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My husband and I were seriously considering moving from Long island NY to the Triangle area about a year ago, but then some personal stuff came about, that including a good job promotion for me. So for my career experience we have stayed and we bought a house here about 8 months ago. After this past 8 months we have both realized that we will never be able to afford having a family here, we can barely afford it for ourselves! My husband is a sailor, so we can pretty much live anywhere, as for me I am Supervisor at a radiology facility for Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT ( Oncology Imaging), I am also licensed and skilled in CT, MRI and X-ray. As far as I have seen still the Raleigh area seems to be pretty good spot for my job market, I know I may take a little loss on pay, but it will not be much, since they under pay at my job as of now anyway. ( lowest in the tristate area !) Orignally we had looked at Holly Springs and we were set up to come down and visit, but then it kind of all fell apart last minute, and to top it off my husband saw they passed a law for fracking and he is highly against living in an area they will do that for the future. On recent discover we have found Clayton, which is just west of Raleigh and looks like a beautiful place to raise a family. They all look like beautiful towns, but since we both have to agree 100%, It looks like Clayton is the spot for us. We are thinking of taking a fall trip down there to check out the area, city and also maybe some homes/apartments. Our home price budget is around 250K, which in a development in clayton I saw can get us something way nicer then what we have!
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to stay to get the best experience, places to see, things to do in the area for the fall time of year? We really want to get a feel of what it would be like. Also anyone have any input on the Clayton schools?
It has always been my dream to move more south then where we are, and I think the outrageous living expense of long island is making it way more feasible for my hubby to understand why we need to do this. Its sad because we both make really good salaries combined over 180 and we are still struggling with the taxes, mortgage and all the fun adult bills! LOL It is just so hard leaving family sometimes ! We just want to make a home for our future children and have the best life possible for them!
My husband and I were seriously considering moving from Long island NY to the Triangle area about a year ago, but then some personal stuff came about, that including a good job promotion for me. So for my career experience we have stayed and we bought a house here about 8 months ago. After this past 8 months we have both realized that we will never be able to afford having a family here, we can barely afford it for ourselves! My husband is a sailor, so we can pretty much live anywhere, as for me I am Supervisor at a radiology facility for Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT ( Oncology Imaging), I am also licensed and skilled in CT, MRI and X-ray. As far as I have seen still the Raleigh area seems to be pretty good spot for my job market, I know I may take a little loss on pay, but it will not be much, since they under pay at my job as of now anyway. ( lowest in the tristate area !) Orignally we had looked at Holly Springs and we were set up to come down and visit, but then it kind of all fell apart last minute, and to top it off my husband saw they passed a law for fracking and he is highly against living in an area they will do that for the future. On recent discover we have found Clayton, which is just west of Raleigh and looks like a beautiful place to raise a family. They all look like beautiful towns, but since we both have to agree 100%, It looks like Clayton is the spot for us. We are thinking of taking a fall trip down there to check out the area, city and also maybe some homes/apartments. Our home price budget is around 250K, which in a development in clayton I saw can get us something way nicer then what we have!
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to stay to get the best experience, places to see, things to do in the area for the fall time of year? We really want to get a feel of what it would be like. Also anyone have any input on the Clayton schools?
It has always been my dream to move more south then where we are, and I think the outrageous living expense of long island is making it way more feasible for my hubby to understand why we need to do this. Its sad because we both make really good salaries combined over 180 and we are still struggling with the taxes, mortgage and all the fun adult bills! LOL It is just so hard leaving family sometimes ! We just want to make a home for our future children and have the best life possible for them!
TIA!
Daniella
Don't forget that long term the higher cost of living will likely benefit you in LI if you own a home. Your home down here will appreciate at a much slower rate, so that nice nest egg you'll have for your kids college and/or retirement will likely be much smaller here. Definitely don't think that once you move here you'll have money falling out of your pockets, because it's all relative. It's an amazing place to live for some people, but if finances and a nicer house are the only reasons you want to move, I'd give it some more thought.
Also, Clayton is southeast of Raleigh (not west as you said), and could be 1+ hours commuting depending on where you're going.
It may have been a typo but Clayton is SE of Raleigh. You are correct that it gets credit for being a great place to live and raise a family. The schools in Clayton are not all the same. Johnston County determines school assignments based on geographic location, so be sure you are particular about that when you discuss it with your realtor and have them automate a search for you.
You can certainly get a nice house in Clayton for 250k. We have lived in Clayton since 2009 and are content but I can understand why people may prefer some of the other communities.
I am Supervisor at a radiology facility for Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT ( Oncology Imaging), I am also licensed and skilled in CT, MRI and X-ray. As far as I have seen still the Raleigh area seems to be pretty good spot for my job market, I know I may take a little loss on pay
The closest radiology lab is Wake Med in Garner, otherwise you may have to commute into Raleigh. Please check for specific jobs, as Clayton is pretty far outside the center of the Triangle.
The state still allows fracking, as far as I know, but I doubt that it would happen in my lifetime. Hope your husband decides he can live with the possibility. In any case, the more likely locations for fracking are in Lee County or Sanford.
I have many coworkers who live in Clayton and commute to Raleigh. Their biggest complaint is the commute but they generally love Clayton. I would highly recommend finding a job first then deciding where to live. WakeMed will be your closest major medical center but if you wound up at Duke or UNC you would have a hell of a commute. If you do move down without knowing where you'll work I would suggest renting until you know where you'll be working. Clayton to Chapel Hill can be >1 hr each way. I know people who do it but they have the option to work from home 2-3 days a week which makes it feasible for them.
Everyone I know who lives there likes the schools. I've heard great things about Powhatan Elementary specifically.
I have many coworkers who live in Clayton and commute to Raleigh. Their biggest complaint is the commute... if you wound up at Duke or UNC you would have a hell of a commute...Clayton to Chapel Hill can be >1 hr each way.
Turn on one of the local TV stations in the morning (available on the interweb) and watch what they say about commute times from HWY 70/I-40 into Raleigh. Then ask your self if you are seriously prepared to spend 2 hours/day sitting in a car? Yeah, might not be as bad as NYC, Boston or Chicago but it's still the same frustration.
As a former Long Islander I sympathize with your desire to move. However I must say that if a childless couple is struggling on $180k in NY I really can't see you faring much better down here. This sounds like a money management problem not a location problem.
Not sure where you live but Clayton may be much more rural than you bargain for if you're coming from Nassau. That sounds good on paper but it can get old real fast unless you 100% understand what you are getting.
I would caution against moving or not moving a place because of any laws that are or are not in place. That is a sure way to drive yourself insane as you research and not a variable that can be kept current on in any reasonable way.
Good luck with your decision. Not sure where a sailor works from in the Triangle but hope it all works out for you.
I think trying to avoid that commute is a huge reason people choose to live somewhere else. It just depends on where one works. If you live on the west (Cleveland) side of Clayton, it is closer. I live on the east (Flowers Plantation) side and getting to Durham takes me at least an hour if I need to be there in the morning. The two or three times I had to be in Chapel Hill in the morning, it was closer to 90 minutes.
I agree with the others who have suggested trying to work out employment first, if possible, so you can adjust from there. Having said that, I know quite a few people who still choose to drive into RTP, Durham or Chapel Hill from here on a daily basis.
As a former Long Islander I sympathize with your desire to move. However I must say that if a childless couple is struggling on $180k in NY I really can't see you faring much better down here. This sounds like a money management problem not a location problem.
Not sure where you live but Clayton may be much more rural than you bargain for if you're coming from Nassau. That sounds good on paper but it can get old real fast unless you 100% understand what you are getting.
I would caution against moving or not moving a place because of any laws that are or are not in place. That is a sure way to drive yourself insane as you research and not a variable that can be kept current on in any reasonable way.
Good luck with your decision. Not sure where a sailor works from in the Triangle but hope it all works out for you.
Wow, you took almost all the words out of my mouth. I realize LI is expensive as I was born there and have relatives still living there, but $180k for two people can buy a decent place there, even with the ridiculous property taxes. I don't see how you two would make anywhere close to $180k combined here, but maybe I'm wrong?
I would seriously look into your spending habits and figure out what's going on. I don't see how you'd do better down here with a kid or two (daycare expenses) unless you were making the exact same you make now.
Just because they're having trouble keeping up on 180k doesn't mean they're spending frivolously. Some people are savers. My wife an I both took lateral salary moves when we moved here, and we were living "paycheck to paycheck" in MA due to what we preferred to put into savings/retirement. Not the case here, we're much more comfortable and even contributing some more to savings/retirement thanks to lower mortgage and taxes.
Not to get political, but this is why income-based and high capital gains taxes are crap. You shouldn't be punished for thinking ahead.
Last edited by m378; 08-09-2016 at 08:54 AM..
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