Thinking about moving to North Carolina.. (Charlotte, Matthews: how much, houses, neighborhoods)

[amanda93]

Hello everyone!

My family is thinking about moving from Long Island to North Carolina due to the incredibly cheap housing.

We were looking into Matthews in Charlotte. Charlotte seems beautiful but we are not into the City life. So we were thinking about moving to areas near Charlotte.

I have children in the Highschool and we want a great school for them. What schools are best in North Carolina?

Is there BOCES?

How would you rate North Carolina?

Whaat would you say is the best area?

Are there alot of job opportunities for Concrete/Construction workers?

Thanks alot.

Please feel free to add others!

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by amanda93

Hello everyone!

My family is thinking about moving from Long Island to North Carolina due to the incredibly cheap housing.

Actually, Mississippi and Alabama are less expensive.

[amanda93]

I'm not interested in those areas.

[kenny10]

Originally Posted by mm_mary73

Actually, Mississippi and Alabama are less expensive.

yeah, but who wants to live there?! .. (no offense to anyone from there) ..

amanda93, my husband and i are also from LI and have seriously been considering the move there for the past 2 years and now have a trip booked to visit NC this April (which we're very excited about). in all my searches i've heard very good things about charlotte and they're surrounding areas. we're also looking into Matthews for its affordability, closeness to the city without being in the city, and their school systems. as for what i've gotten from other people, NC has a reassigning system for their schools which means the growing areas of Charlotte (ie: union county, although i hear union county is also a wonderful place to live) could possiblly reassign their students to a different school every year. Matthews is already established where reassigning would most probably not take place.

i always hear very good things about charlotte and i'd suggest taking a trip there and booking a realtor to show you around different neighborhoods.

Good luck with everything!

[gypsychic]

Personally, I hope you are moving for more than the "incredibly cheap" housing. It doesn't seem like enough of a reason to move. There is weather, cultural differences, etc. to take into account.

[south.charlotte&union]

Originally Posted by amanda93

Hello everyone!

My family is thinking about moving from Long Island to North Carolina due to the incredibly cheap housing.

We were looking into Matthews in Charlotte. Charlotte seems beautiful but we are not into the City life. So we were thinking about moving to areas near Charlotte.

I have children in the Highschool and we want a great school for them. What schools are best in North Carolina?

Is there BOCES?

How would you rate North Carolina?

Whaat would you say is the best area?

Are there alot of job opportunities for Concrete/Construction workers?

Thanks alot.

Please feel free to add others!

We relocated from Long Island to South Charlotte in 1998 -- now we live in Union County. It is certainly relatively inexpensive when comparing it to NY standards. In particular, you will likely save on housing prices as well as property taxes.

Matthews is a lovely area. Please know, though that Charlotte encompasses a large area. Your address can be Charlotte, but the setting can be more suburban (similar to what you would find in Matthews). This is true of many areas in South Charlotte. (It's way different from let's say...New York, NY...where that address would mean a city setting). Also consider Union County -- the tax rate is lower and some areas are "close" for commuting purposes.

Check www.ncreportcards.org for school reports. As a realtor, I am not permitted to offer my opinions on the schools, but if you have questions I can direct you to places where you can get answers.

I don't know if any BOCES around here. I would contact the Charlotte Mecklenburg schools (http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/) for questions you have related to BOCES. They may be able to direct you better.

I rate NC an 11 on a scale of 1-10; we love it here -- love the people, the weather, just about everything we could hope for. I think our children are growing up in a setting that reminds me of how I grew up...playing outside, sometimes at neighbors, sometimes here (whoever has the crew at lunchtime ends up feeding them ) I think for us it is much more relaxing since we don't have the same financial burdens that we did in NY.

I am partial to South Charlotte and Union County -- include Matthews in those categories as well. I know these areas the best, as this is where we have chosen to relocate.

As far as construction work is concerned, there is so much building going on here it would seem that there should be jobs. But the Unions are not big down here, so the pay rates may be lower.

Best of luck to you and let me know if I can help you with your relocation

[TBLTZ]

Originally Posted by amanda93

Hello everyone!

My family is thinking about moving from Long Island to North Carolina due to the incredibly cheap housing.

We were looking into Matthews in Charlotte. Charlotte seems beautiful but we are not into the City life. So we were thinking about moving to areas near Charlotte.

I have children in the Highschool and we want a great school for them. What schools are best in North Carolina?

Is there BOCES?

How would you rate North Carolina?

Whaat would you say is the best area?

Are there alot of job opportunities for Concrete/Construction workers?

Thanks alot.

Please feel free to add others!

If you want the "incredibly cheap housing" your about 5 years to late. As for job opportunities your not going to make as much as NY. There is another thead about this to. People are willing to do the work for cheaper than everyone else because they want a job and don't care about salary. This all relates to any type of manual labor.

The best area depends on how much you can afford.

[amanda93]

Originally Posted by south.charlotte&union

We relocated from Long Island to South Charlotte in 1998 -- now we live in Union County. It is certainly relatively inexpensive when comparing it to NY standards. In particular, you will likely save on housing prices as well as property taxes.

Matthews is a lovely area. Please know, though that Charlotte encompasses a large area. Your address can be Charlotte, but the setting can be more suburban (similar to what you would find in Matthews). This is true of many areas in South Charlotte. (It's way different from let's say...New York, NY...where that address would mean a city setting). Also consider Union County -- the tax rate is lower and some areas are "close" for commuting purposes.

Check www.ncreportcards.org for school reports. As a realtor, I am not permitted to offer my opinions on the schools, but if you have questions I can direct you to places where you can get answers.

I don't know if any BOCES around here. I would contact the Charlotte Mecklenburg schools (http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/) for questions you have related to BOCES. They may be able to direct you better.

I rate NC an 11 on a scale of 1-10; we love it here -- love the people, the weather, just about everything we could hope for. I think our children are growing up in a setting that reminds me of how I grew up...playing outside, sometimes at neighbors, sometimes here (whoever has the crew at lunchtime ends up feeding them ) I think for us it is much more relaxing since we don't have the same financial burdens that we did in NY.

I am partial to South Charlotte and Union County -- include Matthews in those categories as well. I know these areas the best, as this is where we have chosen to relocate.

As far as construction work is concerned, there is so much building going on here it would seem that there should be jobs. But the Unions are not big down here, so the pay rates may be lower.

Best of luck to you and let me know if I can help you with your relocation

Thank you so much. Long Island is ridiculous. The crowds, the housing, the taxes. What exact town do you live in? What would you rate the schools the best one? I will check that out. I think I would love it. I'm into the hustle bustle here in Ny. I do understand that Charlotte is city like but I would move away from that but still visit the area for my Children and shopping. I miss the days where my children can go outside and I won't have to worry! Thank you so much! You really helped me! Have you visited other areas in North Carolina? Would you still say South Charlotte is the best?

[amanda93]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Personally, I hope you are moving for more than the "incredibly cheap" housing. It doesn't seem like enough of a reason to move. There is weather, cultural differences, etc. to take into account.

Ohh thats not all. Long Island is incredibly packed and there are houses being built in every corner.

[amanda93]

Originally Posted by TBLTZ

If you want the "incredibly cheap housing" your about 5 years to late. As for job opportunities your not going to make as much as NY. There is another thead about this to. People are willing to do the work for cheaper than everyone else because they want a job and don't care about salary. This all relates to any type of manual labor.

The best area depends on how much you can afford.

Compared to the prices in Long Island it really is. I have a medium sized house. 3 bedroom, 2 bath and it's rather old. It goes for about 400,000 with no property. Where as when I looked at houses in North Carolina 2x the size and wayy more property about the same price.