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It has been over 2 years since my wife and I have been speaking about moving to NC and we finally bought a house. The only thing I regret as of now is waiting so long. I currently live in Suffolk County, NY and the cost of living here is unmanagable. I have a 10 month old daughter and I know that this life style is not the way I want to bring my daughter up in. Society has made it impossible for new families like mine to survive in NY. We made our move, we went down there for 3 days and bought our dream home. They will start building and I will move in March of 07.
Maybe I can help others by telling you what I saw by going down there. My original concerns were the following:* Leaving Family and Friends(being alone)- while I was down there I was driving down the road in the new developement where I will be moving in 6-7months. My agent saw a guy whom he sold a house to 8 months ago, when I told him where I was from I couldn't believe his response. It turns out he used to live about 1 mile away from my town on Long Island, he started pointing to each neighbor and told me where each of them were from and out of 20 homes already built on his road 9 of them were from Suffolk County, NY. Everyone is in the same situation and you make friends so fast. Everyone is leaving there family and friends for a better life.
* Where will I find a job? - My 2 friends down there contacted a recruiter and immediately they both had 5-6 interviews a day. Within one week they both had 3 offers.
* Nice Houses but nothing to do there? - I couldn't believe how wrong I was, there are so many stores, malls, entertainment. Everything is so clean and new, all the stores are in brick buildings.
* Will I really save money, is everything cheaper? Everything in NY costs so much more then in NC, currently I pay $850 month for property taxes, the new house I bought in NC, the taxes are $1,500 for the whole year. Gas down there is $2.90 gallon compared to $3.40. You also are going to save money on your car insurance, electric bill, sales tax, cable TV and many others.
If you have been thinking about going down there, please ask me questions and please at least go look down there. You will not want to come back.
Thanks
Gregg
I'm so glad to hear that you are moving as well. I live in Hauppauge, Long Island and we're moving mid-September. As far as expenses go, as Weis2 mentioned, utilities will probably cost more because of the larger homes that we're moving to. I will tell you that homeowner's insurance and car insurance are very inexpensive compared to what we pay now. As a matter of fact, I laughed on the phone when the person quoted me on the insurance. However, keep in mind that you have to pay an auto property tax which I believe is 2 or 3 percent of the depreciated value of your value. And registration on your car happens every year, not every other year like it is up here. Clothing and groceries are just about the same (maybe a tad less with the groceries). Cable is not much cheaper. It is either the same or a bit higher; my husband already received quotes from Time Warner for TV, internet and phone and all together it's almost the same (give or take a few dollars) than Cablevision up here.
One thing I will say is that I sincerrely hope the folks that are leaving New York (or anywhere else for that matter) do not move down and become rude and obnoxious. I don't mean to offend anyone but I am so looking forward to leaving behind the NY attitude and start doing things in slow motion rather than the rat race I have been accustomed to. Just a thought. Again, no offense to anyone.
I am new to this forum and also from Long Island, NY contemplating moving -- it seems to me that no matter what the registration fees for cars or extra utility bills for larger homes are, the fact that your taxes and mortgage can be up to $2000 less a month speaks volumes.
Does anyone have any idea of typical utility costs for a 2500 sq ft home in NC?
Also there are other issues... everywhere you look on LI there is a new housing development squished in somewhere, no open space at all. It really is sad... and also it is causing a lot of waste and pollution.
What about environmental hazards -- toxic wastes, former manufacturing plants etc... -- anyone know about how "clean" NC really is? I would be interested in knowing.
So there are two separate questions here --- one the utility bill average for a 2500sq ft home and two -- any environmental hazards to look out for when buying. Thanks.
One thing I will say is that I sincerrely hope the folks that are leaving New York (or anywhere else for that matter) do not move down and become rude and obnoxious. I don't mean to offend anyone but I am so looking forward to leaving behind the NY attitude and start doing things in slow motion rather than the rat race I have been accustomed to. Just a thought. Again, no offense to anyone.
When you cross that Mason-Dixon line close your eyes...take a deep breath and slooooowwllyy exhale with a smile......open your eyes...and leave it all behind......
Every level of society complains about living expenses. Someone who earns minimum wage will complain about a house that costs $140,000. Someome who earns $50,000 will complain about a house that costs $300,000. And so on, and so on.
Many people don't have a problem living on Long Island, proven by the fact that when you move out, someone will be moving in. The problem isn't that it's too expensive to live here. It's that it's too expensive for certain people.
Last edited by New_Yorker; 08-20-2006 at 06:54 PM..
Every level of society complains about living expenses. Someone who earns minimum wage will complain about a house that costs $140,000. Someome who earns $50,000 will complain about a house that costs $300,000. And so on, and so on.
Many people don't have a problem living on Long Island, proven by the fact that when you move out, someone will be moving in. The problem isn't that it's too expensive to live here. It's that it's too expensive for certain people.
I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you on your last two sentences. In the 7 1/2 years that I've lived in my current home, my taxes have gone up $3k and I have nothing much to show for it. Our block fought year after year to get the town to redo our street because of the broken curbs and street. We also have to aggressively call the town just to get them to plow our street because they rarely show up, and when they do, it's only once, which doesn't help if we're getting hit with 12" of snow. But yet, there is a commissioner that lives 2 blocks away and his road gets redone then resealed every year when his street was much worse than hours. The costs keep rising on Long Island, especially the utilties. Did we expect it to increase this much in a short amount of time? I know we didn't. But you have to take other factors into account. Perhaps it is getting more expensive because our salary increases (if any) are not even covering the cost of living increase on the island. And, as most of us have, we all own a home that was not brand new when we bought it, so we're faced with always doing some form of home repair/improvement, some of which were unplanned.
So yes, we all have our share of 'complaining' (or venting as I'd like to put it), but we can't always help that when we are seeing everything around us go up in price. It makes it much harder to deal with, leaving not much for a nestegg for families to have in the event something such as a job loss was to occur.
When someone moves out, someone is moving in, taking on those same expenses. All depends on the circumstances of each family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mmdj43
I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you on your last two sentences. In the 7 1/2 years that I've lived in my current home, my taxes have gone up $3k and I have nothing much to show for it. Our block fought year after year to get the town to redo our street because of the broken curbs and street. We also have to aggressively call the town just to get them to plow our street because they rarely show up, and when they do, it's only once, which doesn't help if we're getting hit with 12" of snow. But yet, there is a commissioner that lives 2 blocks away and his road gets redone then resealed every year when his street was much worse than hours. The costs keep rising on Long Island, especially the utilties. Did we expect it to increase this much in a short amount of time? I know we didn't. But you have to take other factors into account. Perhaps it is getting more expensive because our salary increases (if any) are not even covering the cost of living increase on the island. And, as most of us have, we all own a home that was not brand new when we bought it, so we're faced with always doing some form of home repair/improvement, some of which were unplanned.
So yes, we all have our share of 'complaining' (or venting as I'd like to put it), but we can't always help that when we are seeing everything around us go up in price. It makes it much harder to deal with, leaving not much for a nestegg for families to have in the event something such as a job loss was to occur.
I am new to this forum and also from Long Island, NY contemplating moving -- it seems to me that no matter what the registration fees for cars or extra utility bills for larger homes are, the fact that your taxes and mortgage can be up to $2000 less a month speaks volumes.
Does anyone have any idea of typical utility costs for a 2500 sq ft home in NC?
I think it's a bit far fetched to say that your mortgage and taxes will drop $2,000. In the extreme case of someone who had a $600k mortgage and $12k in taxes, and bought a $110k starter home in NC- maybe. Otherwise, that's reaching.
People are lured by the "you can buy a brand new house for $120,000" crap, when in reality, you're not going to want to live in an area that has $120k houses. Why, you ask? Because with today's insanely stupid mortgage programs, anyone making $20k/year can qualify for a mortgage on that house, so the neighborhood is filled with people you'll likely not fit in with if you're leaving behind a $600k house in NY.
When I moved to Las Vegas in 1994, homes started in the low $100's, and at the time, you needed to be making around $40k/year or more to qualify for the mortgage on those homes. Even at that, it was a stretch, so most people in a $100k subdivision were in the $50k/year or more range. Now, you can't touch those same homes for less than $250k, yet the mortgage programs have made it just as "easy" to qualify as when they were $100k homes. Now the people who previously would have bought a $250k house are buying $500k houses to live with people in a similar income bracket.
There's another phenomena happening that I saw repeatedly in the mid 90's when I was building semi-custom homes in Vegas. The majority of my buyers were selling 900 SF bungalows in Southern CA for $400-500k (now they're more like $800-1 million...), and moving into Vegas with large amounts of equity, since they had bought the homes for $100k previously. Instead of being smart, though, and buying a $200k house that was still three times the size of what they left behind (and having money left over to buy a car cash, furnish and decorate the house nicely, etc), they'd buy a $500k house that ended up being $600k with options. Nine months after they moved in, their 20-person dining room had a 4-person dinette set because they couldn't afford the new furniture. They also spent alot of time complaining about how much it cost to cool the house, or how much water the pool used, or how much time it took to keep a 4,000 SF home clean. Duh.......
I'm just writing this as a warning to those who may get caught up in the "low cost of living" hype that Charlotte seems to be the latest victim of. Vegas was the same thing in the mid 90's, and look at the mess it has become. Before you jump on the "houses are under $100k" bandwagon, make sure you really look at what you're getting, where it's located, and who's going to be on the other side of your fence. All it takes is a simple reality check- are you really going to save $2,000/month on mortgage and taxes? And what about the $500/year auto registration, etc? Can the property taxes really continue at $1,000/year when they need to build roads, schools, and infrastructure to support the hundreds of thousands of new residents?
Only time will tell, but I can tell you that there's gotta be a reason that I'm back in NJ (the state that so many of you are fleeing) from Vegas now that it's time for my kids to go to school.......
Many people don't have a problem living on Long Island, proven by the fact that when you move out, someone will be moving in. The problem isn't that it's too expensive to live here. It's that it's too expensive for certain people.
That is very true. When you have corrupt county & town governments that turna blind eye to people setting up illegal boarding houses, you start to see how communities are destroyed.
A $500K 1,500 sf house can hold a family of 4, as it was intended to, or, 15-20 manual laborers, each being charged $500/month rent. Or it can hold 2-3 families & their kids, thus crowding the schools with no additional revenue from a new home being added to the tax roll.
So, yes, someone IS moving in to those Long Island homes, lots & lots of someones.
There may be some situations where 10-15 migrant workers are renting a house, but that is the exception, and the government usually catches up to them sooner or later. Most homes are purchased by a single families.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Enjoy your whine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYer
That is very true. When you have corrupt county & town governments that turna blind eye to people setting up illegal boarding houses, you start to see how communities are destroyed.
A $500K 1,500 sf house can hold a family of 4, as it was intended to, or, 15-20 manual laborers, each being charged $500/month rent. Or it can hold 2-3 families & their kids, thus crowding the schools with no additional revenue from a new home being added to the tax roll.
So, yes, someone IS moving in to those Long Island homes, lots & lots of someones.
That happens here too by the way; at least in Wake county and the surrounding tobacco feilds in other counties. Only its 10 or 15 migrant workers in trailers in the rural areas or slums in the city.
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cost of living
