Relocating to North Carolina...help!

[denanbob]

We are most probably (unless I chicken out at the last minute) going to relocate to North Carolina from Ohio. My husband has a job offer in Charlotte right now so I need ideas on a nice "not too big" family friendly suburb of Charlotte with a good school system. Probably in the $180,000 - $200,000 range for a house with 3 bedrooms in a decent neighborhood (not city living). Any suggestions? And if you live in North Carolina not near Charlotte, but love your town, please let me know. We are considering all areas in his job search. Thanks so much to anyone who can give me some advice. I don't want to live too close to the ocean, but a nice day trip would be great once in awhile. Thanks again!

 

[SC Minnie]

Fort Mill, SC. It is just across the border from Charlotte. We have an excellant school system (better than Char-Meck) but are next to the interstate and not far from downtown.


http://www.fortmillsc.org/Default.aspx

 

[TruBlu]

I have friends who work in the city. They live in an area called Denver, and they love it!

 

[SC Minnie]

Also look into Union county- Weddington or Indian Trail area. It is east of the city.

 

[TruBlu]

Oops... I forgot to add this...
http://www.denvernc.com/
They live on Lake Norman. It is very beautiful!

 

[denanbob]

Thanks a bunch! I just finished checking it out and while the school system is MUCH bigger than we're used to (our highschool with grades 9-12 has less than 1,000 people total), it looks like a great town and is already in my favorite places for hubby to check out when he gets home. Only problem I saw is there are very FEW houses for sale (mostly new condos) unless I didn't look in the right place. I looked at homes.com. Thanks for the info, I really like this town!

 

[denanbob]

Oops... I forgot to add this...
http://www.denvernc.com/
They live on Lake Norman. It is very beautiful!

Thank you!! I am checking it out right now. I've heard great things about the Lake Norman area. We want to stay close to Rt 77 since that is a direct shot home, so Fort Mill and Denver are great choices! Thanks everyone!

 

[rkrivas]

Thanks a bunch! I just finished checking it out and while the school system is MUCH bigger than we're used to (our highschool with grades 9-12 has less than 1,000 people total), it looks like a great town and is already in my favorite places for hubby to check out when he gets home. Only problem I saw is there are very FEW houses for sale (mostly new condos) unless I didn't look in the right place. I looked at homes.com. Thanks for the info, I really like this town!

A good site to check for home listings is realtor.com.

 

[TruBlu]

A good site to check for home listings is realtor.com.

I was going to suggest this site too! It is great!

 

[lowie]

we actually bought and built a house in south-west charlotte. unfortunately the housing market in florida took a dump and we didn't want to give our house here away.
we bought a KB home in the neighborhood called evanton at berewick. they have lots of great communities that are smaller then that and a little less money. check out builder websites, they are giving great deals now that the market has slowed and buying a spec house can move you in quick but you'll have all new.
to give you an idea, the house was 3000 sf, 4 bedrooms 3 baths plus a loft loaded with extras for $260,000. so there are great deals to be had there!

good luck!

 

[zalansky]

we actually bought and built a house in south-west charlotte. unfortunately the housing market in florida took a dump and we didn't want to give our house here away.
we bought a KB home in the neighborhood called evanton at berewick. they have lots of great communities that are smaller then that and a little less money. check out builder websites, they are giving great deals now that the market has slowed and buying a spec house can move you in quick but you'll have all new.
to give you an idea, the house was 3000 sf, 4 bedrooms 3 baths plus a loft loaded with extras for $260,000. so there are great deals to be had there!

good luck!

I saw the KB homes websit3e and cannot believe how gorgeous the homes are in that area. KB sells here too, but the homes are stripped with cheap carpets and cabinets for $400k. Like you said Florida is crashing, I wish we could move to NC. If DH could find a job there, I think we might go.

 

[tar heel]

Cabarrus County is one of the biggest bedroom communities, and it's overall a good place to live. Most newcomers live in west Concord or Harrisburg, and that's where I would recommend from a schools perspective. I-85 runs through Cabarrus and, depending on where you are, you're usually 20-40 minutes from I-77. The west Concord area is about 20 minutes. If you decide to look at Cabarrus, I'll be happy to give you my words of wisdom on schools via PM. I have three children and my job also takes me into all the public and a couple of private schools.

A couple things about the Lake Norman area: Most housing is going to be out of your price range and you have to go out pretty far from Charlotte to get out of Mecklenburg County. You will want to get out of Mecklenburg County b/c of schools.

Also, unless you choose Mooresville, which still has a city system, all the school systems are going to be significantly larger than you're used to. Most NC schools systems are an entire county, and the counties you are looking at are among the fastest growing in the nation. We're building new schools as fast as we can -- my 12-year-old has never attended a school that wasn't new!