New Yorkers who made the move to North Carolina, please come in

I have some questions, if you don't mind. DH & I were looking at $$ numbers & it's going to be really hard for us to make it work in LI especially after we have our second DC.

Where did you move from in NY?

Which neighborhood in NC do you live in now?

Looking back, would you choose the area again or somewhere different?

If you have kids in school, how do you like it?

How far do you & DH travel for work?

Do homes in NC have taxes? (I was looking online & listings did not mention taxes)

How is public transportation? (I live in queens so I feel like I need to know this even though we have 2 cars-lol)

A personal question because this will be the hardest thing for me. How often do you make it back to see family & friends?

tia!

Re: New Yorkers who made the move to North Carolina, please come in

moved from Staten Island
moved to Waxhaw, NC (south charlotte)

area is perfect for us...but it is the 4th one we have lived in since moving down here. We rented in Southpark, Huntersville, and Ballantyne. No rush to buy...we wanted to make sure we were buying in right area. So many rush to buy and regret it.

No kids in school yet, but my sister is now a teacher down here and subbed all over. So impressed with schools. She student taught in NYC.

DH travels 25 minutes.

I have a townhouse. Taxes are 1800 a year.

Only real public transportation I have taken is the light rail. A lot of people who work uptown park and ride.

When we first moved down, I was back every 3 months. Now it is more like every 6 mos. I did the drive solo with one kid. When I had my baby, I took a break from driving solo. I will start again this summer.

In april-carpooling up with a mom friend from LI.
I was suppose to go up day after christmas, but blizzard kept me home.
my paretnts just left yesterday after being here for the week.

i basically see no friends when i go up. my parents hold the kids hostage...my baby doesn't like my parents..so i stay with them the whole time.

Just make sure when you are doing numbers...you aren't doing it to get more house for your money. These people rarely do well down here, imo. you need more on the line then wanting that to make it work.
i came to be a sahm. so love it.
my sister came for a teaching job...loves it.

good luck!

Re: New Yorkers who made the move to North Carolina, please come in

We haven't made the move yet, but my BIL did. They lived in Rocky Point, both parents working FT with OT, and bearly making their bills. BIL found a job making more then what he was making here, and then started looking at houses to rent. They found a 4 bedroom with a spare room home that's 3x the size of their house for more then half of what they were paying here. And with their increase in salery, his wife will no longer 'need' to work. They moved to Moorseville, and we have more family that lives there. They rent now so they don't know taxes yet. They have 2 girls in school, and love the district. Can't think of the name right now tho. His drive is 15 mins from his home. I was thinking of moving for years... my DH never wanted to leave LI. Now, after realizing we will never be able to afford a house of our own in the areas we want for a looong time, he is thining of moving as well. We are taking a trip down there in a month or so to check it out and look for a job for him. I want to be a SAHM and not have him working 80+ hours a week. He agrees. So, we'll see what happens.

Re: New Yorkers who made the move to North Carolina, please come in

thanks for the info Janice - Yeah, we basically don't want to just get by by the skin of our teeth, you know? The taxes in LI are what is really going to hinder us being able to save money. It's not worth it to live paycheck to paycheck, skimp & struggle.

Danicia - good luck. DH & I need to make a trip there & see for ourselves.


I'd love to hear from more people