Yankee thinking of moving south (Mooresville: transplants, how much, new home)

[Vikatory]

I'm from upstate NY near the Finger Lakes. Hubby's job is driving him crazy and I spotted one for him in Mooresville. I've read a bunch of threads about us Yanks not being welcome, but it sure seems like there are a lot of transplants from up north moving to NC. So, if we do move, maybe we'll meet some other Yanks who will be hospitable to us. We're getting really sick of the snow here and right now it's the middle of June and the temp is about 60 degrees. I can't even swim in my pool because it's too cold! Enough is enough, already.

Anyway, since we'd be moving from the second highest taxed state in the nation, I was wondering what property taxes are like in the area. Our current property tax is around $7k for a house assessed at $180,000. That does not include garbage pickup. In fact, we get very little for what we pay in taxes and they school district we're in now sucks. Schools aren't an issue anymore because our kids are in college. We're probably not going to move into a house anyway, but I was just wondering what the taxes would be there on a comparable house. We also have 25 acres of beautiful hilltop land near the Finger Lakes, which we plan to keep as either an investment or to build a home on when we retire. We pay $800 a year on that.

I know tax rates vary town to town (they do here), but if someone could give me a guesstimate, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[mm34b]

Property taxation is handled by the county of residence in NC. Tax rates vary widely across the state. Mooresville is in Iredell County. Residents living within the corporate boundaries of a city or town pay both county and city property tax. Everyone else, just county unless there's a special purpose tax, such as fire protection for rural areas of the county.

Iredell County Tax Administration/Land Records - Tax Rates

N.C. Property Tax

[Vikatory]

Thanks for the info. So if my math's right, it would be around $800 for a $180,000 house? Wow! No wonder NYers are moving there.

[aardvarks]

Hey Vikatory- We too are original upstaters (Albany area) and you're right there are many of us down here.

NC is just like up there, if you're friendly people will like you if you're not then you're probably already used to being treated like crap.

[mm34b]

Assimilation is the key to acceptance in any new hometown.

[Vikatory]

Originally Posted by aardvarks

Hey Vikatory- We too are original upstaters (Albany area) and you're right there are many of us down here.

NC is just like up there, if you're friendly people will like you if you're not then you're probably already used to being treated like crap.

It's not in my nature to treat anyone like crap . So comparatively, do you like NC better than NY? I'll bet job opportunities are better than in Rochester. I don't mind it here, but it's getting to be too expensive to live here. It would be nice to have a break from the winter too. My son wants to be a math teacher. Are there many teaching jobs there? There are quite a few here for teachers.

[NCyank]

As a Yankee who has lived in the South for 15 years I wouldn't worry about moving here at all...unless you think it will be just like NY, complain that things are 'different' here, fuss and whine about the South and people who are from here. I haven't had any problems in all this time. Just make yourself at home, take some time to appreciate and understand some of the unique features the South has to offer (cultural, geographical, etc) and don't expect it to be like where you came from.

Do you like grits and cornbread stuffing? I'm sure you will.

[aardvarks]

Originally Posted by Vikatory

It's not in my nature to treat anyone like crap . So comparatively, do you like NC better than NY? I'll bet job opportunities are better than in Rochester. I don't mind it here, but it's getting to be too expensive to live here. It would be nice to have a break from the winter too. My son wants to be a math teacher. Are there many teaching jobs there? There are quite a few here for teachers.

I never owned a home in NY, but I have 7 brothers and sisters still up there and most of them do, and they all agree with you that the taxes are out of control. I don't know exactly what we pay here but it's somewhere around $1000 on a $130,000 house. But there are other taxes here that NYers don't pay, here all licensed drivers pay school tax here, which in my opinion is the better way to do it because it increases the tax pool. Based on what your car is worth and what county you live in will determine how much you will have to pay. Also there is a tax on food purchases, a penny or two per $ spent.

Overall, I still like NY better, (Family and friends being the reason) but I do like living here and I couldn't imagine living through another NY winter.

As far as jobs go there have been some horror stories on the boards about folks coming down without a job and not being able to find one. There are jobs to be had here but the competition for those jobs is steep.

Just one more note, before you decide on a place to live I would drive around and see as many towns as I possibly could that's what we did and too be honest I couldn't imagine myself living in Moorseville, way too many folks living in that small a town. JMO

Good Luck and if you have other ???? feel free to post them or shoot me a PM.

[superk]

You will probably be treated much better here than we were when we lived for 3 miserable years in Upstate NY. I certainly don't miss anything about it.

[Vikatory]

Love grits and cornbread! I have lived up here all my life and find it a nice place to live. We bought beautiful property in the country to retire here. But, I've never lived anywhere else and would like to try something different, and out of necessity, we need to. We had contemplated NC years ago but we didn't want to move our kids. My husband is miserable in his job and there really isn't anywhere else he could work in this town. So, we have to move because we need to work for the next 15-20 years.

I have family and friends that have moved away (Florida, Phoenix, Colorado) and the strange thing is they are all so hung up on the weather. My mom checks OUR weather as much as she does hers. When I talk to her she always asks about the weather, or if I tell her it's crappy, she says 'I know, I saw that'. What is with that? . I think they like to rub it in or something. So my husband came up with a good one when my mom says it's so cold up here in the winter. He says 'yeah, but it's a dry cold'. We know it's cold, we know it's crappy, but we also don't worry about tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc. There is no perfect place to live.