Moving to pay off debt and perhaps the house?

[*Flower*]

I am not the poster you quoted but we moved to Charlotte, NC from Pasadena, CA. We owned a 1,400 sq. ft house there on .16 of an acre. It sold for $600,000. We bought a 3500 sq. ft. house on 2.5 acres here for a little over 1/2 of that.

The hard thing is we feel like with the cost of living there we can never move back unless we want to both work full time and have the kids in full time school and after school care.

Dawn

I know- we left (not for good- we thought) when DH got transferred overseas with the Navy.

The house that we own here, we wouldn't be able to afford out in the SFV (where we're both from). So we visit every so often to see family.

You did the right thing for your family though-

 

[DawnM]

I think I have a bit of an advantage in that neither of us were FROM CA. DH's family is in Michigan and I grew up overseas. My Dad's family is in WA state and my Mom's family is in SC.

I don't really have a place in the US to call "home" although I lived in CA longer than anywhere else and made my home there from age 22 on.

I am not sure we will be in NC forever. I like it, but it just doesn't feel like "home". I am not sure anywhere ever will really.

Dawn

I know- we left (not for good- we thought) when DH got transferred overseas with the Navy.

The house that we own here, we wouldn't be able to afford out in the SFV (where we're both from). So we visit every so often to see family.

You did the right thing for your family though-

 

[dznymom3]

Where did you move from- and where are you now?

Just curious....

I'm from SoCal and live here too.

Welcome!

We lived in Sacramento, CA and now live in the Summerville area.

 

[*Flower*]

DawnM-

I totally agree~
I have a bit of family left out there, but I don't really feel 'at home' anymore.

Who knows, maybe we'll move again when we finish our second careers.


dznymom3-

You're just up the road from me!
Welcome to the area.... I live off of Dorchester Rd.

 

[GJM]

We are thinking about making a move from NJ to SC. We could sell our house here and pay cash for a new house down there. My DH feels we work to pay our mortgage. DS is starting lst. grade this year so if we make the move we want to do it soon.

We both grew up in NJ and all our family is here. It would be hard to leave and I think more for the fact that my DS is an only child and I like that his cousins and everyone is around. But SC is only about 12 hours away.

We feel it would just be much less stress, not worrying paying for the mortgage, plus I can't stand the winters anymore.

Our house is over 50 years old is a Cape Cod house and could sell for about $470,000 in my area!

My DH could just pick up and leave, I'm the one that worries if I could adjust or if I will miss being so close to family.

DH has been down there to check our the area and loved it, we are all going next weekend so I can see the area.

Good Luck!

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

We are thinking about making a move from NJ to SC. We could sell our house here and pay cash for a new house down there. My DH feels we work to pay our mortgage. DS is starting lst. grade this year so if we make the move we want to do it soon.

We both grew up in NJ and all our family is here. It would be hard to leave and I think more for the fact that my DS is an only child and I like that his cousins and everyone is around. But SC is only about 12 hours away.

We feel it would just be much less stress, not worrying paying for the mortgage, plus I can't stand the winters anymore.

Our house is over 50 years old is a Cape Cod house and could sell for about $470,000 in my area!

My DH could just pick up and leave, I'm the one that worries if I could adjust or if I will miss being so close to family.

DH has been down there to check our the area and loved it, we are all going next weekend so I can see the area.

Good Luck!

Hi GJM,
I'm originally from NJ too, Cape May County. Like your husband, my DH could just pick up and leave too.

We are seriously looking at SC too. We are looking into the Upstate around the Greenville, Anderson, Oconee counties. Especially looking to be near Clemson University.

I see alot of people looking at the Carolinas and then I notice that they are mostly looking at the coastal areas.

Like several others have said, Delaware just doesn't feel like home to me. And we look forward to having less stress from not having to work just to pay for the mortgage.

 

[GJM]

ForTheLoveofDisney - We currently live in Bergen County - we are looking in Myrtle Beach in a division called Carolina Forest, I will be going down next week to see the area. It really is a tough choice to make, I'm afraid if we hate it, and wanted to come back, we wouldn't be able to afford a house in Bergen County, we purchased our house right before the prices went up.

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

ForTheLoveofDisney - We currently live in Bergen County - we are looking in Myrtle Beach in a division called Carolina Forest, I will be going down next week to see the area. It really is a tough choice to make, I'm afraid if we hate it, and wanted to come back, we wouldn't be able to afford a house in Bergen County, we purchased our house right before the prices went up.

We're in the same situation. We wouldn't be able to afford to move back if we didn't love it. So, that's why this decision is even more important because it's not like if we don't like it we can come back.
I've found a great board that I've started really frequenting. It's called City-Data Forum . It's like the Dis and they have a board for South Carolina. Might be worth checking into if you had any questions about the area.

 

[DawnM]

We were in that same situation moving from CA....we know we can't afford to ever move back without both of us working full time and the kids in school and after-school programs.

It was worth it for us.

Dawn

We're in the same situation. We wouldn't be able to afford to move back if we didn't love it. So, that's why this decision is even more important because it's not like if we don't like it we can come back.
I've found a great board that I've started really frequenting. It's called City-Data Forum . It's like the Dis and they have a board for South Carolina. Might be worth checking into if you had any questions about the area.

 

[mill4023]

This is an interesting discussion because I did the opposite. We were in a lower cost area, and moved about 10 hours away to be close to family in a higher cost area. It was hard to afford a home, but worth it to be nearby.

I also have two friends who recently moved away for the housing. They were both unable to buy a house in our high cost housing market. One moved to Utah, and the other to NC. They both were able to buy homes, and one of them bought a quite large one. I'm not sure if it was worth it to them or not...both left behind family and roots. I don't know if I could have done the same. One of my friend's mother was just sobbing telling me about the move and how she wouldn't see her grandkids more than once a year at best now. (She saw them every day here.)

We live within minutes to family, and can afford a small home here (Southern Oregon, btw). Sometimes it's tempting to move when I think how large a home we could have elsewhere, but it never seems worth it to us. It would break my family's heart (and my kids', to be away from Grandma). So we'll stay here and squeeze into our home!

If we were not emotionally close to family, and if we both had to work full time to support our family (I don't have to work), we'd consider it for sure.

Hey there. DW and I both grew up in Eugene, OR, then lived in Southern Oregon (Ashland then Eagle Point) for about 7 years before moving to Charlotte, NC about 6 weeks ago.

Affordable housing was not the only reason we moved, but it was certainly a major factor. For DW, being a SAHM with 4 kids in a 3 bdrm 1400 sq. ft house was getting a little crowded. So the idea of being able to sell our house for 285k and buy a brand new 3500 sq. ft house in NC for 275k was too good to pass up.
The other reasons we moved were for better job opportunities for me(there aren't many jobs for software developers in Southern Oregon), better educational opportunity for DW (she'd like to do something in the medical field once our youngest is in school), and better schools for our kids.

 

[KnoxDisney]

Question for both dzneymom and DawnM, how was it going from the West to the East? I have lived my entire life here in the West, and we are considering moving to TN (Knoxville area). What was hard about the change/transition? What do you like better as opposed to the west coast area? What do you miss the most about the west coast area?[/QUOTE]


We moved from Michigan to Knoxville three years ago. It was a HUGE adjustment, but I would never go back. In fact, we just returned from a visit with my in-laws in Michigan. People, traffic, and attitudes~we do not miss. Knoxville is wonderful. I am a high school teacher and my husband is a police officer for the city. We have adjusted great. The only thing I miss is the shopping! But I must say the shopping here has gotten better. The area is growing!

Good luck with your decision