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Thanks in advance for reading this.
I’m 63 and a retired computer guy, my girlfriend is 57 and an ortho nurse. We now live in Western PA and have vacationed in Virginia Beach for years.
At one time we had a dream of retiring in Virginia Beach, around the Chicks Beach - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel areas but the property prices, traffic, and for lack of a better term, decline in civility, are directing us to other areas.
I'd submitted another post For Delaware last year; someone suggested I check out the Wilmington area.
We have never been to North Carolina so our understanding is limited.
Our concerns/wants are: Safe area, reasonable property pricing, reasonable access to healthcare, did I mention near the water!!! And a sense of community – small town feel. (the dream of course is a small cottage or beach house - you’ve guessed it- by the beach)
We have a small dog and a grandson who would visit from time to time. Our health is for now excellent, but some type of transit system would be nice to fall back on.
Not into partying but my girlfriend would like a small area to grow flowers, I would like to throw away the snow3 shovel and the lawnmower, he,he,he,
Housing could be a 2 bedroom condo or detached home. Again on or near the water would be great.
We’ve done our share of drywall, plumping, roofing, electrical, and windows, so rehabbing is o.k. for us. Foreclosures are o.k, as our budget is limited.
We have some money saved but would need to work at least part time so an area close to a hospital for her and computer / business community for me would be good.
Appreciate any ideas / experience.
Tony.
You do realize (or should) that coastal areas and lower cost housing aren't compatible? I wouldn't even THINK about moving somewhere where I hadn't even visited!
I think the OP should plan on a visit to several possible areas to live. Some parts of the dream are not compatible, and they should narrow down their option to realistic ones. The PP already mentioned that there will not be any bargains close to the coast. There are foreclosures, but one also needs to know that there are areas on the coast where the beach is eroding and where the home-owners insurance will be costly.
Given the requirement to have a place to work, a hospital and public transit, I think the best place would be in Wilmington. Wilmington is a city of about 100,000 people, so there won't be a "small town feel". There are small condos where one could have a flowerbed, and small houses under $150,000.
Other options to consider are Leland, Southport and the Calabash areas where many retirees locate. Southport and Calabash have real town centers. There are hospitals, but no public transit. You might also consider Beaufort and Swansboro if you are serious about wanting a small town feel.
Last edited by goldenage1; 02-02-2013 at 08:13 PM..
I just moved away from Coastal NC and spent a lot of time in Wilmington during my 4 1/2 years there so here's my take in response to your requirements:
1) Definitely visit North Carolina before you settle on it. It isn't for everyone, that's for sure. Also, try to visit in the Summer (July / August) just so you know what you're in for as far as Summers go, which, in my opinion, are pretty wretched! Make sure you spend a couple of weeks exploring different areas and different options around Coastal NC.
2)Safe Area: Not hard to find at all. Some parts of Wilmington are pretty dodgy (I had a friend who lived downtown Wilmington but he moved his family to the suburbs within about 6 months because of the criminal activity in his immediate area). Overall however, Coastal NC is definitely safe by most people's standards.
3)Reasonable Property Pricing. This is going to be the hard one. I know from experience that when people move from the Northern / Midwestern states, they automatically expect the South to be cheaper. Compared to some areas it is, but by my standards, property pricing in Coastal NC is not reasonable. I'm not sure where you live in Western PA, but if you type in your city and Wilmington NC into an online Cost of Living calculator, you'll find that housing is 82% more expensive in Wilmington than in Pittsburgh. Compared to Harrisburg, PA, housing is a whopping 140% more expensive in Wilmington. Even the smaller coastal towns have more expensive property prices than in PA.
4)Healthcare. If you lived in Wilmington or immediate surrounds, this definitely wouldn't be an issue. Wilmington is a big enough city to offer reasonable health care services. However, the further you get away from Wilmington, the tougher this requirement will be to meet. Although Jacksonville has Onslow Memorial, it's a relatively small hospital in the scheme of things and I know that for certain procedures / conditions, patients are often referred to New Hanover in Wilmington or Pitt Memorial in Greenville.
5) Near the Water With this requirement, meeting the requirement of #3 (affordability) is going to be even harder, depending on how close to the water you would like. Also, as Goldenage said, some of the beaches are eroding and due to hurricane and flooding threats, home insurance is exorbitant.
6)Sense of Community Wilmington is nice, but it doesn't have a small town feel. While the city of Wilmington itself has a population in excess of 100,000 the Greater Metro area has over 360,000 people. I think a sense of community however would entirely depend on which neighborhood / area of Wilmington you selected. From my perspective, Wilmington's two main draw cards are UNCW and Tourism. Therefore, there's a lot of college kids, and a lot of seasonal tourists. Since these are transient, it somewhat diminishes the sense of community. However, like I said, it depends on what area you pick.
For a true small town feel, as Goldenage mentioned, Beaufort and Swansboro have more of a year round, small town vibe. However easy access to good healthcare is then negated, as is access to a decent array of amenities. Additionally, there's no proper public transit options in either. I'm not as familiar with Leland, Southport and Calabash so feel unable to properly make a judgement with regards to their pros / cons.
7) Public Transit Overall, I've got to say that in Coastal Carolina, public transit options are pretty weak. In Wilmington, they have the WAVE which is a bus/ trolley system- but there are a lot of 'black holes' (ie: no easy access to the public transit) throughout the system in Wilmington. Also, the closer you get to the coast, the more limited the public transit gets. Most of the Wilmington public transit system is centered around downtown and the college. Here is a map of the Wave's routes. The bottom and far right portion of the Map is where the coastal areas would be.
8) Employment As you are both still working at the moment, this is also an issue. North Carolina currently has amongst the highest unemployment in the nation at over 9%. As of December 2012, Wilmington's unemployment rate was 9.5%. Therefore, I wouldn't consider moving to the area until I had secured jobs. With that said though, jobs in the healthcare sector are always in high demand, so I don't think your partner will have any issue getting a position.
Overall, Housing Prices and Transit options I think will be the biggest obstacles to overcome should you decide to move to Wilmington. While it is still more affordable than Virginia Beach, I'm not sure that it's the bargain you're looking for. I would actually suggest looking even further South, in areas surrounding Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach is a bit cheaper from a cost of living perspective than Wilmington, and housing is about 50% cheaper than Wilmington (while still more expensive than a lot of Western PA, it's more affordable than Coastal NC). However, I'm not sure what their health care / transit system / sense of community is like- and again it's a seasonal area with tourist trade in Summer and low year round population. I've always enjoyed vacationing there, but you may want to inquire in the SC forum as to what it's actually like to live there
I read your post twice to be sure I understood your situation....
I think you've come to the right place. Eastern NC has a ton of "waterfront" options (just maybe not on the ocean). ENC is full of sounds/rivers/tributaries that offer waterfront options. As has been stated Wilmington is the only large city, but there are a bunch of smaller towns or even villages that may fit your criteria...however, you may have to drop the idea of a transit system. I don't know many small towns (less than 20K) that have good transit...anywhere.
Here's my list of viable possibilities in order of best to start (again, IMO)...I have taken the healthcare into account...just know that there are really only three healthcare systems in ENC...Vidant (based on out Greenville), Carolina Health Systems (based out of New Bern) and New Hanover (Wilmington).
Waterfront towns
Less than 10K
1) Southport...about 45 minutes from Wilmington but has its own small hospital and a county hospital about 20 minutes away.
2) Oriental...very rural and quaint, healthcare in New Bern about 25 minutes away.
3) Edenton...very historic town, lots of charm....even owns its own minor league baseball team...small hospital in Vidant's network.
4) Manteo...right beside the Beach communities of the outer banks, may be the highest priced on the list for waterfront.
5) Beaufort...next to larger Morehead City....recently named best small town in America...waterfront is likely to be fairly expensive. Lots of charm here. Healthcare in MHC...New Bern about 45 minutes up the road.
6) Swansboro...the most overlooked option, healthcare will probably have to go to Jacksonville about 30 minutes away.
7) Bath....now this is small...really small, but the waterfront is some of the best and quitest....healthcare is 15 minutes to Washington, part of Vidant.
Less than 25K
1) New Bern/Trent Woods...for some reason I keep thinking this might be the best fit. Has its own healthcare, is really a small city, has lots of waterfront and lots of retiree's..about 45 minutes to the Beach. Even saw the other day that they are planning a mixed use commercial development along Highway 70. May even have some transit options.
2) Washington/Chocowinity...right on the Pamlico River. Not real close to the beach but if you are on the river, you dont need the beach. Waterfront housing is up and down the river and you can get a condo right in downtown Washington's historic district. They are really pushing for what they call a "harbor district". Has own hospital that is part of Vidant and Greenville is only about 30 minutes away (where there is every specialist you could probably think of).
3) Morehead City...probably a bit pricier because it is right next to the beach towns (Beach towns are likely unaffordable). Gets very busy in the summer. Has a small hospital with New Bern about 40 minutes up the road.
If you are really looking for a City that has transit and healthcare, Wilmington is good...it has a ton of waterfront, but it is not likely to be the most affordable because of its proximity to the Beaches as well. It is very busy all year long.
When you say homes are more expensive in the north like Harrisburg, is that just on price for a comparable home or based on income and affordability? I'm always curious about those statements, I live in Pa, about an hour west of Philly but lived in Harrisburg before that. I can tell you it is cheaper dollar for dollar on the prices of homes, you get a lot more in Wilmington than in Harrisburg or where I am. I just built a new home in Myrtle grove for a lot cheaper and a lot more square footage than I could get up here. I am about 10 mins from snow cut bridge and Carolina beach.
When you say homes are more expensive in the north like Harrisburg, is that just on price for a comparable home or based on income and affordability? I'm always curious about those statements, I live in Pa, about an hour west of Philly but lived in Harrisburg before that. I can tell you it is cheaper dollar for dollar on the prices of homes, you get a lot more in Wilmington than in Harrisburg or where I am. I just built a new home in Myrtle grove for a lot cheaper and a lot more square footage than I could get up here. I am about 10 mins from snow cut bridge and Carolina beach.
Just for clarification here though...you are technically outside of Wilmington...this can make a big difference in the cost of land. Many folks that move from the North end up buying in Ogden, Myrtle Grove, Leland or Hampstead because the cost of land and lots are less than in the City. While there is nothing wrong with that, if someone is comparing the cost of housing in Forest Hills, Landfall or other established neighborhoods of Wilmington with the cost of those other places I listed, its a night and day difference....just as is the value of waterfront and non waterfront. Wilmington can be an affordable place to live, but has lots of high end real estate that change the numbers. More high end real estate than most of the places folks come from.
Folks that move to Wilmington many times have sticker shock because many of them think they can buy a house on the Intracoastal Waterway with a boat ramp for the same price they sold their nice 3000 square foot house in Dayton Ohio or wherever...that's just ridiculous thinking. They are apples and oranges. So then they say Wilmington is overpriced and move to St James or Hampstead or something like that. Again that's not Wilmington, different counties, different schools, where you have to commute. One of the best things about Wilmington is being able to live close to work or even on the waterfront close to work. Folks that have lived in Wilmington a long time would gasp at a 30-45 minute commute, react with a "why would you do that?". Its a different mindset altogether than even places in NC like Raleigh and Charlotte.
That makes sense, I found some what I would consider reasonable prices for beach homes compared to the Delaware beaches like Bethany, Fenwick Island, Rehobeth and Ocean City Md where the Op was originally looking. Here are some listings in the $275k range, not sure what price range they are in since they didn't mention it. Either way good luck with the search, the nice part are the property taxes outside the city are very reasonable, I am not sure what they are in the Carolina beach area directly where a few of the homes are listed.
We were not planning on moving "blind" to an area ; and we understand that no one place will have it all.
Some sand within a short driving distance, pretty water, good neighbors, less snow, close to returning 'home" are the primary issues. As they say, everything else is negotiable.
We both have aging parents, so no move would happen until they pass. Just part day-dreaming and checking out the options.
And yes, now that we have some excellent information, we do plan on visiting.
Thanks Again!!!
Tony.
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