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My question is to all those that are exploring an out of state move to CLT or to those that have made the move from say Long Island, New Jersey etc.
How deeply did you delve into researching what is probably one of the biggest steps we all take in our lifetimes? Things I think we all might be interested in are: 1) It seems to me many people come here to City Data and ask'So how are the schools in such and such community?' How far did you go in evaluating the schools, school district and the school in the community you planned to live in?
2) With new constructions--how thorough an investigation did you do? Builder's background? Talk to neighbors? Hire an engineer even though it was a new construction?
3) Resales. What did you do to insure your purchase?
4) Like and similar communties for you. Check out the # of kids in nabe? Or, number of singles?
5) Reputation of your buyer's agent?
and on and on....
Why do I ask? Well, it interests me as to how other people come to the most important decisions to life. How they took THAT folk in the road.
I think that for people sitting on the fence it will help with advise, tips and suggestions. For newcomers that are here it will help in knowing more who you are. Maybe, why you are here. For me it will help understand more about a city that I'v invested in and plan to buy- in for a second home.It will help me understand the person who might be my next door neighbor.
We actually took time off and visited here twice. We also visited the schools themselves in person (they have "tours" you can schedule). I read on here the "best" areas and went to them.
Finally, builders are national for the most part and I could see their work locally in FL where I lived. I also did alot of search online for rip off reports, complaints etc. I then made my choice based on that.
I also came in the target neighborhood during school ending and late evening to observe kids and how it was late at night.
Only thing we didn't bank on was the job market, it took hubby several months before he got a job. It got so bad at one point that we considered leaving back to FL. They were actively recruiting him back to his old job and other employers that were based here and in FL were asking him to come back to FL as they didn't have anything for him here.
But we hung in there and now we are absolutely loving it.
Well lets see : I had reserached NC for about a year, then decided to look further area by area...I knew we wanted to be in Charlotte limits but wanted more of a surburban feel than the city since we were born and raised in NYC....Anyway, I started looking at housing websites as well as real estate websites...I was a realtor in NJ for the past 6.5 yrs and quiet a few of my clients moved to Waxhaw, and Charlotte so I really thought it was worth searching since dh and I needed a change of Life for our family and for us.
We loved the whether that charlotte had to offer, and after countless months and months of reading up on charlotte and Union County as tht is where we narrowed it down, we looked at the schools in charlotte and union and well after we made 4 trips here we knew where we wanted to be....Dh had taken a Consulting Job as we werent coming down here without employment, I decided not to do real estate here however after a year of researching this area, I felt like I knew it quiet well, I am always teaching myself about areas, as I try to keep up with Real Estate..In Nov of 06 I found my realtor I knew what I was looking for and pulled the trigger we made our 1st trip down here and fell in love with the area in person, stayed here for about 4 days or so, went home after Christmas put the house on the market in Jan, made another trip, then another trip, then our house went under contract and came down for our buying trip....We took our time with the Relo it took us about 8 months to get down here and so glad we did...I had called the school board and the individual schools and after talking to some parents I had met about the schools here I was convinced this was where we wanted to live...
That is why I always say, for those who ARE not getting transfered and making it a personal choice PLEASE make sure you cover all your basis and your moving here for the right reasons and not the wrong ones..
We actually took time off and visited here twice. We also visited the schools themselves in person (they have "tours" you can schedule). I read on here the "best" areas and went to them.
Finally, builders are national for the most part and I could see their work locally in FL where I lived. I also did alot of search online for rip off reports, complaints etc. I then made my choice based on that.
I also came in the target neighborhood during school ending and late evening to observe kids and how it was late at night.
Only thing we didn't bank on was the job market, it took hubby several months before he got a job. It got so bad at one point that we considered leaving back to FL. They were actively recruiting him back to his old job and other employers that were based here and in FL were asking him to come back to FL as they didn't have anything for him here.
But we hung in there and now we are absolutely loving it.
Great! So glad it worked out for you. One question--did you and yours come to Charlotte without the job and hoping to find one?
I notice a lot of posts here made by people with disappointments "finding" jobs. What I don't understand did they come without a job or did something happen to that job after they got here?
We visited Raleigh twice from California because we thought that was where we would be living. We DID visit Charlotte for a day on one of those visits, but didn't know enough really.
DH interviewed at the Raleigh office and they said he was more suited for the Charlotte office, so he was offered a job here. It kind of threw us as we hadn't even considered Charlotte (we had friends in Raleigh.)
But we took the plunge.
We knew what we wanted in a house from the start.....DH wanted quite a bit of land and we both wanted lots of trees and privacy. We did not want new construction or houses looking very similar and we didn't want to see into our neighbors' house from our interior!
We found a lovely piece of horse property in Marvin and it had a very large house to boot. We are enjoying doing some upgrades to it and have watched our house go up in value quite a bit since we moved here. We have great neighbors and great trees between our houses.
and then came down here and bought on the first trip! We are pretty decisive people! Warm weather, low housing prices and our sense of adventure and wanting to move somewhere else was all we needed
You'd have to know me to understand the amount of research I did. I am a bit compulsive, and I had to find out EVERYTHING I possibly could. I did a lot of research online before our first trip here. In all, we made 4 trips here before purchasing and spent a full 19 days looking in models from opening time until closing for all builders in multiple areas, but we ultimately kept coming back to Union County for the schools and lower property taxes. I knew everything there was to know about the builders, the neighborhoods, etc. & I talked to people already living in the neighborhoods. Most of this I did on my own, but on our last trip here, I consulted with a buyer's agent to look at resales to determine whether building a new house was what we really wanted. It was (probably because I am so picky & want to change a million things in the design/decor).
I did not hire an engineer or home inspector. When we did our walk throughs (particularly the pre-drywall), I caught things that most people would not (such as the fact that some of the window locations did not match the blueprints, as they were off about 6" and light switches being on the wrong side of the door swing, etc.). We toured the schools in the area we purchased in, and we evaluated traffic conditions at different times of the day.
The one thing we did that I do not recommend others do is make the commitment to move here without a job. We had not sold our house in FL yet when it was time to close here. We took a big risk by not walking away from the deal, but we were lucky because we sold our house just over 2 months later. We also did not have jobs lined up, but a few days after we closed on our house here, my husband was offered jobs from 2 companies he interviewed with. Again, that was lucky! Things could have turned out disastrous for us, and though we are not usually risk takers like this, I did not want to give up my so-called "dream house" that I built. So, we took the risk, and it has paid off for us. However, I would never recommend that someone else do the same. That was a very stressful time for us. My advice to others looking to move here from another state is make sure you either have your home sold or job(s) lined up, or preferably both.
Most of the transplants I have met here have been very happy with their decision to move.
For years, I planned to move to Raleigh, but became more obsessive in 2006. So I had one year of planning of going back and forth to Raleigh for interviews and getting a feel of the neighborhood. My plans changed and I considered Charlotte when I was unable to get the money I desire, even with my old job having a company in Raleigh. Like everyone else, I heard the buzz of Charlotte and put them at the top of my list. I started four months before I actually moved and researched the areas and schools. Knowing the schools and area, narrowed my search in where I would live.
My job options was a little easier than most. Since I worked in RE for 12 years I had plenty of contacts in Charlotte. I made one call and the rest is history. I met with HR and the job was mine with the salary I desired. Once I got my offer letter, I contacted my boss and we discussed neighborhoods in which I should live. He was very helpful with schools and communities, as we do work in RE. I hopped a plane, rented a car and stopped at four apartment complexes with the apartment guide book, in which I highlighted. I found my current apartment in passing, it was not on my list. Something told me to make a u-turn on Pineville Matthews Road and check it out. I simply loved it and its diversity instantly. The real motivation was that it was next door to the high school at the top on my list and I saw plenty of teens, laying out by the pool and walking as I toured the complex. It took less than 4 hours and I knew where I would be living and I measured the distance to where I would be working for commuting purposes.
Since moving from NYC, I have had no regrets. There are things that I miss and crave, but those things could be remedy by a trip home or a shopping spree in Atlanta.
My advice to newcomers is to do research, plan for the move, have a job and get to know the people and your new community. It also helps to have at least six months of living allowances at all time. Don't be hesistant to change, embrace it and people will embrace you. Become a part of something in which you meet people doing things you like.
Last edited by Brooklyn_QueenBee; 07-08-2008 at 08:33 PM..
Reason: spelling
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we did a lot online for a little over a year
