Anyone from North Carolina?

Obviously I cannot say anything about any American region to live in...but want to say: That house looks beautiful. If you move there, can we all come along and drink self made lemonade on the porch together?
 
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You can get a house like that here in the Charleston, SC area. It is really nice here. We live about 30 mins from Charleston, so we are close to all the fun downtown stuff and close to the beach too. We love it here so far. The winter here is very short which I like. If you need anymore info about this area just let me know.
 
Deborah and Amy we should get together for coffee some day! Or pictures? (shameless plug for self teeeeheeee)

Lived here all my life and the only thing that makes me want to move is the state business taxes and red tape. Other than that- will probably be here the rest of my life. I love it.
I'm 2.5 hours from the beach and 5 from the mountains, can't beat that.

The weather is wonky. October and March, prepare to switch from a/c in the day to heat at night. No joke. 80 to 35 at night any given day. It's sticky nasty humid all summer. But nowhere near as bad as Georgia in my experience :)

Lake Gaston (try Henrico, NC) is an absolutely beautiful area. A lot of wide open space almost entirely privately owned with only 2 public spots on the NC side and those are just for boats, and hard to find. That will be Warren (where I am, this county stinks stay away), Halifax, Northhampton county. Public schools stink in this area but privates are great. Very rural at Lake Gaston, 30 min drive to larger shopping centers that include wal-mart and the likes. But so gorgeous and peaceful and well maintained.

Raleigh is the big city for me and Cary is over priced. I'd opt for Wake Forest and commute. Beautiful town with lots of old charm and not even half the traffic.

You can't go wrong with any of the northern beach towns. Duck, Corolla. Manteo is the best spot on the outerbanks.

Don't know all that much about the mountains, I don't like it up there all that great but hubby's family is from there.

Please call me if you ever wanna chat about it. I'll be glad to show you around too if you come visit!
 
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Found you a nice waterfront house at Lake Gaston Robin.
http://www.buyatlakegaston.com/pagesequest/LakeGastonSearch.aspx
MLS number 104316
10z1cle.jpg


Good luck!
 
Well, I'm not NC but I am in Tennessee... not the Nashville area mind you, but that is one of the places we've thought of moving to.
We get all 4 seasons here... kinda. lol We just don't get the nasty/stupid ones as long as most people **cough - winter - cough**. The cost of living is really low, lower here than in Nashville. But then well... Memphis isn't a place I'd recommend anyone moving to. :P Too much crime. But Nashville is beautiful, and I've heard from family that lives there that the crime isn't bad and that the schools are pretty good.
((And yes, this is my desperate attempt to get anyone to live near me lol))
 
I'm in NC. I've lived here all my life! :) We're in western NC, about 30 mins from the mountains and about 45-60 mins from Charlotte. I've lived in Boone (mountains--LOVED it there), Greensboro, and Burlington, too. Burlington was a great city--30 mins from Chapel Hill/Durham, less than an hour to Raleigh. It's a much quieter place to live, but still has great shops, malls, and restaurants. Really, really loved our years there. Right now, though, I'm right where I want to be. Love western NC and even though it's super quiet where I live, I know I can get anything I would want with an hour drive. :)

Weather--of course, I'm closer to the mountains now so it's a bit different. Burlington-ish weather would be:
May-September: Hot with some humidity. Not awful, but you'll want some trees in your yard and AC and ceiling fans in your house. A pool nearby wouldn't hurt.
September-November: Fall. Gorgeous colors, cooler weather.
December-February: Winter. Cold, but not awful. Some days around/below freezing, but mostly in the 40s. Snow is pretty rare in that area, but it's fun when it happens.
March-May: Spring. Warming up, flowers, trees budding, gorgeous. Prob my favorite season.

Feel free to PM or email me if I can help. I've traveled pretty much the entire state w/ hubby's job, so I may have some insight to about anywhere you'd be looking. :) I love NC...I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
 
Well, in March it is VERY unusual to have snow in most of NC. It actually doesn't snow much at all in Raleigh (it's kinda a whole and snow goes around it). I was just talking to my mom and it's definitely spring there now. Actually 80's tomorrow. Yikes. VERY humid. NOT a place to go if you have a lot of allergies. Pine is a big issue there. In the spring everything is COVERED in a blanket of yellow.

Winter is not a big deal, late Nov- Feb you'll have avg. cold temps like 40-50's during the day. It's rare that they see a lot of snow. Spring is March and April and then it seams that summer hits. Spring and Fall are really short. I live in MO now, and much prefer a more balanced 4 seasons. But that's me and we've already established that I'm an odd duck.

It's hard to grow things in a lot of the soil cause it has a lot of clay in it. Or, actually I should be more specific and say I'm from Raleigh so that's my experience there. It's WAY smaller than Orlando and not big city. But it's just gotten crowded. Parking at malls and things is crazy and driving anywhere takes twice as long as it use to but it still doesn't havae a big city feel. The downtown in Raleigh is really cute as is Chapel Hill and Cary. If I were going I'd be a Cary girl myself. I think it's more young family fun. My brother is old school money type (so can't relate) and he lives in downtown Raleigh now and loves it.

I homeschool so I probably shouldn't answer about schools- even though I taught in the public schools there. Not a fan. They do have year round school in a lot of places (again, Raleigh) so I think that is neat and helps.

I think the overall impression is a lot of strip malls on the outskirts of town and then traffic jam in town. The houses are in cute neighborhoods. People there don't tend to their yards and stuff as much as here (from what my Mom and sister said when they visited), but I'm not sure about that. It depends on the area. Personally, I would stay far far away from Durham. I have a great friend who now lives in Charlotte and my DH considered moving us there. Or, he considered it for a moment and then decided it would be lonely without me and the kids- I was NOT moving to Charlotte. Again, I hate big cities though and it's bigger and has more of a bigger city feel than Raleigh. Raleigh is just so spread out that it doesn't have that same feel. Also, race car driving is HUGE in Charlotte and the highways are a parking lot whenever that's going on. I so couldn't deal with that. I would personally LOVE to live at the beach. I want to live in South Port. It's just super cute downtown strolling with ice cream and fun window shopping with kids in strollers kinda place. And has the BEST sea food resteraunt anywhere right on the water. And I HATE fish. But, well, YUM. We love the beach and prefer quiet to crazy crowded beaches.

So, that's more than you ever wanted to know about what I think of NC. I'll take another look and see if I left something out later that you asked about.
 
You could move to Fargo. :thumbup: We have all 4 seasons and the town is on the grow (metro area is 200,000) plus we are only 2.5 hours from Minneapolis. We have great school systems and its super affordable. Our state actually has a huge surplus budget and an increase in jobs even while the rest of the country is having a rough time. I know, North Dakota is not what everyone thinks of when they think of moving somewhere and you might wanna die your first winter after being where you are from, but its really a great place to live.
 
We just relocated to that area of NC (Holly Springs to be exact) from Michigan. We've been here 10 weeks. Absolutely love it here! We had lived in Chattanooga for 10 years before moving to MI and we were really anxious to get back to the SE.

The area is great. Around the Holly Springs area it is really expanding quickly so there is still a lot of growth and there are tons of homes for sale and new ones going up everywhere. You could easily purchase a new home 2500 - 3000 square feet in the style you pictured for $250K to $300K.

Within 10 minutes of me is everything I could need in a hurry and within 20 minutes is any kind of store you could want. Tons of restaurants and Raleigh has many different entertainment options. Because of the major universities in the area (UNC & Duke), we also have excellent healthcare options. We also have a major airport.

We're not far from the mountains, not far from the beach and not far from Charlotte. Raleigh is the state capital so there are lots of potential civic lessons here too. :thumbup:
 
Um Robin....BOSTON! With global warming and all, it isn't as cold as it used to be in the winter. (Still waiting for snow.)

I lived in Charlotte for one year during a company re-location. While Charlotte wasn't really for me, the weather was awfully nice. Very mild...and spring was just beautiful!

Good luck with your adventure!
 
We're beginning to put out our feelers for when I'm not tied down to this area (I have a family member here that I am responsible for who cannot be moved). We're looking at TN and NC. I can't wait :D
 
Let's go together Darcy... :) I would miss my parents and sister, but I also think with technology the way it is today, it wouldn't be that bad. And since it's climate is similar to here (unlike Colorado, where we we looking before) they may even follow us eventually... I'm about 90% sure the in-laws would...

Robin, did you end up moving? I can't remember....
 
"We want trees and open space and a house with a porch and seasons and small town neighbors with convenient access to a metropolitan area if we want to go out to dinner / do some shopping."

I think you just described central Iowa! Well, the metropolitan area might be stretching it. You could definitely get a house like that for <$300,000 and top of the line public schools.
 
Ok... reviving this thread. Here I don't even have a laptop with photoshop at the moment and still I come here for advice :)

My husband went from thinking of moving "maybe one day" to being on his third interview with the company asking when the kids go back to school and talking about their relocation package. Eeek! This is getting very real, VERY fast.

Anyone have info on the Raleigh area? I'm a sp.ed. preschool teacher and have two kids- one going into 4th and one going into 1st, so the school district info is of particular interest to me. Any info on anything is MUCH appreciated.
 
haha @ reviving this thread since Robin just moved a couple weeks ago to NC :)

I <3 the Raleigh area but know nothing of living there. I know the schools in NC rank pretty high on the charts!
 
schock77 said:
Ok... reviving this thread. Here I don't even have a laptop with photoshop at the moment and still I come here for advice :)

My husband went from thinking of moving "maybe one day" to being on his third interview with the company asking when the kids go back to school and talking about their relocation package. Eeek! This is getting very real, VERY fast.

Anyone have info on the Raleigh area? I'm a sp.ed. preschool teacher and have two kids- one going into 4th and one going into 1st, so the school district info is of particular interest to me. Any info on anything is MUCH appreciated.
Click to expand...

One of the things I like about the Wake County school system is that there are traditional schedules and there are year round schedules. My daughter started fourth grade this week.....she is in yearound school so she's in for 9 weeks, out for 3 (sometimes 4). We LOVE the yearound system but it's not for everybody.
 
Thanks ladies! since I'm a teacher too the schools are my biggest concern at this point. if he takes this job they're offering a house hunting trip and 30-60 days temporary housing (which is good because I'm not going to float two mortgages!)

It just seems like this is just happening fast so the more I know the better. :)
 
Stephanie, We just moved a couple of weeks ago. We're in the Charlotte area, but I have to tell you I have ZERO regrets about moving here. It is the only place I've ever moved that I've felt instantly at home. I wish we had moved years ago because it's soo stunningly gorgeous. The people are wonderful. The schools are great. It's dreamy and I know you're going to love it. Don't be nervous at all, you're moving to a great part of the country!

R
 
Glad to hear it! He flies out for a face-to-face interview on August 2- looks like I may be here to start my school year and then move shortly after if he gets it. EEEEK! Now to get this house in order fast just in case!

I need to research the schools- I may end up having to sub as the beginning of the school year is not a good time to job hunt. I see some do yearound here and others on traditional cycle... hmmm... that's different... so much to learn!!!
 
bumping this up for you Steph..I was watching the View (watching=background noise) til Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank came on then i paid attention. Anyways she's a real estate mogul and she was asked best places to buy houses right now and Raleigh was ranked #2 behind Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was based on housing market, job availability, and school districts. I'd say that's pretty great for the city :)
 
Yay! Thats funny because Austin always ranks high too. We sold our house for asking price in three days so instead of my hubby starting his job and leaving us behind for the house to show and sell, we will only be apart for about 2 weeks.

Driving from Austin to Raleigh the last week of September to move my hubby there as he starts his job October 1 and hopefully will have luck with the house hunt. We close October 12 and then they have someone packing and moving us there. Still a bit anxious as I work on getting all my teaching certificates for NC and will probably just sub for awhile until I figure out the schools. But also with me not having a job or prequal will be less than what we've had.

Thinking we may shoot for a short term lease when we first get there so we have some time to house hunt. Be sure we get into the right schools (BIG district and so different it has me worried about getting into the right place) but with 3 dogs that may be a challenge! We will see in about a month!

My husband likes Cary, apex, holly springs area so that's where we are searching will be excited to check it out myself.
 
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