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My wife and I are considering moving to NC in about 18 months and are visiting the state in July to check out potential towns to live.
Our July plan is to spend 10 days in NC, in that time we want to visit several cities to get a better idea of what would best fit us.
We are currently living in Utah, my former company relocated us here about five years ago and we have decided that this is not the place for us.
One of the biggest reasons we think NC is the place to be is the climate. Four seasons and very little snow. How much better can it get? We decided this winter to visit NC during the middle of the summer since that seems to be the harsh-ish time of year.
In a perfect world we would love to live on or near water, large or small (not the coast),and a small town feel with the conveniences of a large city.....
We are in our mid 30’s with no kids, we would love to live in an area with an socially active community, also we rarely stay out past 11pm but would like an area with some kind of night life even if its just a fun neighborhood bar.
We would really like to find a home for less than $200k, $150K would be great, size is not important since there is two of us but being in a “safe” neighborhood is.
For work I am a Tool Maker (machinist), of course we would not move until one of us secures a job that can support the two of us....
So far our plan for the 10 day vacation/scouting trip is to visit Raleigh, Carey, Greensboro, and Ashville. My wife could possibly transfer within her company to Charlotte but we don’t think that would be our ideal place to live.....
Any suggestions on places to, or not to look at would be much appreciated. Also if there are any “must-see” things or places please let us know.
If your wife can get a transfer to Charlotte, and that's a secure job, why not visit some of the smaller towns near there? Charlotte isn't THAT big a city, not really. Many people who live in Charlotte commute from places like Rock Hill, SC. It's rather nice out that way, so my friend who lives there keeps telling me.
I live in Cary. Everyone seems to want to move to either Cary or Asheville. If you want to avoid the hordes of relocators, moving to either of those places will probably not be your best bet. Ditto Raleigh.
I dunno about Greensboro... I mean, how many relos they get and such. It's a decent town.
Of all the ones you mentioned (aside from my home town of Cary), I like Asheville best.
Unemployment numbers there are on the high side, from what I've read.
Have fun. It's hot as Hades here in the summer, and we don't always have 4 distinct seasons. This year, we are actually having a spring, which isn't usually the case.
I recently moved from Fayetteville to Charlotte and I think Charlotte is a great place to live. It is kind of living in a tourist location, so you can reap the benefits of having a lot of entertaining things to do! However, I really liked Fayetteville, as well! I actually think Fayetteville is a great place for families as is Southern Pines. I just like NC in general! I used a mobile storage company when I moved: [url]http://www.mobile-storage-nc.com/[/url]
I definitely recommend them to help you with your moving process, if you need to store some things while you are getting settled!
Is it possible to purchase a house on a decent lake or river for under $200 in Cary?? We would love noting more than to live next to water after being in a desert state.
Sll3454
We are considering Durham also but I did not realize that the housing prices were lower, thanks for the tip. How is the blue-collar job market in Durham?
It is overwhelming and exciting at the same time when looking at all of the possibilities of a new home in a new state!!
We are considering Durham also but I did not realize that the housing prices were lower, thanks for the tip. How is the blue-collar job market in Durham?
I don't know about the job market, except that overall it's bad everywhere. Sorry. The job is definitely the first thing to work on.
You'll probably have a hard time finding a job with your skillset in Asheville. That is a hard place to find any good job, much less one as a tool maker, as they cater to tourists/retirees in that area.
Is it possible to purchase a house on a decent lake or river for under $200 in Cary?? We would love noting more than to live next to water after being in a desert state.
If by "decent" you mean "is nice to look at and there are birds and other wildlife nearby" then, yes. You can find that for under 200k here. The house won't be huge, but you can find it.
If you are talking recreational lake, then, no... that's a bit of a stretch in Cary. We don't actually have any true recreational lakes (well, there's Lake Crabtree if you want to do some catch and release fishing in a rowboat or take out a canoe or something). You could live near Lake Crabtree, right off the greenway trails for under 200k in one of the smaller houses. My townhouse is near there and we have a pond in the back yard.
Overall, NC is a great state to live in. It offers the best of both worlds, beaches, mountains, big cities, rural towns, Yankees and Southeners, awesome NY style pizza and Carolina bbq, you get the point. From what you stated, I think your best bet is to move to Charlotte's surrounding smaller towns. Places like Rock Hill, SC; Huntersville, NC; etc, offer you that small town feel while being close to a major city. Don't know if you will be able to find a water front property under $200K in Lake Norman or Lake Wylie, Charlotte's two lakes. Having said that, as others suggested, it is very important to first find a job. We have an unemployment rate close to 10%. Even locals have a hard time finding a job. Good luck!
Overall, NC is a great state to live in. It offers the best of both worlds, beaches, mountains, big cities, rural towns, Yankees and Southeners, awesome NY style pizza and Carolina bbq, you get the point. From what you stated, I think your best bet is to move to Charlotte's surrounding smaller towns. Places like Rock Hill, SC; Huntersville, NC; etc, offer you that small town feel while being close to a major city. Don't know if you will be able to find a water front property under $200K in Lake Norman or Lake Wylie, Charlotte's two lakes. Having said that, as others suggested, it is very important to first find a job. We have an unemployment rate close to 10%. Even locals have a hard time finding a job. Good luck!
NFN but how about a heads up on that "awesome NY style pizza"
Please don't tell me it's the Mellow Mushroom.
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NC Moving
