Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We moved here for quality of life reasons from NY (not NYC), but still an area with high taxes. Not to mention, needing $300k for a decent three bedroom house. We were frustrated at being two young fully employed people, saving a lot of money, and still being discouraged by the home purchasing opportunities.
Things started off meager for us salary-wise, but we had basically taken an attitude of starting over for the sake of a new life and hoping to start a family. In six years, I have been able to go to from working full time to working very, very part-time, which allows me to stay at home with my young son, which I know I would not be able to do in NY. My husband works for a great company and makes more now than he did in NY. We were able to purchase a nice starter home and we have really embraced the change of life here. It has definitely been a great decision for us and we are in a comfortable spot in our lives. A life that allows us to enjoy all this area has to offer.
Good luck with your decision! It's not an easy one, but potentially worth it!
You can make it all about money if you like, but there is way more to it than that.
Quite right.
Our mild climate, lower population density, and more relaxed pace of life... these are the important motivators to consider. Taxes could change. Climate might change too, but that will affect the coastal areas much more than the Triangle.
We too moved from the Rochester NY area a year and a half ago......my husband is also in IT and one of the main reasons we chose this area was due to the fact there is a real economy here and real jobs. We are both in our fifties so we wanted to live somewhere that should we need to or choose to we could find another job. It isn't always that case in an area like Rochester NY with a shrinking job base. With that said we wanted a lower COL and a better overall climate. I too don't know how we lived in the Rochester area our whole lives. Don't get me wrong it is great for many reasons and for us those reasons are all in the summer! The weather there is horrendous in the winter and we are not snow lovers so for us to get away from the snow was number one!
I am a CPA so I really didn't take a pay cut as CPAs are in pretty high demand here. My husband in IT took about a 15% paycut. HOWEVER, the company he works for has way better benefits and with a lower COL we don't even notice it. I will say the only thing I really think is more expensive here is water bills and food. Once you get used to shopping at certain places, etc - the food difference is marginal. Our taxes are 35% of what they were in the north - that is a whopping amount of savings in itself. Our heat bills in the winter would sometimes run us 600 or 700 a month - here I have yet to have a heat bill over 99.00. Overall our utilities are much less. Some of that has to do with having an energy star certified house which not everyone will have.
I guess for us the only drawback is the commute - both of our commutes have grown due to wanting to live in a certain area and being willing to make the drive. I go from the east side near Wake Forest to the airport area everyday with about 35 mins in the AM and usually 50-55 mins in the PM. That is my only downside. The upside is not having to fight the weather every day. You don't have to think about battling the elements, planning for a foot of snow, plowing your driveway, etc, etc, it is just much, much easier.
Yes, I am clearly in better financial shape now than I was living on Long Island. And we've gone through some challenging times since being here as well (I had my own business for five years and had two stretches that were very bad - as in, selling off unwanted jewelry to buy groceries bad).
People will tell you the cost of living numbers aren't impressive once you filter out property taxes but we've saved money on:
- auto insurance (50% less, a savings of over almost $100 per month)
- gasoline (at least $.25 per gallon less, we now buy about 100 gallons a month so it's worth $25)
- gasoline again (much less traffic, despite what some claim and so way better fuel efficiency)
- utilities (all electric, our bill averages about $350 which is $100 less per month)
- college tuition (state colleges here cost under $20k, at least $10k per year cheaper than in NY)
Plus, life is easier here and while I can't quantify this for you, I believe I'm healthier overall due to reduced stress.
Be mindful that in soliciting the advice of strangers online you are encountering a cross-section of society unlike any other place known to man. There are people on these boards who hate you simply for thinking about moving here and adding to what they perceive as a problem. Others will agree that the cost of living is cheaper here but hammer home the obvious fact that Raleigh-Durham offers much less than Boston culturally. Others will scare you about how horrible the schools are or warn about how brutal the summers are.
But here's the thing, if you've conducted your due diligence, have visited the area and have really thought this through, knowing what you're expecting to gain from relocating and how such a move could help you achieve your goals, you already know roughly how this is going to play out.
Relocating was challenging, I've commented on this many times in our eight years living here. While it was never painful, it was certainly disorienting and awkward for stretches of time. Not everything will work out as expected, some things will work out better than you hoped for and some will fall short of expectations. Some things will be way cheaper, others a little cheaper and some things (and odd things as well) will actually cost more. But there's no doubt the cost of living is lower here than Boston. And there's no doubt life is easier here than in Boston. The schools may not perform as well as where you are but despite having lived in one of the best school districts on Long Island, we feel that our children had a better educational experience here (my now college-aged son agrees wholeheartedly).
Those who relocate to the area and declare the experience a failure are generally categorized as either moving here against their will (job relocation being the primary driver behind that) or moving here for the bigger but cheaper house (relocating anywhere for cheaper real estate is a horrible idea). Those who invested time in due diligence, planned things patiently and developed a well thought out plan tend to do very well.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
P.S. - The summers here are very hot but much more manageable than 110" of snow. Plus, I adjusted within a month of moving here, everywhere you go is air conditioned and most activities are planned for either early morning or late afternoon. I just didn't think it was a big deal (and I used to hate the heat).
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,764 posts, read 15,708,750 times
Reputation: 10850
Quote:
Originally Posted by m378
My question is more on the lines of, do people feel like they were in better financial shape after they relocated, or do they feel as if it was a lateral move financially, but with benefits such as a nicer house, nicer weather, nicer roads, less traffic, etc?
Yes, yes, yes! We moved for a job transfer from the DC area (NoVA) and didn't even take a pay cut, and financially, it has 100% been a lateral move for us. As others have mentioned, housing is cheaper - and if you're coming from Mass, NY, or NJ, then property taxes and car insurance is probably cheaper, too - but most other things will likely be about the same or not significantly different enough to matter.
For us, to get into the same quality public schools that we had in NoVA, we chose Chapel Hill where we bought a similar priced home as the one we were living in. Yes, our house is nicer, bigger, and newer (but it's not like we moved here and went crazy and bought a mcmansion, it's just that the DC real estate is so expensive, that we lived in an old, 4BR ranch there, while here our house is a newer, traditional 4 BR colonial). And the weather here is better. And the traffic is much, much less.
But since we bought a similarly-priced home, our mortgage is the same, our taxes are actually more, but yours would likely be less. Most activities, entertainment, groceries, etc. are about the same. Then don't forget you might want to add in annual/semi annual visits "back home" which can add up - especially to Boston, where you'd likely fly. So that adds into your expenses.
In summary, for us:
Benefits:
Bigger/nicer home
Better weather
Less Traffic
Cons:
Less history/cultural events
Less of downtown cores/urban area
Farther from family and friends
As others have said, it truly depends on your individual situation and former location....
For us, we moved here so that my dh could retire at age 40( self employed in n.j, for 20 years) and live on just my teaching income. Our house was basically a lateral move ...@ 2200 sq ft new house on 3/4 acre in a semi rural area( southern n.j, to clayton, nc). The only plus we have here is a in ground pool ....we did not have that in n.j. We had no mortgage or car payments in n.j,, nor do we have that here....so again, lateral move.
PROS:
Property taxes...70% less
Auto insurance....half
Utilities/ heat...@30% less
Weather
Better area than our old area in n.j,( less crime)
cons:
From a cost of living standpoint.....none, much lower cost of living here than in n.j,
If you're from north of here, winter here is mild. If you're from Florida, summer isn't as bad. It's all relative.
People are friendly and polite here. You have no idea how much I love that. Even in traffic, they don't mind letting you in. Try that in Fort Lauderdale and you'll get hit.
Taxes here for us are higher as FL had no state income tax. But insurance is lower than S. Florida.
I love this state. If I could get some family to move here, it would be perfect. I'm working on it.
Moved here from NY recently, not NYC btw but Long Island. My husband still has the same salary he would have had in NY except for the fact he gets paid bi-weekly now. Utilities are somewhat cheaper than what we used to pay in NY. Houses/Rent is cheaper here.. Groceries are about the same price...As far as your specialty in IT, there are a lot of jobs in the Triangle. If you haven't done so..if I were you I would try IBM, RTI, Cisco. The only bad thing is the lack of public transportation..it's not anywhere close to metro cities like NYC or Boston, but if you have a car that shouldn't be a problem.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.