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I have read a lot of posts and everyone is very helpful. I am hoping you guys/girls can give me some advice.
My boyfriend and I are in our mid twenties and have been living in the Northeast (CT, NY and RI) our whole lives. We are desperately seeking sunlight, warmth, and a big change. We are looking to be married and buy a home, although we may move out there into a rental property temporarily while we find the right place for us.
Here is where our challenges are:
1. My job will allow me to relocate and work from home. However my boyfriend is looking for an engineering position ( he is a dual degree engineer electrical and computer) does anyone have any ideas of places hiring or areas to look into?
2. We love the ocean, but do not want to worry about hurricanes/flooding ruining our home. We love the city but would like to someday raise a family in the suburbs. I would like a medium to large size town or small city feel. A place that has what you need but is also picturesque with a true sense of community. We like NC because you can be in the mountains or the ocean pretty easily- that is why we are looking in the Raleigh- Durham or Charlotte areas. Can anyone help condense our search or make suggestions on where we should start?
3. We would like to find a sense of community where people are more friendly than the Northerners and where there are fun things to do. Also, because I am in sales I would like to keep the stress high at work and lower in my home life.
4. Any suggestions on where to begin, we are coming to the area in June for a week. We plan to drive down. I am wondering if there are real estate agents who are more geared toward relocating.
Thanks for any help. This is my first posting. I look forward to responses!
We are also looking for exactly the same things you are. Though we are in our 40s', we wanted to get out of our weather here in Syracuse NY, and the snow(124" this yr). We just came back from Corolla, which is a tourist place, but loved it . We traveled to Edenton on our way out and loved it, a very small quaint historic town on the Albemarle sound. The places we were in had no housing developments and were very rural with open-flat fields, suurounded by the Chowan River. Each home had its own filed where crops to grow and many had cows and horses. These towns are on the ne side and I saw no businesses or citiy life nearby. I would like to check out the Charlotte area next. The cost of living alone would be a great way to cut spending and I beieve the pay there is a bit lower than here, but no heat bills to worry about, no commuting in blizzards, and a sllower pace.
Cathy
Well if you want a place to live where "people are more friendly than northerners" you should still clear of Charlotte and Raleigh suburbs. That is where 90% of the relocations are. That is not to say there are not kind people in these areas.
I understand that many people relocate here because of climate and nicer people and just a change in general. Keep in mind many people have the same idea. Picture a city where you live now and picking it up and placing it in NC. The end result is you pretty much end up with the same people, same houses, same attitudes. Just a different state.
Might want to consider being further out from the big cities like Charlotte and Raleigh.
I would at least take a look at Greenville, NC in Pitt County. It is about 2 hours from the coast but I won't lie, hurricanes can be a problem depending on which area of the coast they come into. Beyond that, think about Asheville, NC, Winston-Salem and some of the 'burbs they probably have that I am not as familiar with. Housing costs here are going to look pretty good compared to what you are accustomed to looking at. You can just about get anything you want for $200,000.00 and then some. We bought our home in Greene County in 1992. It has 1700 square feet, 3 BR, 2 Batbs, den, game room, kitchen, Dining area and a fireplace, utlity room, and an outside barn for my husband on .9 of land. We did have a privacy fence until 1996 and Hurricane Fran ripped that up and we haven't replaced it because at the time, we were getting hit by hurricanes 2 to 3 times a year from 1996-1999. But it was 8 years old at the time, one owner and we purchased it for $60,500.00. It is also brick. Since then, we have replaced the carpeting, redid the game room, put a new kitchen, dining room, utlity and front bathroom floor down, had the chimney cleaned, installed ceramic tile behind the stove and around the kitchen area, we concreted the driveway, and we have painted and added some wallpaper borders to the rooms. Oh and we had to replace the front door since it was rotting due to moisture from the onslaught of the hurricanes we got from 1996-1999. I use to think that if you went far enough west that you could escape the wrath of a hurricane. But in recent years, the tracks the Florida ones have taken have been closer to the western end of the state than the eastern end. Normally the ones we get come directly up the coastline and enter either at Wilmington or Morehead City. We might get a crippling snow store once every 5-6 years here in the east. But let me tell you this also, it doesn't take much snow to cripple the eastern end of the state that is ill prepared for snow. Also we have a tendency to get ice storms a lot more often than snow. You would probably scoff at 6 inches, but that is more than enough to close schools and high profile offices around here. I would check out the town in question that I was interested in and get a 10 year weather check and perhaps the cost of living as well. I live in a poverty county and things here while we complain about it just aren't as much as they are in some places. Good luck where ever you decide to come to. And enjoy the state. You have the coast at one end, the mountains at the other end and a lot of beautiful cities and homes in the middle.
where in syracuse are you from? I'm looking to move down to the Guilford County area. I can't stand this weather anymore. Predicted snow flurries today in Liverpool.
Hey! I live in Clay! Verplank Rd. Snowbelt rd of the univerce. We just bought this house last yr. and get more snow than Cicero, Liverpool, Syracuse. its weird. Where is Guilford? Anyone know anything about the water quality of the Chowan River and the Albemarle Sound near Edenton?
Hey! I live in Clay! Verplank Rd. Snowbelt rd of the univerce. We just bought this house last yr. and get more snow than Cicero, Liverpool, Syracuse. its weird. Where is Guilford? Anyone know anything about the water quality of the Chowan River and the Albemarle Sound near Edenton?
Re. the pockets of transplants:
That's why we intentionally avoided those areas.
I began to discover a few years ago that my heart is more in the South for many reasons beyond the weather.
The overall level of civility is nothing short of amazing to a person from the Northeast. Yeah, there are yahoos. Guess what? We've got a ton of 'em up here, too. Some of 'em are quite educated :-D
Anyone know anything about the water quality of the Chowan River and the Albemarle Sound near Edenton?
It's not what it used to be. Albemarle Sound is salt water & the Chowan River is brackish...fresh/salt mixed. Lots of sailing, water skiing, boating, & fishing. Commercial fishing in the sound. Large bass Tournaments, on the river. Sport fishing in both. But, I would say that it's possible to obtain a bacterial ear infection, if you get in the river. You need to look out for some snakes. It might stain your bathing suit brown, as there is a lot of silt. After a hurricane, it should be avoided, as lots of contaminents are washed into the river.
Yeah, there are yahoos. Guess what? We've got a ton of 'em up here, too. Some of 'em are quite educated :-D
Some of'em are quite educated here too, despite the accent.
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and where there are fun things to do. Also, because I am in sales I would like to keep the stress high at work and lower in my home life. 
sounds like me
