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April 1997 - got married and moved to NYC to be with new husband. Told husband that we would eventually be living in NC. He laughed.
2001 - bought a house in NoNJ. Mortgage and property taxes are high, but sustainable.
2003 - have first child. Feel minor financial pinch as daycare is required even as property taxes continue to go up.
2004 - have second child. Yikes. Now there are TWO kids in daycare and husband has been laid off and unable to find work. Finances getting rough. I begin researching various towns in NC/SC that might be good to move to. Keep all info to myself for now knowing husband would balk.
mid-2005 - husband realizes we may need to leave NoNJ because we just can't afford it much longer. I mention NC/SC as a possibility and he doesn't laugh this time.
Nov 2005 - visit NC for 10 days and drive all over the place looking at towns. Fall in love with Fort Mill, SC. Husband mentions the possibility of buying land and building a house.
January 2006 - find land in Fort Mill, make trip to SC to see it in person, make offer and close two weeks later. Figure we'll move in a year or so.
March 2006 - we are officially broke. Decide to put house on market as soon as possible.
Late April - house on market
Early May - get offer on house, accept it and rejoice. Closing set for mid-July.
Mid-July 2006 - we move to a short-term rental in SC and start over. I find a job during Week 2 of being here, and we find a house a week later. Close in October and move in. We have enough money in savings that Husband can take his time finding the perfect job.
April 2007 - husband finally gets full-time job making 35% more in salary than we expected him to get down here.
I worked on it for about 15 years. The hard part was landing a job in Charlotte. We had to slowly work our way from CT to upstate NY, to Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Burlington, and finally to Charlotte 3 years ago.
Landing a job in Charlotte was the most challenging part for my husband. Selling the home in New Jersey and finding a house in Union County was a walk in the park compared to that. Please make sure you have the funds to survive in NC for a while before you "jump in".
I was researching this move for months before we actaully went ahead with it. People (who were already living in Charlotte, or who had recently relocated without jobs) were constantly warning others on this board about difficulty with job searches. I never chose to listen to that advice, since I was so wrapped up in our new adventure. BUT, if I had only one piece of advice to give those moving here without jobs...MAKE SURE you have enough saved up, so you can have enough time to find a job!
Just because you may have been a "big shot" in NYC or anywhere else (my husband was a very successful stock broker), doesn't mean jobs will just fall in your lap here. I seriously think that the most sure-fire way to secure a job here in Charlotte is to start your own business.
I really hope I didn't offend anyone here, just trying to give some sound advice.
To those being transferred with a job...more power to you!
I decided to move back to Charlotte last May 2006. I was really excited about this and told my grown daughters about my decision. I started looking into this, when I was told I had precancer cells and had to have surgery. After my surgery, my daughters and I visited Charlotte last July. They really liked it and they encouraged me to go for it. Then I was told I had breast cancer and had to go in for more surgery. This time it was more serious. I completed seven weeks of radiation and I am doing fine now. I am waiting to see what my breast surgeon has to say on Friday when I go in for my follow up. I'm still packing and trying to make this move with as little as stress possible. I took an early retirement, and I will be renting in a beautiful complex we visited last summer. I'm on the waiting list, but it will be difficult leaving my family and friends in New York. This is something I have to do at this stage in my life. This is a time of healing for me and a time of reflection. I can't really take the cold winters any more. Both of my daughters are married with children and are living their lives, which they should do. As life gets shorter I want to have less regrets. I want to live each day to the fullest and I really believe this move is going to be very therapeutic for me.
It took us about 9 months from day of decision (mid-July 2006) until the final move (next week). We decided on Indian Trail (Brandon Oaks) very early in our decision making, but could not purchase until we sold in NY. I got a job here in Charlotte in January and have been staying in an extended-stay. We will close on the sale of the NY home on Monday 4/16 and then close on the house in NC on Wednesday 4/18.
There was no quality of life for us in New York anymore, and my wife and daughters (ages 12 and 10) cannot wait to move here.
It took us about 2 years but thats because it took time for me to convince my husband to move from Florida. We flew to Charlotte 3 times for the past 2 years. Plus my husband was very picky on where he wanted to work. Only 1 company. Well anyway we are finally here sold the house in Florida in February. My husband has been here in Huntersville since November.
We put a contract on a house in Huntersville today, hopefully we will get the house. We are happy we made to the move. It was well worth it.
Location: Sunny Phoenix Arizona...wishing for a beach.
4,300 posts, read 14,953,825 times
Reputation: 813
Quote:
Originally Posted by AOYAS
Did many of you live in an apartment for a while when you first moved here, while scouting out areas and house-hunting?
Or did you do your preliminary neighborhood/house-hunting BEFORE you moved to Charlotte, and then you bought a house either before you moved to Charlotte, or immediately or almost immediately after moving here?
I would really prefer to not have to live in an apartment when we first get there. But we live in AZ, and we'll probably only be able to visit Charlotte a couple times, for a few days each time, before we move there. I'm wondering if it'll be too difficult to really assess the areas, and decide where we'd like to purchase a home, until we've actually lived there for a little while. Were many of you able to do that?
How many trips did you take to Charlotte, before you knew what area you'd like to live in, and before you found your perfect neighborhood?
Thanks!
I'm from Phoenix it took me one trip to Charlotte and 8 months before I pulled up in fromt of my apartment in Huntersville. I like the Lake so Lake Norman was the place.
I decided to move back to Charlotte last May 2006. I was really excited about this and told my grown daughters about my decision. I started looking into this, when I was told I had precancer cells and had to have surgery. After my surgery, my daughters and I visited Charlotte last July. They really liked it and they encouraged me to go for it. Then I was told I had breast cancer and had to go in for more surgery. This time it was more serious. I completed seven weeks of radiation and I am doing fine now. I am waiting to see what my breast surgeon has to say on Friday when I go in for my follow up. I'm still packing and trying to make this move with as little as stress possible. I took an early retirement, and I will be renting in a beautiful complex we visited last summer. I'm on the waiting list, but it will be difficult leaving my family and friends in New York. This is something I have to do at this stage in my life. This is a time of healing for me and a time of reflection. I can't really take the cold winters any more. Both of my daughters are married with children and are living their lives, which they should do. As life gets shorter I want to have less regrets. I want to live each day to the fullest and I really believe this move is going to be very therapeutic for me.
lillybell,
I hope all goes well and wish you a happy and HEALTHY life in NC.
Thank you for you warm wishes. It's the caring of other people that help with the healing proccess. I have such a good feeling about moving back to Charlotte because, for the most part, this forum has been very encouraging.
DH came for job interview July 11, 2006, started working August 15, 2006. He lived in our travel trailer at Fort Mill KOA while I stayed behind to continue working and sell the house. I came down every other weekend and looked at neighborhoods and houses starting end of August. Settled on our house here in Indian Trail Nov 17, 2006. Settled on our house in MD December 27, 2006. The whole family moved down the day after Thanksgiving and we have all been in our new home since. We decided to move here last April 2006. Visited once, fell in love, found a job and moved. Where there is a will, you can always find a way. Faith will get you through anything.
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Relocation time
