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My husband and I want to leave Long Island and perhaps move to NC. He will need to find a job in utside sales. He would like to work for a large company, and he's proficient in all things mechanical and hydraulic. And believe it or not he's a computer geek to a certain degree. That being said, he's been looking around the Raleigh area for work. Might Charlotte, or Asheville areas also be good places to look?
We have three horses so we will need to find a small farm or ranch to rent in NC. Our home on Long Island is underwater, so we are contemplating our options. We may have to walk away.
So, I guess I'm looking for some information as to where are some good places for us to look where we can rent or buy very, very inexpensively.
The horses will be a challenge - this will likely mean a ways outside of any of the major cities.
I suggest spending as much time as possible to visit the major population centers: Charlotte, Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill), and Triad (Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point). The Triad would likely be the least expensive of the 3 areas.
What is your budget for renting, and what do you consider "very, very inexpensive" to buy?
I grew up in Westchester County, NY, but that was 30+ years ago. I've lived in Greenville, NC; about 40 minutes outside of Raleigh; now live in the middle of the Triad. The Triangle or Charlotte will be most "Yankee-friendly." lol
The Southern Pines area has a lot of horse farms and equine activity. It's near Fayetteville and not horribly far from Charlotte or Raleigh.
PS, I saw your post in another forum, and you can forget NC if you don't like 85 degrees or more. Summers here can be in the 90s for a week at a time, with brutal humidity. Maybe look into Virginia or Maryland?
I live in southeast Garner (near White Oak) and there are a few stables around (i.e. farms with horses in the yard, not places to board, which it doesn't sound like you're looking for). But finding a place like that to rent or buy might be a challenge.
You didn't mention kids, so I assume schools aren't a consideration. Like anywhere else, the farther you get outside of the cities, the cheaper it gets. Can't offer much advice beyond that except to second Frankie's comment that it can get friggen' hot in the summer down here.
My husband and I want to leave Long Island and perhaps move to NC. He will need to find a job in utside sales. He would like to work for a large company, and he's proficient in all things mechanical and hydraulic. And believe it or not he's a computer geek to a certain degree. That being said, he's been looking around the Raleigh area for work. Might Charlotte, or Asheville areas also be good places to look?
We have three horses so we will need to find a small farm or ranch to rent in NC. Our home on Long Island is underwater, so we are contemplating our options. We may have to walk away.
First of all, don't walk away from your house. It will ruin your credit rating for many years.
Your husband might look for work in the Portsmouth/Virginia Beach area. There are many technical sales jobs there. It helps to have military (especially navy) background.
You could find rental housing in the rural area south of Virginia Beach or across the line in North Carolina. There are horse people in Currituck and Camden Counties.
You also asked about Asheville. While it is a desirable place to live, the real estate is expensive, and it is not easy to find a decent job. I believe your husband would be better off look in the largest cities of North Carolina or in the Virginia Beach area.
even the smallest acreage that can support horses will be pricey..... you'll find you LOVE the property taxes down here, but houses with land are hard to come by near areas that have good jobs. i live outside of Chapel Hill. just a bit west of the famed RTP area (Research Triangle Park) which is a huge huge draw for jobs, but the competition is fierce here for those jobs. Someone mentioned you won't like it hot and humid here, and that's so true, it just is very very hot all summer long and pretty muggy. I lived on the eastern shore of VA for a year before I came here. It is ridiculously cheap, all across the board, you can find huge acreage with a decent house for well under $200,000 with a property tax bill of maybe max $2,000 yearly, I had a little house on a good size double lot and only paid $600 in property taxes a year and that was high, lol because i paid both town and county taxes (things are run very very differently here). Only problem???? There were no jobs on the Eastern shore of VA (i am talking about that last spit of land jutting out into Chesapeake bay, the end of the Delmarva Penninsula, most people with good jobs have them in Salisbury MD, some 60 miles north and there is no mass transit, but no one gripes as there is never a traffic jam on rte 13, LOL..... or will trek down to Norfolk, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which might get pricey for a daily commute, i know the toll is like $12 when you cross and if you return the same day, it will be half or $6.00 to return....but they may have commuter rates. There is some hope though with the new Wallops Island facility built by NASA....That's where that spaceship going to the space station just blew up, lol, might be a dangerous spot ....... but they are expanding and people say there will be more jobs being offered. Wallops Island is just before the bend going out to Chincoteague Island. Very very northern most corner of the Eastern Shore. You will find very very affordable houses and small farms there, but again, you will take your chances for the jobs. The southern part of the Eastern Shore, Northhampton County, again, very very affordable and Norfolk will be your job marketplace. But you are talking the south, and it gets boiling hot there too for the summer, not much cooler than North Carolina, not at all.....of course, you have the Chesapeake Bay to your left and the Atlantic to your right, so you are gonna love being so close to the water if you have a boat. Don't worry if you don't, everyone there has one and everyone has their requisite allotment of crab pots, people live on the water from May til November there. It might be the answer for you. I have the best real estate agent on the Eastern Shore, he is the top seller and knows everything about the area if you want to talk to him, he is really a great guy, ex Navy man and just honest as the day is long. GOOD LUCK!!!!!! Whatever you do, be ready for a huge huge life style change when you move south. The weirdest things can just be so so different down here. Case in point is the cost of water.... Who knew? I never spent more than $45 every 3 months for water in metro NYC...... when I bought my first place here in NC, in Butner (lots of farms, lots of land, really cheap, but also, nothing there but the 3 state prisons!!!) Yeah, you too can have Bernie Madoff prisoner ##61727-054 for a neighbor!!!! Butner is not all that far north of Raleigh really...maybe 25 miles? Anyway, who the heck knew I would be paying $63 dollars a month for water!!!!!!! and that was the minimum charge they will automatically charge you, no matter if you used one gallon or 50!!!!! I was livid! How do they get away with it???? So so many towns have water commissions who control water rates, so watch out, I took a huge loss on my house when i sold ..... out here in rural southern CHatham county, not 5 miles from Chapel Hill I pay a much more reasonable $23 a month. These are the vagaries of life here in the south..... just ask a million questions on every single topic you can think of to a real estate agent, cost of everything. Also? Here in North Carolina, the minute you apply for a license and a registration plate, you get zapped with a $250 road use tax. yup. things are different down south, for sure. Sincerely, Good Luck.... I'd definitely stick to VA, close as possible to the Maryland line (heck, even look into southern Maryland over VA) or as close to Norfolk as possible. If you are a liberal Northerner, as am I, you are going to be so so ticked off all the time in this the reddest state of them all. I still cannot get used to the guns laws here that allow people to carry a gun even into a bar or restaurant. HUH? Yeah, that's just where I want to see guns gathering, in places that serve liquor!!!!!! And that Heat issue? If that is the real killer of a deal moving south, you might have to opt for cheap cheap Delaware and take your risks with flooding again.
Move to northern Virginia. In loudoun county, it's a DC suburb so there are many job options in IT. Northern Virginia is basically like northern New Jersey culture wise. It's very liberal, you have your italians and other white ethnicities. It doesn't feel like you're in the south. Also, Loudoun county is horse country! So many ranches and beatiful wineries plus depends on where you are you get a good view of the Appalachian mountains. Loudoun is truly beautiful and most of the land has been preserved from ugly sprawl.
Preferably towns Middleburg, Leesburg, and Ashburn.
Our home on Long Island is underwater, so we are contemplating our options. We may have to walk away.
It seems like the Long island house is the big issue that should be resolved first. Hopefully, they can sell and keep their credit intact.
There are many other parts of the country as well as North Carolina that the OP should research. I'd suggest they also look at Greenville and Spartanburg in South Carolina. Perhaps Lexington and Louisville Kentucky also-- plenty of horse properties there.
Butner is not all that far north of Raleigh really...maybe 25 miles? Anyway, who the heck knew I would be paying $63 dollars a month for water!!!!!!!
There are some valid points in this post. Water and sewer charges are typically expensive in North Carolina.
I just wish the poster had tried to make it readable with paragraphs.
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....... but they are expanding and people say there will be more jobs being offered. Wallops Island is just before the bend going out to Chincoteague Island. Very very northern most corner of the Eastern Shore. You will find very very affordable houses and small farms there, but again, you will take your chances for the jobs. The southern part of the Eastern Shore, Northhampton County, again, very very affordable and Norfolk will be your job marketplace. But you are talking the south, and it gets boiling hot there too for the summer, not much cooler than North Carolina, not at all.....of course, you have the Chesapeake Bay to your left and the Atlantic to your right, so you are gonna love being so close to the water if you have a boat. Don't worry if you don't, everyone there has one and everyone has their requisite allotment of crab pots, people live on the water from May til November there. It might be the answer for you. I have the best real estate agent on the Eastern Shore, he is the top seller and knows everything about the area if you want to talk to him, he is really a great guy, ex Navy man and just honest as the day is long. GOOD LUCK!!!!!! Whatever you do, be ready for a huge huge life style change when you move south. The weirdest things can just be so so different down here. Case in point is the cost of water.... Who knew? I never spent more than $45 every 3 months for water in metro NYC...... when I bought my first place here in NC, in Butner (lots of farms, lots of land, really cheap, but also, nothing there but the 3 state prisons!!!) 
