NC Coast Family Recommendations (Charlotte, Raleigh: appointed, transplants, rental homes)

[firefly925]

Been looking at some of the nc coastal posts. Haven't seen too much on raising families. Can anyone give some input?

Looking for nc coastal town:

to raise two small children
within 10-15 mins. of quaint downtown, with shops, dining, festivals etc.
within 1/2 hour or less to beach
good schools!!!! a must
friendly people accepting of transplants


curious about windstorm insurance costs on coastal towns. Is it crazy as in Florida?

TIA

[Scholar]

A friend recommended Topsail Island to us. She has family there who love it, and they have kids. There is a nice website that gives more info. --( I think Topsail Island is made up of more than one community??) -- Google it, and you should be able to find more than one site about it. It looks beautiful. Sorry I don't know more.

[dsobotta]

I don't know a lot about the schools yet, but one of the reasons we moved to the Cape Carteret area was the friendly people and their willingness to accept everyone. We have lived in both types of communities and know the difference.

Moderator cut: removed

We are just 10 minutes from Swansboro which has a very nice little historic downtown. We're about 35 minutes from Beaufort which has a historic that would please almost anyone. We are also under ten minutes from walking on the beach.

Map of General Area (http://coastalnc.org/generalarea - broken link)

We have lots of small, family run restaurants that stay open all year. The schools and churches are all very convenient. We have three supermarkets, CVS, and a new Walgreens and Lowe's Home Improvement Center opening this month.

My wife complains about there being no Target, but there is one about 18 miles away in Jacksonville. That's also the closest large bookstore, which is a Books A Million. There is no Barnes and Noble closer than Wilmington. The area department store is Belks with there being one in Morehead City less than twenty minutes from our house.

The Carteret County Schools seem to get a fair amount of attention from what I can tell in reading the local papers, but I would have to ask some parents to get feedback on the schools.

I have a website Moderator cut: Advertising/promoting website/blog with realtor info not allowed here

You can find links there to pictures of the three most recent festivals, the Swansboro Oyster Roast, the Emerald Isle St. Patrick's Day Festival, and the Newport Pig Cookoff.

One of the events we enjoyed the most was the Emerald Isle Christmas Parade. it was wonderfully done and one of the nicest family events that I have seen in a long time.

I have lots of pictures of the area at my Picasa web albums site.

We also really enjoy the Accessible Trails in the area. There always lots of families out in enjoying them. We had a lot of fun this winter exploring them. So far I have walked on the beach every month and have been able to go biking every month. I did suspend kayaking during the winter. But it has been okay since late March.

We looked long and hard before settling here. We didn't want a place that was all retired people or all anything. This is a nice year round community with reasonable services nearby, and a nice mix of ages. We have several young children in our neighborhood. The only challenge is jobs for college age kids, but that's a problem in almost every spot unless you are Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, or Northern Virginia.

The good news is that the twenty-somethings like to come home to the beach.

Insurance costs are directly related to how close you live to a danger area which can be either wind or flood. Not surprisingly it varies. We looked at it from the perspective of how much we paid in insurance and property taxes in Roanoke County, Va compared to here. Our total property tax and home insurance bill is about 50% of what it is Roanoke. If we were living directly on the beach, the insurance would be higher. We have found car insurance to be much more expensive in North Carolina compared to Roanoke which has some of the lowest car insurance rates in the country.

If I can provide you with more information, don't hesitate to get in touch with me, I'm a native North Carolinian and have been visiting these beaches for over 50 years. I just wish that I had moved sooner.

Moderator cut: Removed - Soliciting business not allowed here

It can be pretty spectacular around here. The first picture is sunrise on the beach at Emerald Isle. The second is sunset over Bogue Sound taken from Emerald Woods Park.

http://coastalnc.org/morningwaters (broken link)
http://coastalnc.org/theend (broken link)

[dsobotta]

Sorry the pictures didn't make it.

Here are the links.

Sunrise on the Beach Emerald Isle (http://coastalnc.org/morningwaters - broken link).

Sunset over Bogue Sound (http://coastalnc.org/theend - broken link)

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by dsobotta

Sorry the pictures didn't make it.

Here are the links.

Sunrise on the Beach Emerald Isle (http://coastalnc.org/morningwaters - broken link).

Sunset over Bogue Sound (http://coastalnc.org/theend - broken link)

WOW!! Please post these two on the thread "Pictures of North Carolina". I just know folks there would love to see these, especially because we have more of the moutains posted than of the beach

[jensen beach gal]

dsobotta-those pictures are beautiful! I have been living in the greenville area for about 8 mths now-we came up from southeast florida,we were only 10 min from the beach. Miss the beach so much! 1 1/2 drive is too much. Looking for an affordable area near the coast for myself and my 12 yr old son. Disappointed with the schools here. Hoping it would be more affordable to live near the coast here-so expensive in south Florida. Are you familiar with Currituck county, I've been told that is a nice area and not too expensive. I would appreciate any information-thank you.-

[firefly925]

Thanks for the information!

dsobotta - I have been looking through all of your sites even before this post since it is the most I have found on the coast and you have done an awesome job providing us with a glimpse of what coastal living is like in nc!
Thanks!

I will have to do some research on schools and I do wonder about jobs...

jensen beach gal - we too moved from fl. to western nc and are reconsidering our location. dh and I miss the ocean (he grew up around it) and I am a country girl or at least that's where I grew up (MD). My main priority is our kids and finding a great place for them to grow up and their schooling. I am also worried about hurricanes along the coast and how are the homes built to protect from them?

dsobotta - Can you find housing around this area that is decent for mid 200's or under? Where would you suggest looking? Know anything about Beaufort, Edenton, New Bern. Would like to stay out of Wilmington. I believe it is out of our price range.
We would like to come and see the area, is there anywhere you would suggest staying along the beach with two small children for a long weekend?

Thanks for all of your input!!!

Now, if someone could tell us where we belong, that would be great! Ha! We can't seem to figure it out, that's for sure...

[jensen beach gal]

firefly-I miss the beach too! Looking for somewhere near the coast also. wilmington is probably to expensive for me also-it's just my 12 yr old son and I. Let me know if you find something. "If someone could tell us where we belon that would be great!" Sounds just like us-we can't seem to figure it out either.

[NC man]

I would not recommend the eastern section of NC for a family with kids,(exception wilmington) the economies are not yet the best, alot of retired folks, The beaches here are very reliant on rentals in the summer and the influx of people trading out on vacation weekends is a special thing to witness.(try the groc store on sunday)It really makes the folks who live in the area upset. Im sure some one will disagree but I would recommend Raleigh ,Charlotte or Greensboro for the kids and schools as well as jobs,, less impact from Hurricanes and Storms. The beach here is a good place to rent for vacation but its also good to go a couple hours home. My two cents

[dsobotta]

Well we all have to weigh what we want with risk factors. I don't want to minimize coastal storms but I have seen some tremendous damage from hurricanes in Roanoke, VA which is 325 miles from the coast. We had a tree fall into our house from Floyd.

I would suggest reading this link from the National Weather Service to get a perspective on inland hurricane damage.

Roanoke happened to be one of those areas that got 11 inches of rain. I can tell you there are only two places to be living when you get that much rain on the top a mountain or on the coast where the water can drain away quickly if you have bought your home in the right spot.

Most "retired" folks like me continue to have jobs and spend money. There are also plenty of young people around on the coast. True there aren't as many employment opportunities, but again it depends on what you want.

Traffic in Charlotte and Raleigh is not something that everyone wants to endure. There are good jobs everywhere, check out the local newspapers and visit the areas that you want to consider. Networking with local people is always the best way to get the best jobs.

I don't know much about Currituck County. The soundside which is the inexpensive part is a little out of my area of expertise.

I do know Carteret County. There is some new single family new housing, 3 bedroom 2 baths, available from the low $200Ks up in the area.

As to existing housing I just did a search for Swansboro, Beaufort, Cape Carteret, Cedar Point and came up with 1,247 listings in the $200k-$300k range.

In the $300K to $400K range you can get into a subdivision on the water with pool, boat ramp, and clubhouse. That's hard to do in a lot of areas, but you can do it here and still be just minutes from the beach.

Being a few minutes from the beach also minimizes damage from hurricanes. It doesn't take very far to get away from the extensive wind damage areas. We are less than ten minutes from the beach, on the water, and don't have to have the special wind hazard insurance. You just need to talk to people who know the area and look at the insurance maps yourself. Also a few minutes from the beach takes down the housing cost massively.

Beaufort inside the historical district tends to be very expensive. I find New Bern too far from the beach for my tastes. The area from Morehead to Swansboro has good beach access, reasonable priced housing, and access to services.

I would recommend Emerald Isle as an area to visit for a long weekend. It is a family oriented beach. There are also many long term rental homes available to people who want to rent for a year to see if they like the area.

We love the beach, and this area in particular.

I wouldn't write off the Carteret County schools. You can check this link and see what the Chamber of Commerce has to say.

Moderator cut: Realtor advertising I'll also try to answer more specific questions.