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.
I was born and raised in Long Island, lived in the city, now renting in an upstate suburb 30 miles from Manhattan. I have had enough of New York living and am anxious to move to the Wake Forest area, as my sister is there already. I have been there several times and each time, I love it more and more. I recommend it to everyone if they can make a living there and pay their mortgage. I am cautious though as my husband would take a significant pay cut, he is a police officer currently with NYPD and moving to NC would lower his base salary (prior to overtime) by 20k! After making cost analysis charts.... I am hopeful that we can still make it work, but I would like to ask others If I am being realistic here? In NY we pull in 110k with his overtime. In NC we are talking 89k plus whatever Over Time he can manage (not as much as NY I imagine). Can we afford one of those beautiful homes (250k home?) and the bills that come with or should we seriously reassess this move? It is hard to determine without knowing how much deductions will be taken out per check. Any insight would be helpful.
We are swinging a $230k on just over $70k, so it sounds like it is doable for you guys too. Check out paycheckcity.com to compare paycheck deductions.
I'm from Oceanside, wife Long Beach/Island Park. Lived all over the USA and came here 18 years ago from New Orleans.
It all depends on your job, how you'll do here. Costs are lower in many categories, but wages are lower too. Heard that a new police officer in Suffolk County can get $80K. Try $32K in Raleigh.
Taxes are a light year below LI on property. Hope that continues.
It's a nice area, big enough for the services you expect. Small enough to not be a total zoo. Lots of NY type retail is opening here to welcome their previous customers.
As the little Jewish guy said in the ad, "Try it, you'll like it".
We are swinging a $230k on just over $70k, so it sounds like it is doable for you guys too. Check out paycheckcity.com to compare paycheck deductions.
PM if you need more details.
Thank You so much for that info. The website is great and pretty accurate as I tested it based on my paycheck currently. It gave me the last bit of information to make my cost analysis chart make sense. And guess what? It also informed me that I HAVE to move to NC if I want to buy property because NY and even AZ (which was another alternative) are just too expensive for us. What really helps out is that I won't have to pay for daycare in NC as all my family will be there! So thanks again and I think I will PM you with some questions!
Thank You so much for that info. The website is great and pretty accurate as I tested it based on my paycheck currently. It gave me the last bit of information to make my cost analysis chart make sense. And guess what? It also informed me that I HAVE to move to NC if I want to buy property because NY and even AZ (which was another alternative) are just too expensive for us. What really helps out is that I won't have to pay for daycare in NC as all my family will be there! So thanks again and I think I will PM you with some questions!
You're not dreaming. We just moved here from Long Island and it's already a good decision. I received my first paycheck last Friday and after paying all the bills due I was shocked by how much remained. Mind you, I expected that amount but I figured I was being overly optimistic.
It's beautiful down here as well. My wife commented that it feels like we're on vacation. What I would recommend to you is figuring out how to meet new people down here. Our neighbors haven't exactly been beating our door down to introduce themselves and welcome us (older established community with big lots so not a whole lot of eye contact). Undaunted we accepted invitations to events/get-togethers in which there are other transplanted families with young children.
Having access to this forum was critical to making our move successful. I'm amazed by how accurate the advice has been and how helpful all the support proved to be.
thank you for your quote, we are planning a move in about one month. Our house is up for sale in Florida, the market is not that great, but our house looks nice with a pool in a nice area. We fell in love with Cary. Our daugther will be attending NCSU. My husband will stay behind to try to sell our home and we will be renting for a while.It is so nice to hear you have made your move and have no regrets. We are looking forward to our new life there and when we visited, we found people to be kind and friendly. Many waved as we drove by their neighborhood. It is hard to find that kindness here in Florida where we live.
the best to you and your family!
I just got transfered to Durham and will be looking for a place in Wake Forest. I hope me and my wife are making the right decison. Here on LI, my 100K, coupled with my wifes 30K is not barely enough for us to live comfortably. I am hoping we can come there and my wife can stay home and raise our kids (which is all she has ever wanted). The fact that my salary is untouched should help make that a reality. I hope I am not just dreaming here.
I would sat that $100K in Wake Forest is very doable. Good Luck!
Well, this thread and this site has greatly inspired me to not give up on my dream of coming to NC. We are hoping to settle into the Wake Forest area as my sister is there already. I just hope I can find our fit in our price range. My sister lives a lovely community there (thornrose) and although we will not be able to afford that much, I hope we can find something suitable. We are planning to come down in the next few weeks to meet with a realtor who will give us a 'realtor's tour' of the area. If those of you on this thread have any realtor contacts I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks again guys!
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.
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.
Thanks!!!
