!! I will let you know when I get there...LOL

[LARLAN13]

Good Luck To You Also..........never Gunna Look Back.

[galfromnj]

Hi There!! Originally moved from Marlton, NJ in 09/05 to Newton, NC. Newton is outside of Hickory. Yes, I miss the beach since we used to be only 35 minutes from LBI. We also moved because of taxes, people moving from over the bridge to us and major congestion.
We are very happy here!! This town has about 12,000 people, the mall is about 15 minutes away and we are in the foothills. If you are looking for the beach it is about 4-5 hours from here!! We decided to buy a pool!!! Much cheaper here than in NJ! We bought a bigger house here, a full acre and taxes went from 6500.00 to 900.00 a year for under 200,000.00. The people are great, even though I get called a "Yankee" :-) at least once a day!! Feel free to email me or I can give you my number if you have more questions!!
For my husband, myself and son this was the best move we ever made and we are glad to be part of such a wonderful community!!

[Girl]

My family just moved from NoNJ to NC/SC this summer and have not regretted the decision! We moved for all the reasons you listed - high prices, high taxes, low quality of life.

We are in Fort Mill, SC, which is just south of Charlotte in the Piedmont area of the state. It's 4 hours from the beach and 3 hours from snowskiing. It's a relatively short drive to Asheville, Charleston, and Savannah. Nashville is 6 hours away which is not bad for a 4-5 day weekend.

As for jobs, Charlotte has a couple insurance companies headquartered here, including Liberty Mutual. I know The Hartford also has a big location in Charlotte. And with all the hospitals in Charlotte I'm sure you could easily get a job as a massage therapist or do freelance.

The area has a lot of nice places to live - Fort Mill, Pineville, Lake Wylie, Clover and Matthews, just to name a few south of Charlotte. North of Charlotte there is Huntersville, Davidson, Mooresville (but the commute to C'lotte is bad). Charlotte has crime, but no more/less than Newark and Jersey City. Life-long locals in Fort Mill claim crime is rising here too, but the headlines I see for the most part run the line of tractors or ATVs getting stolen.

Yes, taxes are lower here, but the locals complain that they are rising. Asheville's taxes are higher than you might expect - I saw homes in the $250K range with $4000+ taxes (which is still lower than NJ, but higher than other parts of the state). In Fort Mill, we bought a 10 year old house for $260K - 2,800 sq ft, four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath on a .25 acre in a nice subdivision with a pool and tennis courts. 20-30 minute commute each way into Charlotte, and $1600 in property taxes.

A perk to the Fort Mill area is the Anne Springs Greenway which is over 2,000 acres of greenspace with trails, horseback riding, a lake for fishing and other activities. Link: http://www.leroysprings.com/GreenwayGeneralInfo.html

Good luck with your search! My DH and I did the same thing exactly one year ago and decided on Fort Mill after visiting the town for about 5 hours. It was PERFECT for what we wanted. We put our house on the market four months later, sold the NoNJ house in July, and after a brief stint in a short-term rental, we moved into our SC house in October.

[ppetriello10]

I am from PA, one hour from Jersey. My wife and I purchased 2 homesites on the coast of NC. The seller pays all closing costs, 100% financing available through the company, and most important, we received 24 months of mortgage payments given to us in a rebate check at closing. Mitigates risk for 2 years. We plan on flipping one of the home sites and building on the other next spring. Until then, we are enduring a dreary May in the Northeast.

Congratulations on your decision! Feel free to contact me for more info.

paulp@total-rm.net

[Sleestak]

leenerbups,

Just curious... who are these people who are flooding into New Jersey? No offense, but I wasn't aware that NJ had become such a popular destination.
Is it mostly trickle down from NYC?

[saralee]

Originally Posted by Sleestak

leenerbups,

Just curious... who are these people who are flooding into New Jersey? No offense, but I wasn't aware that NJ had become such a popular destination.
Is it mostly trickle down from NYC?

Yes, a lot of it is NYC overflow. My grandparents owned a condo in Cranford for 20+ years that they sold to a family from NYC post-9/11. There are entire communities that became magnets for families looking to leave the city after 9/11.

SL

[marc515]

My wife & I are looking to retire to NC, and have lived by the beach in NJ for most of our lives. We currently live in Brick Township which is about 7 miles or so from the beach.

We are currently focusing on the New Bern area, which is about 30 miles inland, and took a trip down there a few weeks ago (our 2nd). While we really like the area, we also plan to look at the Wilmington and Pinehurst areas just to make sure.

One thing we noticed which I posted here, is homeowners insurance along the coast is on the rise. For example, one homeowner with a nice home selling for about $275K just had his insurance jump from $1,174 to $1,927. However, the taxes are considerably lower than in NJ.


"ppetriello10" where is that coastal property you purchased? sounds like a great deal.

Best regards,....marc