Find us a place, please help! (Raleigh, Winston-Salem: house, job market, construction)

[vivianb]

Hi all,

My family lives in Bradenton, Florida. We are considering a move to NC.
I am a Licensed Massage Therapist and my husband is a Carpenter. Is there a job market for both? We need a place where my Mom could live with us. We also have a college student still living at home. As far as housing goes we are looking to spend less than 250K. We want small town traffic with an opportunity for walking and biking. We also enjoy outdoor activities -- we would like to have the Mountains close. The climate we're looking for is somewhat mild, not much snow. We are used to Florida heat... and humidity. Our ideal temps are 40's-80's.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

[SunnyKayak]

look into Asheville or Boone

[deuterdu]

Originally Posted by vivianb

Hi all,

My family lives in Bradenton, Florida. We are considering a move to NC.
I am a Licensed Massage Therapist and my husband is a Carpenter. Is there a job market for both? We need a place where my Mom could live with us. We also have a college student still living at home. As far as housing goes we are looking to spend less than 250K. We want small town traffic with an opportunity for walking and biking. We also enjoy outdoor activities -- we would like to have the Mountains close. The climate we're looking for is somewhat mild, not much snow. We are used to Florida heat... and humidity. Our ideal temps are 40's-80's.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

If you are a massage therapist you may move in next door!

[dsobotta]

I guess my recommendation would depend on how close you want the mountains. North Carolina has a number of small towns which are close to the mountains. Some of the towns are also close to metro areas which usually have jobs for almost everyone.


Mount Airy, NC is a neat little town which is close to Winston-Salem. There is a pretty good tourist industry in place, but it would not be anything like the more expensive resorts in the Asheville area. Mount Airy is just a few miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Housing is very reasonably priced. We sold my mother's house in Mount Airy to a couple from Florida who have turned it into a bed & breakfast.

If you are interesting in going a little farther north, Roanoke, Va. has a big conference center and some Spas. Roanoke is just off the Blue Ridge Parkway and is surrounded by mountains. The unemployment rate is very low and the area is growing steadily. You can find pictures and information about Roanoke on my View from the Mountain Blog. Housing is also reasonably priced.

We actually live down on the coast near Emerald Isle. There are plenty of construction jobs, lots to do outside, great biking, kayaking, boating etc with a wide variety of housing available. The mountains are four hours away, but the beach is ten minutes.

Hope this helps.

[SunnyKayak]

Originally Posted by dsobotta

I
We actually live down on the coast near Emerald Isle. There are plenty of construction jobs, lots to do outside, great biking, kayaking, boating etc with a wide variety of housing available. The mountains are four hours away, but the beach is ten minutes.

Hope this helps.

LOL either you are a cop or know how to sweet talk one if you can manage to make it from Emerald Isle to Mountains in 4 hours. hehe

(its all good your being informative just caught my attention)
Not that I would ever advocate speeding or mention that I would do such a thing but ..hehe. It good to ride the wind between Raliegh and Wilmington on I-40.

[mhogan10010]

You should consider Hickory or Morganton or Mt. Airy. I think the earlier poster is incorrect. Asheville or Boone will be too cold for you.
I used to live in Marion and my Mom still lives there but the job market is pretty tight.

[Asheville Native]

Asheville is overrun by massage therapists, but you husband might be able to work in the housing boom still going on around here. He does speak Spanish doesn't he?

[jcfromnc]

How bout the Moore County area? It fits all your specifications...except the being near the mountains part. (We're closer to the beaches here, well it's about 3 hours to each actually.) There's the base of Ft. Bragg nearby which is building new barracks constantly. The county I live in (Hoke) right next to Moore is one of the fastest growing counties in NC. As far as massage therapy, this is a HUGE retirement community. Also, lotsa $$ so there could be a good job market for you...

As far as the college student living at home...there are a few community colleges in the area. Raleigh is about 1 1/2 hrs away. So it depends on if your college student is gonna go to a university or ??

Look up the towns of Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen. The closer you get to Pinehurst though, the higher the costs of housing go but you could still easily find something for $250K or less....

Good luck!