Trying to decide on a place to live in Western NC!!!! Need Advice and Suggestions Please!! (Raleigh: transplants, real estate market)
Western North CarolinaThe Mountain Region including Asheville
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Hello everybody! My husband and I are looking to move from the Raleigh area to either Western NC or Eastern TN, so we can be in between both of our families. We are in our mid-20's, so we want to have restaurants and bars and some type of social/nightlife within a reasonable distance, although this isn't a huge deal since we live 5 miles from downtown Raleigh and only go there once a month at best. I have been doing a lot of searching online, and it looks like in Western NC, the Hickory/Lenoir area may be the best bet for us, but feel free to give me some recommendations. I have the ability to work from home, and my husband is in school right now, but would like to work in law enforcement, or have some other options where he can make at least $12+/hour. Here is a list of some of our requirements:
*Within 30-45 minutes of a Public College/University
*Within 30-45 minutes of Shopping Malls
*Must be at least a grocery store and/or Super Walmart or Super Target within 10 minutes
*Ability to get a home w/ minimum 1500 s.f., 2-car garage, and 1/2 acre for under $175K
*Gyms/Workout Facilities within 15 minutes
*Good Schools in case we do decide to start a family in the next 5 years
Thank you so much for your help and suggestions. Suggestions of town and subdivisions meeting the criteria above would also be helpful!!
I can't speak for eastern TN so as a resident of WNC I'll throw my two cents in.
Asheville is the central hub of WNC. Asheville has been characterized as the San Francisco of the South and has a vibrantly diverse culture steeped in art.
Just over two years here, I've loved every minute of it but just like everywhere else, it's not without it's problems.
The good ole boys network is alive and well here but Asheville and the surrounding area is probably 2/3 transplants from all over the USA.
Asheville has the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA) in the northern area of the city and a Sears anchored shopping mall "Asheville Mall" is in eastern Asheville on along Tunnel Road where the majority of the big box retailers like Walmart, Lowes, Target, and Office Max make their homes in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
You will easily find a home for 175k or less withing the city limits of Asheville given these bad times in real estate investments but I would recommend renting for a year or so and having a chance to look around. I personally think real estate is going to drop some more before it starts going back up in late 2011.
I'm not into the gym scene myself, but there are several gyms in and around Asheville. "The Rush" seems to be very popular as their parking lot is always full.
I just moved to Marshal after two years in Asheville and I absolutely love the rural life. Check out the Reems Creek area if you like a more rural lifestyle or check out the River Arts District in Asheville for an area for artists and hippies.
I love Asheville and grew up near there and live in San Francisco now. No one under any circumstances should ever equate Asheville and San Francisco. Just this morning my wife, son and I walked to the California Academy of Sciences which is probably the most amazing natural science museum in the country. We spent an hour there and then we walked through the Japanese Tea Garden, by Stowe Lake and past the Bison paddocks on our way through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach. After playing at the beach for a while we took a Muni street car back to our apartment in the inner sunset where we ordered some Eritrean food to be delivered for lunch.
Like I said, I love the mountains of North Carolina, which has many wonderful things that SF doesn't. The diversity of the people, topography, cultural institutions, job opportunities, universities, public transportation etc do not compare in Asheville or anywhere else in the southeast to the SF Bay area. Having said that, if there was a major research hospital for my son and jobs at UNCA to replace my job at UCSF and my wife's at Stanford I would probably move home.
JennAVL says, "You will easily find a home for 175k or less withing the city limits of Asheville given these bad times in real estate investments but I would recommend renting for a year or so and having a chance to look around. I personally think real estate is going to drop some more before it starts going back up in late 2011." Just my two cents - we've been lookin' since late Sept. and it's not as easy as it sounds. Places sound great and look lovely but when you actually see them, they may be surrounded by no land (steep hills) and trailers. I'm seeing more and more foreclosures like that.
You can get the house - look at Arden and expect 1500 sq ft' to be a measurement of the outside of the house (seriously). Or, be prepared to drive.
We're looking for about $200k but want it within 20/25 mins. of landing in the city. There are lots of places but it takes a whole lotta looking and drivevbys. Marshall is lovely but is too far for us (gas is important too and prices are high). We do not know if we'll be able to find the right house for us at this point. Renting - yeah, we'll be okay but buying ... I dunno and we have another friend going through the same thing with the same budget and we're actually more flexible than she is!
I also agree - I lived in San Jose and worked at IBM. Asheville is not SF or close to it. Gosh, it's also not as expensive!
I agree that finding a home in the Asheville area for $175K or less could be very difficult or even impossible. I invested in Balck Mountain four years ago and have carefully studied the real estate market since that time. The prices have tanked, but the allure of asheville remains. It's no SF, but it does have some really cool, youthful locales that you could love. The River distrcit could be among those places. It's in transition but awfully artsy and young.
Thanks for the replies so far; I already figured out that I won't necessarily get what I want in Asheville. Housing prices there seem higher than where I live in the Raleigh-Durham area, and we are looking for more house and land for the same or slightly more money. We do not have to live right in the city, in fact, we prefer to be in a somewhat rural area that is still within a reasonable distance to shopping, restaurants, gyms, etc.
Unfortunately, I tend to agree. Research Triangle Park is probably a little busier for you year-round because it's not dependent on tourism, retirees, or ill people coming here for a modicum of hope of treatment. I can't live up there because my allergies are ghastly. I tried it once in July of 1997 thinking we'd move there but I lasted less than ten days . It's also cheaper!
Jenn: You don't know where those homes in CL are. That's the problem. One is by 70 (which is why it hasn't sold in months) by Warren Wilson College. Another, in Swannanoa, is across the street from a dumpy trailer with cars that are in various stages of being disassembled or rotting. Another is near a clean-looking trailer that has a confederate flag proudly and loudly hanging by it. So, yeah, there are homes for $175k but where are they... You cannot go by what's posted in CL. Just like you cannot depend on real estate listings because they will not tell you the not good info about an area. Both want to sell real estate.
We saw a lovely townhome today - being rented or sold (low price) by someone my partner knows. For us, however, it's noisy (near Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain). Our friend didn't notice the fan noise from two units next to her until deafo (me) here pointed it out. I also pointed out when each one stopped - my leg stop vibrating . She was amazed and my partner simply agreed with me.
San Fran's houses cost more. It's more expensive to live there but it is closer to various job markets - including dying Silicon Valley (Cupertino, San Jose, etc.) and ... a stretch but LA and SD (both dying in their own way, too).
TN: Maryville ... has about everything you want, relative proximity to Knoxville etc. the mountains; lower cost of living, very neat town.
Grey TN, Johnson City TN and pretty rolling land in surrounding areas.
WNC: Hendersonville, Arden, Fletcher, anywhere off Rt. 191 between Hendersonville and Asheville. Waynesville. East Asheville, some parts of the Oakley area. Areas off Rt. 74 heading in to Asheville.
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