Moving to Raleigh from SanJose,CA-pros and cons about raleigh? (real estate, chapel)

[candies]

Hello,

We are planning to move to raleigh from california. I've never seen snow in my lifetime:-(
Will I withstand raleigh's weather? Any other things except climate to worry about? any pros and cons ?And how about the housing prices in areas close to RTP?

Thanks in advance for your replies..

[NewUser]

From what people have told me, you probably won't see snow here either. I've only lived here for 5 months, but my coworkers assure me that Raleigh only gets about 3-5 occurrences of freezing rain/snow each winter. Today's temperature started out at about 30 and it is expected to reach the mid-60s this afternoon. Looking out my office window, I don't see a cloud in the sky.

Compared to California, the housing prices are pretty cheap. You're probably going to be one of those people who come here and are surprised how much house you can get for the money. I'm in the opposite situation. I just moved here from Texas and am struggling with having to either downsize or stretch my budget to afford a comparable house.

[leighbhe]

I have lived in the triangle my entire life (well since I was 3) and I think I can count on my fingers and toes the number of times I have seen snow! But, on the flip side, my husband went to southern cali for work and he was at an outdoor cafe in the evening (it was about 70 degrees) and he about died of heat because they had the heaters pumping to keep everyone warm. SOOOOOO, there is a difference!

Yes, you will be cold, but you will get used to it. The coldest months are january and february, and we definitely get sleet, usually a little tiny bit of snow. We tend to get what you would consider a lot of rain in the spring, and summer thunderstorms in the afternoons. BUT, you will see some beautiful leaves in the fall! Probably the hardest thing you will have to get used to beside the cold is the humidity. I don't tend to notice it, but from what I hear from people who have moved here (let's NOT say they were complaining because that would just be wrong) but the air is almost sticky in july and august....hot and humid, you sweat as soon as you walk outside. I LOVE IT!

Anyhow, real estate..............honestly, it all depends on what you are looking for. I have clients who are in your area and they are buying an investment property here, (spending only about 120k) and they were surprised at what they could get for that. The closer you are to RTP the more you will pay per square foot, but 'most' of the homes will have the typical crown moldings, chair rail, trim throughout the house.
Once you start looking at homes online, you will see that homes are more expensive in cary (depending on which part) and morrisville, which are close to rtp (they are also usually on smaller lots of land by our standards a 3000 square foot house on a .17 lot is TINY).

Anyhow, there is nothing like coming to visit to understand the area the more, but hopefully this has helped a little bit!

Leigh

[candies]

Thanks much for the immediate responses.Wonderful forum!

[Lizardlips]

Originally Posted by NewUser

From what people have told me, you probably won't see snow here either. I've only lived here for 5 months, but my coworkers assure me that Raleigh only gets about 3-5 occurrences of freezing rain/snow each winter. Today's temperature started out at about 30 and it is expected to reach the mid-60s this afternoon. Looking out my office window, I don't see a cloud in the sky.

Compared to California, the housing prices are pretty cheap. You're probably going to be one of those people who come here and are surprised how much house you can get for the money. I'm in the opposite situation. I just moved here from Texas and am struggling with having to either downsize or stretch my budget to afford a comparable house.

I live in San Diego/Riverside County, in California. This morning it was 32 degrees at 6 AM, it is now 67 degrees at 1 PM. I have a page on my google, that displays the weather for Raleigh, and for here, because I want to do comparisons. Honestly you will not notice to much of a difference to our place, except the humidity, the wonderful thunder storms, and the sleet at various times in the winter. I cannot WAIT to experience the different weather, but mostly a thunderstorm. I look forward to being in my own home and having a thunderstorm. When it rains in CA, all the neighbors are out watching the rain fall, and they are so happy. So I for one, will embrace the changes of the weather in Raleigh, NC!!!!

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

Probably the hardest thing you will have to get used to beside the cold is the humidity. I don't tend to notice it, but from what I hear from people who have moved here (let's NOT say they were complaining because that would just be wrong) but the air is almost sticky in july and august....hot and humid, you sweat as soon as you walk outside. I LOVE IT!

Leigh posted a great description of the weather. I grew up in NC but have spent the last 20 years on the West Coast. But I have to disagree with "the air is almost sticky". We visit NC family in July every year and it's full on sticky to me. Once we move back to NC I'm afraid I'll have to join a humidity adjustment support group so I won't be whinning all Summer about the sticky heat!

But humidity has an up side. The hotter it is the more calories you burn. I usually drop 5-10 pounds while I'm there in July and believe me I'm not eatting a better diet. (My mom believes in frying anything that doesn't move. )

This summer if there are any other folks (relocatees or not) that want to grumble about the heat and humidity, look me up. I'll have you over for ice tea and I'll break out Granny's old church fans, and we can grumble together.

[leighbhe]

I guess because I have been here so long, it isn't sticky any longer, just almost sticky.

It does make me think though, I grew up in the country (near chapel hill) and we didn't have air conditioning (collective gasp), but we lived in the woods and it was always about 10 degrees cooler at our house than "in town". I never thought twice about it, never seemed to long for air conditioning.

today, my children all but refuse to go outside because they get hot.............ummmm, maybe the air conditioner is being used too much???

sticky hot, cold iced tea and the mosquitoes all while watching lightening bugs (fireflies to some people, but light-nin bugs to us here!)

Leigh

[Lizardlips]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

I guess because I have been here so long, it isn't sticky any longer, just almost sticky.

It does make me think though, I grew up in the country (near chapel hill) and we didn't have air conditioning (collective gasp), but we lived in the woods and it was always about 10 degrees cooler at our house than "in town". I never thought twice about it, never seemed to long for air conditioning.

today, my children all but refuse to go outside because they get hot.............ummmm, maybe the air conditioner is being used too much???

sticky hot, cold iced tea and the mosquitoes all while watching lightening bugs (fireflies to some people, but light-nin bugs to us here!)

Leigh

I forgot, I get to have fire flys!!!! I cannot imagine living somewhere that I can see fire flys. Oh my gosh, I cannot wait.

[cmist]

Well, over here in AZ where everyone KNOWS its a "dry" heat, we still get humidity in July, Aug, Sep.... and just a little bit of humidity is enough to get people all twisted up because they are used to NONE!

When I tell people I am moving to NC, the ONLY negative they can come up with is.. OMG, THE HUMIDITY!!!

I don't care though because what I say about AZ is OMG!!! There is no water, no rain, everything is dusty & brown & ugly, no weather changes, its BORING!!!!!

It actually made evening news the other night that it rained in central phoenix and the newscaster started out by saying, "well when I started driving here it was raining, but now its all dried up, and they commenced to interview everyone on the streets about the unusual "rain" (that was over in 5 minutes)!!

So, I can't wait to get involved with some real weather and the humidity too!

If the humidity means that there is a coast nearby, trees, rivers, creeks, and yes, even fireflies, I will take that anyday over living in the middle of the frickin' desert!! So just remember the flip side when the humidity gets you down.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

It does make me think though, I grew up in the country (near chapel hill) and we didn't have air conditioning (collective gasp), but we lived in the woods and it was always about 10 degrees cooler at our house than "in town". I never thought twice about it, never seemed to long for air conditioning.
Leigh

Leigh, that gave me a good blast from the past. I grew up in the country too.. (Eastern NC) and we didn't have air conditioning either. And playing all day outside never bothered us. My parents put in AC when I went to college ... imagine that. LOL! However, I can't imagine visiting them now without it!
I fully admit I'm a card carrying heat weannie.

And now I know I have been away from the South too long. I forgot that Fireflies are called lightin bugs! I have something new to teach my kids tonight! Now I just have to find that Eric Carle book about "lightin bugs".