North Carolina or Connecticut?? Some advice please.

[Ibbygirl]

My husband who has worked at his job for 20 years will most likely be getting laid off in the next couple of months. We've been talking about leaving South Florida for some time now and this layoff looks like a good chance for us to make a clean break and just get up and move out of state altogether. My brother, coincidentally, is also getting laid off in the next couple of months (he and my husband don't work together btw). My brother is talking about moving to North Carolina. My mom is already up there in North Georgia less than a mile from the NC border and my brother is my only sibling so North Carolina would have our family close together again which would be nice, but my mom said it's hard to find jobs up there right now with things the way they are.

 

My husband's closest sister works in the University in New London, Connecticut and so he was saying that maybe we could move up there close to her. He said it might be easier for him to find work there than in the country which is where I would want to live in NC. Right now it looks like it's going to be one of these two places and we are praying hard that God would give us a clear sign where He would have us go, but I wanted to get some advice from you very wonderful and very knowledgeable ladies (and gents) here as to what I can expect in either NC or CT?? What are the laws/requirements concerning homeschooling, how vibrant is the homeschool community?? Are there support groups or other type associations where my kids can get together with other homeschoolers for field trips, co-ops etc??

 

Thank you everybody so kindly for your replies and advice. This is an amazing group here. :) God bless. :)

 

Jen

 

Oh Ps. I would be interested in knowing what kinds of services there are for Autistic kids as well. My son is severely Autistic and goes to an "Autism cluster" in a local public school. He gets therapies in the school and his teacher is really good with him. I'd like to bring him home at some point when he is older, but for where he is right now, he's really better off in the school he goes to. If anyone is knowledgeable about what programs the public/charter etc schools offer for Autism in these states I am very appreciative. Thanks. :)

Edited April 23, 2009 by Ibbygirl

[Chris in VA]

I have family in CT. I think it's really an expensive place to live. My family lived in Farmington, Milford, Cheshire, and several small, rather icky towns in the southern part. I know people say it's lovely, but I just don't see it. Winters are long and hard, so coming from Miami might be difficult. I don't know about homeschooling there, tho.

 

NC is a whole 'nother ball o' wax! I think the laws are pretty homeschool friendly. Classical Conversations got its start there, and I know there are is a big hs community around the Winston-Salem area. My sil and mil live in Murphy, and sil says there's a fairly good-sized hs community there. The weather is moderate there, and it's quite lovely, if you like mountains (big hills) and trees.

 

I guess it depends on what your husband does, if he's willing to commute, and all of that. If he's medical/tech/white collar/financial industry, he'll probably find a good fit in CT. There's a lot of jobs like that in the eastern section of NC, and of course, some jobs are very portable and can be done just about anywhere.

 

If I really had to choose, I'd go with NC in a heart beat.

[MomofSeven]

and there's a lot of homeschool restrictions.

 

NC, is warm, lower taxes and strong homeschool community. I'd move there in a hearbeat.

[Soph the vet]

I lived in CT for twenty years. It is VERY expensive, pretty much everywhere in the state. My sister is in NC and lives very well on a modest income, close to mountains and still not that far from the ocean. Don't get me wrong, I loved CT, but I now live in MN and could not afford to move back there at the same level of living with an engineer's salary (which is good). My cousins who have opted to stay in CT have very high paying banker or sales jobs. There is a ton of pressure to keep up with the Joneses that they face in many areas that you would not find in most of NC.

[mom2g2b]

I love NC and have lived here most of my life. It depends on what your dh's line of work is as far as job market. Many places around here are cutting back. We lived in the Winston-Salem area for 17 years and I loved it. The NCHE conference is held there each May.

 

Homeschooling is easy. I keep an attendance record and test each year between the ages of 7 and 16. I don't know about resources for autism.

 

Vickie

[Ibbygirl]

See! I knew I was right to ask you all here. :) My husband works for the Clerk of the Courts (who is an elected official) in the computer division. He answers help desk calls and helps maintain the website and things like that. There is legistlation right now introduced in the Florida House and Senate by the Judiciary to get rid of the clerk all together and have the judges run the clerk's office. If the legislation passes (which my husband says looks very likely) they will fire the clerk and all 9,000 of his employees and those people will have to re-apply and be hired as employees of the state rather than the county. It would mess up benefits, salaries, vacation and alot of other things and my husband says that if he gets fired, he won't reapply.

 

I've never been to CT, but I've been to NC many times and love it there. I love the mountains and I would like to be closer to my mom since she is getting older now and she lives alone. I didn't realize that CT was so expensive! Most likely we won't be able to afford to live there. NC I'm sure we could afford, but my husband would have to be able to find a job. Sigh.

[MamaT]

I live in Western North Carolina (also moved up here from Florida), and we LOVE it. It is so beautiful, we get all four seasons, and the homeschooling laws are easy to comply with. We have to test every year (we go to a private school) and keep attendance records.

 

There are several homeschool groups in our area and several co-ops. I'm not sure about resources for autistic children, so I can't help you there.

[1bassoon]

and there's a lot of homeschool restrictions.

 

 

 

Amy - I'm with you on the taxes being too high, but we lived and homeschooled in CT for almost 10 years, and there are almost no restrictions on homeschooling whatsoever.

 

But I'd STILL vote for NC!!!!! Well, except for the whole basketball thing ;)

 

 

But snow? Winter? NO THANK YOU! I'm loving the south here.

 

My ONLY reason for you to think CT is the special ed programs "may" be better there - but you'll sacrifice a lot in the long run.

[whitestavern]

Wow, I feel the need to defend my state here!! First off, CT is one of the easiest states in the country to homeschool in. There are no restrictions and no reporting WHATSOEVER. I know people who would not move for this sole reason. There are a lot of homeschooling support groups, statewide and locally, for every type of homeschooler. There are those based on faith but also many that are inclusive.

 

It is a beautiful place to live. You have cities areas with much to offer, beautiful country/small towns, and a gorgeous shoreline. You are within 2 hours of New York City or Boston. The seasons are very defined, but winters are more temperate than NH/VT/Northern NE. Summers are very pleasant, rarely uncomfortable. Fall is beautiful.

 

All that being said, it is expensive. Taxes are high, electricity is high, housing is expensive. But there are more affordable towns, especially those in the Eastern part of the state. (down near NYC is considered the Gold Coast and is very pricey). I'm not sure if salaries are higher than other states to kind of balance that out though. I'm not sure what the current job employment climate is in the state.

[KarenNC]

services for those with autism in NC

http://www.teacch.com/

http://www.autismsociety-nc.org/

 

Realize that service availability will vary to some extent based on the county in which you choose to live. Rural counties will tend to have fewer services due to lower budgets and simply fewer people with autism needing services. You will also want to consider the long term implications on availability of services for that child when he becomes an adult. Rural counties will have fewer options for supported employment, residential support (whether your child lives at home, in a group home or independently with support), etc.

 

As to homeschooling laws:

http://www.ncdnpe.org/homeschool.asp

 

Support groups, co-ops, sports, etc will vary greatly from area to area. The more densely populated, the greater likelihood that these things will exist and that you will have some choice between options. Sounds like you might be happy with a Christian-specific group, which will give you much greater flexibility, especially in the more rural counties.

 

This link http://www.ncdnpe.org/documents/hhh233.pdf

will give you statistics from 2007-2008 on the number of registered homeschools by county, which will give you some idea of the likelihood of options. To give you an idea, Cherokee County had 169 registered homeschools while Clay next door only had 45. Mecklenburg, OTOH, had 2866.

[LizzyBee]

It's been reported in the national news that irt to the economy, Raleigh, NC is the #1 place in the country to be right now. Of course, if everyone flocks here it won't be #1 for long. But things are not nearly as bad here as I've heard from other places. You don't have to go far to live in the country and work in Raleigh, and you'd be within a few hours of your family. UNC in Chapel Hill has the TEACH (sp?) program for autism, and I think there are DAN doctors in the area too. Homeschooling is so common here that I rarely encounter any negative feedback about it.

[vineyard]

I will second the information on not much governmental restriction at this time for homeschoolers. As it stands the protocol is to file a Notice of Intent with the school your dc would be going to & submit to a year end porfolio review. Compulsary attendance is 5-16, but can withdraw with parental consent after 16. However the above is not LAW as far as NOI, but what school districts try to adhere to. So whether you file is at your discretion. See HSLDA for exact verbage or T.E.A.C.H. website which is one of the larger CT homeschool organizations.

 

I have lived in CT all my life Wallingford 18 years, New Haven, 2, Cheshire 11, Windham, 6, & Scotland since August. I will say there is a vast difference in what part of CT you live in, so looking into what part you want to live in may look differently. The taxes are high univerally, housing higher compared to national average, homeschooling support or groups definately varies. In rural areas homeschool support is more spread out over a larger area, fewer churchs, & a longer drive to shopping. Also libraries are defiantely different in what town you live in. Basically higher real estate taxes, more $ in town, bigger library -not across the board, but pretty close. I just thought of a great survey that was done to help you get a CT overview CPTV in the CT magazine did across CT survey of towns & rated them. If you can't find it on their site let me know I have it printed out as it was helpful when we were deciding to move.

 

If you stay on the shore it is expensive. New London is more city like, but crime is higher than surrounding areas. If you go north into smaller towns real estate is more affordable, but you're in the small town zone & all that it entails. We faced this road when we were looking as dh works in Groton which is across the Thames River from New London.

 

CT does have four seasons.

 

I would suggest if your husband can find someone in his field to find out what his potential salary would be in each area & then what that salary would afford you in each area. I wouldn't use those projected salary things on the computer because at least for my husbands field they were quite a bit off. Maybe if his field has a national organization or group or old fashioned networking of friends.

 

I wish you the best on your decision sometimes in does come down to climate & family as those are two variables you can't change & put a $ tag on.

HTH some

[vineyard]

I did state that the NOI wasn't law, just that the CT Dept. of Education does list it in their guidelines as what homeshoolers are to do according to them. It isn't law, but THEY treat it as such. Also depending on what town you live in there is a vast difference as to how that school district treats it. Some are totally fine with it others are dogmatic about it & will try and impose even more oversight on homeschoolers.

 

Probably the best overview of climate would be to look at HSLDA interactions with CT & the CT Homeschool Network, Inc. at http://www.cthomeschoolnetwork.org as they have a map with towns sited that have had problems with public school abuse of authority.

 

CT homeschool experiences do vary from the towns interpretation of the guidelines. Some see it as law & other understand it as a guideline.

 

Since a child with special needs may removed at some point it may prove a bit more cumbersome definately something to be aware of.

 

I am always careful not to across the board state that CT has NO oversight as that is not how CT Dept. of Education or DCF sees it as evidenced by confrontations in the past. CT IMO isn't as non-invasive as say TX. When push comes to shove CT Dept. of Education wants & is actively trying to seek more oversight so were it to come down to confrontation you are given 10 days to comply to NOI & would have to submit to portfolio review. Unless you wanted to engage in a legal assertion of your rights on principal. I don't know many homeschoolers who want to go down that road or who could financially. I'm sure some would like to triumph the cause, but in deciding to move to a state not a vested interest.

 

Many homeschoolers in CT do "fly under the radar" so to speak with not filing NOI which ISN'T law but CT Dept. of Educations guideline. However there are some who haven't had such an experience dependant on individual towns DOE interpretation of CT General Statutes 10-184, 10-184a, 10-198a, 10-249, 10-251 which pertain to homeschoolers.

 

Just wanted to paint the whole landscape so to speak. What one does in regards to the guidelines & DOE stance versus law per se is their individual choice for their family, but the blanket stance of nothing has to be done & we're totally left alone isn't valid. If you don't file NOI you are given 10 days to comply otherwise you are deemed truant and where it goes from there is determined by how zealous your towns DOE is. You could file, do the portfolio review & all is good. Others have been contacted by DCF & it has gotten more hostile.

 

CT DOE actively wants more oversight & they are seeking it. When or if they are able to achieve what they wish only time will tell. But CT DOE does not have the stance of live & let live in regards to homeschoolers.

[TraceyS/FL]

I did state that the NOI wasn't law, just that the CT Dept. of Education does list it in their guidelines as what homeshoolers are to do according to them. It isn't law, but THEY treat it as such. Also depending on what town you live in there is a vast difference as to how that school district treats it. Some are totally fine with it others are dogmatic about it & will try and impose even more oversight on homeschoolers.

 

Probably the best overview of climate would be to look at HSLDA interactions with CT & the CT Homeschool Network, Inc. at http://www.cthomeschoolnetwork.org as they have a map with towns sited that have had problems with public school abuse of authority.

 

CT homeschool experiences do vary from the towns interpretation of the guidelines. Some see it as law & other understand it as a guideline.

 

Since a child with special needs may removed at some point it may prove a bit more cumbersome definately something to be aware of.

 

I am always careful not to across the board state that CT has NO oversight as that is not how CT Dept. of Education or DCF sees it as evidenced by confrontations in the past. CT IMO isn't as non-invasive as say TX. When push comes to shove CT Dept. of Education wants & is actively trying to seek more oversight so were it to come down to confrontation you are given 10 days to comply to NOI & would have to submit to portfolio review. Unless you wanted to engage in a legal assertion of your rights on principal. I don't know many homeschoolers who want to go down that road or who could financially. I'm sure some would like to triumph the cause, but in deciding to move to a state not a vested interest.

 

Many homeschoolers in CT do "fly under the radar" so to speak with not filing NOI which ISN'T law but CT Dept. of Educations guideline. However there are some who haven't had such an experience dependant on individual towns DOE interpretation of CT General Statutes 10-184, 10-184a, 10-198a, 10-249, 10-251 which pertain to homeschoolers.

 

Just wanted to paint the whole landscape so to speak. What one does in regards to the guidelines & DOE stance versus law per se is their individual choice for their family, but the blanket stance of nothing has to be done & we're totally left alone isn't valid. If you don't file NOI you are given 10 days to comply otherwise you are deemed truant and where it goes from there is determined by how zealous your towns DOE is. You could file, do the portfolio review & all is good. Others have been contacted by DCF & it has gotten more hostile.

 

CT DOE actively wants more oversight & they are seeking it. When or if they are able to achieve what they wish only time will tell. But CT DOE does not have the stance of live & let live in regards to homeschoolers.

 

Sounds like a state to join HSLDA in... there is no way i'd be doing more than is LAW :D The more you give in to "guidelines", the more they try to take.....

 

CT wouldn't be a choice for me to move from FL because of the weather followed by the expense. But 99.9% the weather! :tongue_smilie:

[Nakia]

Well, Jen, you know what I'm gonna say! NC!!!!!!

 

NC is super homeschool friendly. I have lived in Western NC all my life, and I love it here. We would never dream of moving! And you can get some goats. :D

[Catwoman]

I am watching this thread with great interest, Jen, and would like to ask you one question, if you don't mind answering it -- what is your budget for a new home?

 

That will make a huge difference in my advice to you. I'm not familiar with NC, but I do know a thing or two about CT!

 

Cat

[Ibbygirl]

Wow, I feel the need to defend my state here!! First off, CT is one of the easiest states in the country to homeschool in. There are no restrictions and no reporting WHATSOEVER. I know people who would not move for this sole reason. There are a lot of homeschooling support groups, statewide and locally, for every type of homeschooler. There are those based on faith but also many that are inclusive.

 

It is a beautiful place to live. You have cities areas with much to offer, beautiful country/small towns, and a gorgeous shoreline. You are within 2 hours of New York City or Boston. The seasons are very defined, but winters are more temperate than NH/VT/Northern NE. Summers are very pleasant, rarely uncomfortable. Fall is beautiful.

 

All that being said, it is expensive. Taxes are high, electricity is high, housing is expensive. But there are more affordable towns, especially those in the Eastern part of the state. (down near NYC is considered the Gold Coast and is very pricey). I'm not sure if salaries are higher than other states to kind of balance that out though. I'm not sure what the current job employment climate is in the state.

 

 

Do you know where New London would fall into the taxes/housing/electricity category?? If we moved there that would be where we would go because we would be getting a house with my husband's sister. She works in the University so I we would have to live close to where she works.

 

Thank you so much for the replies ladies. Keep 'em coming. It is so helpful. :)

[Ibbygirl]

My ONLY reason for you to think CT is the special ed programs "may" be better there - but you'll sacrifice a lot in the long run.

 

 

I'd be willing to give on the special ed if I had to as I've always planned to bring my son home at some point. It's just that with him getting free therapy and not really even ready to begin any type of academics program yet he's better off where he is. But I always planned on homeschooling him once he got to a place where I could actually teach him.

[Okie]

western NC is a beautiful place. We lived near Wilmington, which isn't as nice. I had a friend who moved away from CT to NC because of the cost of living being too high up there.

 

don't know about CT, but NC has reasonable hs laws- basically notify, test once a year, keep on file attendance and shot records.

 

Good luck.

[Ibbygirl]

services for those with autism in NC

http://www.teacch.com/

http://www.autismsociety-nc.org/

 

Realize that service availability will vary to some extent based on the county in which you choose to live. Rural counties will tend to have fewer services due to lower budgets and simply fewer people with autism needing services. You will also want to consider the long term implications on availability of services for that child when he becomes an adult. Rural counties will have fewer options for supported employment, residential support (whether your child lives at home, in a group home or independently with support), etc.

 

As to homeschooling laws:

http://www.ncdnpe.org/homeschool.asp

 

Support groups, co-ops, sports, etc will vary greatly from area to area. The more densely populated, the greater likelihood that these things will exist and that you will have some choice between options. Sounds like you might be happy with a Christian-specific group, which will give you much greater flexibility, especially in the more rural counties.

 

This link http://www.ncdnpe.org/documents/hhh233.pdf

will give you statistics from 2007-2008 on the number of registered homeschools by county, which will give you some idea of the likelihood of options. To give you an idea, Cherokee County had 169 registered homeschools while Clay next door only had 45. Mecklenburg, OTOH, had 2866.

 

 

Thank you so much for the wonderful information! :) Awesome. :)

[Ibbygirl]

I don't think the salaries are higher enough to make up for the difference in cost. When we moved from CT to NY (and I know there is nothing scientific about this comparison) my husband made the same amount. But our housing cost dropped and our car insurance dropped by $400 a year with the same company/coverage. Even our renter's insurance dropped. It makes no sense to me since we are maybe an hour from CT!

 

But yeah in CT we had to do nothing to homeschool legally. And there were homeschool groups around.

 

 

YIKES!! I'm certain then that I couldn't afford to live in CT because I know I couldn't afford NYC. We were hoping that we could sell our house and put a really good downpayment on a bigger house in another state. In order for that to work the rate exchange would have to be in our favor with Florida being the more expensive so that we would have more buying power in the new state. But it sounds like to move to CT we would have to go in with even less that what we are leaving with and I don't see how that's going to work.

[Ibbygirl]

It's been reported in the national news that irt to the economy, Raleigh, NC is the #1 place in the country to be right now. Of course, if everyone flocks here it won't be #1 for long. But things are not nearly as bad here as I've heard from other places. You don't have to go far to live in the country and work in Raleigh, and you'd be within a few hours of your family. UNC in Chapel Hill has the TEACH (sp?) program for autism, and I think there are DAN doctors in the area too. Homeschooling is so common here that I rarely encounter any negative feedback about it.

 

 

How are home prices in Raleigh?? I checked for Chapel Hill once because I heard they had a good school for Autism there, but it seems like a very expensive community. My husband is a civil servant and the sole provider for us and here in Florida we have only a very small townhouse with 2 bedrooms that we live in. If were lucky we'll be able to sell it to our neighbor who is buying up the units here for $100,000, and we'd probably walk away with $80,000 of that to put on a new house. That's not much in an expensive area and we would have to be able to afford to live on one income.

[Ibbygirl]

I will second the information on not much governmental restriction at this time for homeschoolers. As it stands the protocol is to file a Notice of Intent with the school your dc would be going to & submit to a year end porfolio review. Compulsary attendance is 5-16, but can withdraw with parental consent after 16. However the above is not LAW as far as NOI, but what school districts try to adhere to. So whether you file is at your discretion. See HSLDA for exact verbage or T.E.A.C.H. website which is one of the larger CT homeschool organizations.

 

I have lived in CT all my life Wallingford 18 years, New Haven, 2, Cheshire 11, Windham, 6, & Scotland since August. I will say there is a vast difference in what part of CT you live in, so looking into what part you want to live in may look differently. The taxes are high univerally, housing higher compared to national average, homeschooling support or groups definately varies. In rural areas homeschool support is more spread out over a larger area, fewer churchs, & a longer drive to shopping. Also libraries are defiantely different in what town you live in. Basically higher real estate taxes, more $ in town, bigger library -not across the board, but pretty close. I just thought of a great survey that was done to help you get a CT overview CPTV in the CT magazine did across CT survey of towns & rated them. If you can't find it on their site let me know I have it printed out as it was helpful when we were deciding to move.

 

If you stay on the shore it is expensive. New London is more city like, but crime is higher than surrounding areas. If you go north into smaller towns real estate is more affordable, but you're in the small town zone & all that it entails. We faced this road when we were looking as dh works in Groton which is across the Thames River from New London.

 

CT does have four seasons.

 

I would suggest if your husband can find someone in his field to find out what his potential salary would be in each area & then what that salary would afford you in each area. I wouldn't use those projected salary things on the computer because at least for my husbands field they were quite a bit off. Maybe if his field has a national organization or group or old fashioned networking of friends.

 

I wish you the best on your decision sometimes in does come down to climate & family as those are two variables you can't change & put a $ tag on.

HTH some

 

 

Thank you so much!! So should I just google CT magazine survey?? What type of title should I be looking for?? Thanks so much.

 

I am worried about the weather a bit too. I've lived in South Florida my entire life and I'm definitely a heat loving person more than a cold loving person. I've never been in snow and I wouldn't even know what to do in a real winter. How do you drive on the roads and such. I'd be clueless.

[Ibbygirl]

Well, Jen, you know what I'm gonna say! NC!!!!!!

 

NC is super homeschool friendly. I have lived in Western NC all my life, and I love it here. We would never dream of moving! And you can get some goats. :D

 

 

YES!! I want some little chivitos! hehe I told my husband that if we move to NC I want some land to plant something and a goat! hehehehe :) I'd love to be able to get my son a horse too. He LOVES them and they are so good for his Autism. He can connect with horses in ways he cannot with people, but having a horse is probably a pipe dream at this point. But one can dream.... :)

[Catwoman]

Jen,

 

Here's a link to the Realtor.com listings for New London.

 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/New-London_CT

 

There seems to be a wide range of home prices, but since your sister-in-law already lives there, she could probably tell you which neighborhoods would work for you in terms of safety and convenience. Then, you could see what you can afford in those neighborhoods.

 

I'm a lifelong northeastern girl, so the home prices don't scare me, nor do the high taxes. That said, some towns have dramatically lower taxes than others, and the property taxes on a house in one town could be $15,000 per year, while the same home in a nearby town, could be $5,000 per year.

 

I have found that some real estate websites list the taxes, and that's such an important consideration -- often more important than the initial purchase price because those yearly taxes really add up, and they increase every year. A few thousand dollars difference may not seem like that much, but in 5 years, it's a $10,000 difference... or more.

 

I'm pretty sure that a lot of the Coldwell Banker brokers' sites list the real estate taxes, so that might be a place for you to start looking.

 

Let us know what you find out!

 

Cat

[Ibbygirl]

I am watching this thread with great interest, Jen, and would like to ask you one question, if you don't mind answering it -- what is your budget for a new home?

 

That will make a huge difference in my advice to you. I'm not familiar with NC, but I do know a thing or two about CT!

 

Cat

 

 

I'm hoping that we will have somewhere close to $100,000 for a downpayment on a new home. The thing about CT, is if we move there we will be buying a home with my dh's sister and she has a nice university professor's salary to bring to the equation as well. She lives alone, never married, no children so she has quite a bit of savings by now.

 

If we moved to NC, we would have to be able to afford a house only on what we bring from the sale of our own home.

[Ibbygirl]

don't know about CT, but NC has reasonable hs laws- basically notify, test once a year, keep on file attendance and shot records.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Sounds pretty similar to Fla minus the shot records. Here we just have to notify and do an evaluation at the end of the year and send in a pass/fail to the school board.

 

Thank you for your post.:)

Edited April 23, 2009 by Ibbygirl

[Ibbygirl]

Jen,

 

Here's a link to the Realtor.com listings for New London.

 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/New-London_CT

 

There seems to be a wide range of home prices, but since your sister-in-law already lives there, she could probably tell you which neighborhoods would work for you in terms of safety and convenience. Then, you could see what you can afford in those neighborhoods.

 

I'm a lifelong northeastern girl, so the home prices don't scare me, nor do the high taxes. That said, some towns have dramatically lower taxes than others, and the property taxes on a house in one town could be $15,000 per year, while the same home in a nearby town, could be $5,000 per year.

 

I have found that some real estate websites list the taxes, and that's such an important consideration -- often more important than the initial purchase price because those yearly taxes really add up, and they increase every year. A few thousand dollars difference may not seem like that much, but in 5 years, it's a $10,000 difference... or more.

 

I'm pretty sure that a lot of the Coldwell Banker brokers' sites list the real estate taxes, so that might be a place for you to start looking.

 

Let us know what you find out!

 

Cat

 

 

Oh that's great information thanks. I'm not even sure what are taxes here are. Do they really go up every year?? That's kind of scary.

[Ibbygirl]

No no. I live in a city in NY, but not in NYC. :001_smile:

 

There is an online calculator I saw once. I think they have it on salary calculator (.com). You can put in a salary and see how far it takes you in another state (something like that). We found that helpful when we were looking around.

 

 

Oh that's fantastic!! Thank you so much. Where in Ny do you live may I ask??

[vineyard]

I apologize since I don't know how to actually link the site, if dh was home I could get him to show me, but I'll tell you what I searched to get it.

 

"Connecticut Magazine Rating the Towns" it came up at a zwire.com site. It was the first choice listed on the search.

 

The survey came out in several issues according to size of the town. The first one was November 2006 so adjustment for housing inflation & spikes would have to factored to be up to date. Overall though it would give a good glimpse.

 

If you're solely looking at New London I can list it's ranking taking into consideration this survey's purpose was to rank towns by size across the whole of CT

 

Towns 25,000-50,000

It is listed at 22nd out of 24. The catagories factored were education, crime, economy, cost, & leisure

Education 24, Crime 24, Economy 23, Cost 10, Leisure 6 for a Total of 87

 

I'll list the other towns that were rated higher if this helps at all:

1. Westport, 2. Glastonbury, 3. New Milford, 4. Newtown, 5. Cheshire, 6. Trumbull, 7. Branford, 8. Wallingford, 9. Wethersfield, 10. Groton (which is just across the Thames River from New London) 11. Windsor, 12. Newington, 13. Vernon, 14. Middletown, 15. Shelton, 16. Norwich, 16. Southington, 18. Torrington, 19. Enfield, 19. Naugatuck, 19. Stratford The one with the same numbers were ties.

 

As far specific stats since it ranked lower they only put particulars for the best 10 in each category. Since Groton made it I'll post that

Groton -population 39,907 crime rate 6.84 SAT score 1487 median house $259,450 equalized mill rate 11.61 library per caita $63.33 PIC points 60 voter turnout 75.47%

 

I hope some of this helps. If you have the buying power of SIL behind you you may very well be able to do better in CT. Also taking into the fact that you're looking shoreline there is less snow there than inland or in the hills. You can't avoid it altogether, but dh has told me quite a few times this past winter on how they had not much in Groton compared to us in Scotland.

 

All the best in your decisions.

[whitestavern]

Personally, I wouldn't live in New London. We consider it a "city" and there is more crime there than outlying areas. But then again, I'm a small town girl. Much of the shoreline area is more expensive to live in, however winters are much more mild on the shoreline than inland. My parents live in Clinton and they don't get much snow at all and are consistently 10 degrees warmer than where I live. If you need to be near New London, I would suggest looking north. There are some iffy towns; you would really need your SILs input to help you out on that. You could also look at RI as New London isn't that far from the state line.

 

If you end up checking out CT, I'm happy to give you any input you might need or want about any specific areas. I've lived all over this state pretty much since the early 80s.

[Ibbygirl]

Thank you all so much for the info. This is really helpful. I'm going to have my dh read this thread when he gets home. :) Vineyard, does that 22 out of 24 rating for New London mean that it is ranking high or low as far as a good place to live? Also, just how cold does it get in CT in the winter?? I've never seen snow in person in my life. The coldest temps I've ever been outside in were around 55 degrees.

[KarenNC]

Don't forget to factor in that you will be paying state income taxes in addition to federal income taxes in both CT and NC from what I can tell.

[Ibbygirl]

Don't forget to factor in that you will be paying state income taxes in addition to federal income taxes in both CT and NC from what I can tell.

 

 

Thanks. Do you know roughly what percentage they charge for state and federal tax in NC??

[LizzyBee]

How are home prices in Raleigh?? I checked for Chapel Hill once because I heard they had a good school for Autism there, but it seems like a very expensive community. My husband is a civil servant and the sole provider for us and here in Florida we have only a very small townhouse with 2 bedrooms that we live in. If were lucky we'll be able to sell it to our neighbor who is buying up the units here for $100,000, and we'd probably walk away with $80,000 of that to put on a new house. That's not much in an expensive area and we would have to be able to afford to live on one income.

 

It all depends on what you personally consider acceptable as far as house size, lot size, age of the home, neighborhoods, etc. There are very expensive neighborhoods throughout Raleigh, Durham, and the surrounding areas, but there are also very affordable areas that are safe and where the homes are well-maintained. To give you an idea, I live northeast of Raleigh outside of Wake Forest, my home is 1400 sf on a very nice acre lot, and it's worth about $140,000. The more rural you go, the better the housing prices, generally speaking. If you want to have the option of putting your son in public school in order to have services for him, I would recommend Wake over Franklin or Granville counties.

[LizzyBee]

Thanks. Do you know roughly what percentage they charge for state and federal tax in NC??

 

Income taxes are 6 - 7.75% depending on your income. Your income is reduced by itemized or standard deductions and exemptions to arrive at taxable income.

 

Your federal tax will be calculated the same way it's being calculated in FL.

 

Sales tax is about 6.75 - 7%, depending on the county.

 

One thing to be prepared for is that you'll have to pay something like 3% of the value of your cars in order to register your vehicles here. Then there is an annual personal property tax on vehicles that you pay to the county you live in. The personal property tax isn't too bad unless you have a late model expensive car. We have a 96 truck and a 2004 Nissan minivan, and I think the tax is less than $100/year on each of them. But if you're not expecting it, it can throw you for a loop.

[LizzyBee]

Thank you all so much for the info. This is really helpful. I'm going to have my dh read this thread when he gets home. :) Vineyard, does that 22 out of 24 rating for New London mean that it is ranking high or low as far as a good place to live? Also, just how cold does it get in CT in the winter?? I've never seen snow in person in my life. The coldest temps I've ever been outside in were around 55 degrees.

 

You'll probably be cold even in NC. I work with someone who moved up here from south FL last year, and she froze all winter. You'll have to budget for some sweaters regardless of which state you choose. :001_smile:

[KarenNC]

Thanks. Do you know roughly what percentage they charge for state and federal tax in NC??

 

Federal's the same all over

 

State

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/228.html

 

Then there are things like sales tax, personal property taxes, etc that vary, at least in NC

 

I don't think anywhere in NC do you have local/county/city income taxes as I believe they do in some states. I know we don't. I've only lived here so I don't really have any experience with the differences other than property tax rates changing as we moved from one county/city to another (often substantially). Since I don't know the tax structure in FL it's a bit hard to compare.

[KarenNC]

You'll probably be cold even in NC. I work with someone who moved up here from south FL last year, and she froze all winter. You'll have to budget for some sweaters regardless of which state you choose. :001_smile:

 

Yes, you'll want sweaters, maybe even a light coat ;). http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/north-carolina/ will give you some places to look.

 

Also, if you want to be near the GA line, you will be up in the mountains which is a good bit colder overall. The geography's very variable, so temps/likelihood of snow/etc varies a lot depending on whether you are down by the coast, in the Piedmont (middle), foothills or up in the mountains. We're in the Piedmont and get maybe one snow a year now, though ice is more likely overall. Our homeschool group has a weekly park day, which we cancel if the high is forecast for under 50. We only consistently have issues in Jan and Feb, though we can have some nice days in there as well. March and early April can be iffy---it's not considered safe to plant things like tomatoes (things that would be affected by an overnight freeze) until mid-April.

Edited April 23, 2009 by KarenNC

[TraceyS/FL]

Since I don't know the tax structure in FL it's a bit hard to compare.

 

Florida has no State Income tax, nor is there any personal property tax on vehicles (i wish they would do a flat $50 on that to help solve the budget crisis instead of just raising property taxes).

 

But the no income tax is why a lot of old folks retire down here! :tongue_smilie:

[vineyard]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but out of 24 that 22 would be at the bottom of the scale in ranking according to those size towns across CT. So not a positive rating.

 

I didn't want to come out & say I wouldn't want to live there, but I would have to agree with the op comment not my cup of tea also. New London, Groton, & Norwich are the biggest towns in that part of CT although they would have the least desirability of rating of choice to live in. If you live in those towns it's not meant to be snarky just IMO.

 

It sometimes is all relative to what the environment you are living in now & what you are seeking in a location. As far as CT goes not places you would flock to or necessarily choose to live if you could afford the entire state which most can't. Not many can afford Greenwich or NYC corridor, pockets in Litchfield hills, & shoreline properties are high also. So to live in CT you try to pick the best areas you can afford for how far your $ goes. It may seem a strange snobbish sort of mentality, but if you've lived all your life in CT you're kinda' used to it. All of those who have lived here for a length of time know it's expensive although pockets ARE doable, but you give up things to be able to afford to live here that you may not have to elsewhere.

 

CT is very diverse as far housing $, but across the board prices are higher for taking same house & plunking it down say in the Midwest somewhere. There is a big diversity of people some multi billionares to rural farmers barely getting by. The places where people with $ live are the most desirable & you're going to pay for them, but I would assume that is true of any state. Maybe just more noticable because the have & have nots are pretty diverse.

 

Anything on the shoreline save New London & Groton is desirable hence the $ are higher. North of New London has smaller towns that are more affordable that may suit you, but there is a trade off. Small towns comes with small town living i.e. regional high schools sometimes (not a problem if you are an etched in stone homeschooler, but may hurt re-sale of home), volunteer fire, state police, dated or small library, property taxes being the largest revenue base for town since there is no business to offset anything for town they rise frequently, no city H2O, I'm sure you get the picture.

 

My suggestion would be to rely heavily on SIL to give you feedback on New London area & go to Realtor.com & start searching houses for New London & surrounding areas. Decide how far you're willing or SIL is to commute since dh doesn't have a job yet if I'm correct which IMO is the biggest to consider to get your range.

 

CT isn't hopping as far as jobs go now also. I haven't kept up with the current status of EB and their layoffs or if they're through. If I'm not mistaken I can't remember how far back there was a news piece on Groton-New London on how depressed in was due to EB layoffs & how some businesses who catered to them were shutting down due to lack of business. It may have rebounded since then & I can't remember how long ago it was I saw the piece, but they were interviewing restaurant owners & dry cleaners that were closing due to the lack of EB traffic & customers.

 

I will say when we were house hunting last year & were trying to decide what towns to consider it was hard. My dh nixed Groton, New London, & Norwich off the bat because we wanted land & he didn't want city living, but I would have been open to them. However like any bigger cityish area you need to know which are higher crime areas. That's not to say crime doesn't happen in the cow towns also, but you get the idea.

 

All the best in your researching.

[Ibbygirl]

I apologize since I don't know how to actually link the site, if dh was home I could get him to show me, but I'll tell you what I searched to get it.

 

"Connecticut Magazine Rating the Towns" it came up at a zwire.com site. It was the first choice listed on the search.

 

The survey came out in several issues according to size of the town. The first one was November 2006 so adjustment for housing inflation & spikes would have to factored to be up to date. Overall though it would give a good glimpse.

 

If you're solely looking at New London I can list it's ranking taking into consideration this survey's purpose was to rank towns by size across the whole of CT

 

Towns 25,000-50,000

It is listed at 22nd out of 24. The catagories factored were education, crime, economy, cost, & leisure

Education 24, Crime 24, Economy 23, Cost 10, Leisure 6 for a Total of 87

 

I'll list the other towns that were rated higher if this helps at all:

1. Westport, 2. Glastonbury, 3. New Milford, 4. Newtown, 5. Cheshire, 6. Trumbull, 7. Branford, 8. Wallingford, 9. Wethersfield, 10. Groton (which is just across the Thames River from New London) 11. Windsor, 12. Newington, 13. Vernon, 14. Middletown, 15. Shelton, 16. Norwich, 16. Southington, 18. Torrington, 19. Enfield, 19. Naugatuck, 19. Stratford The one with the same numbers were ties.

 

As far specific stats since it ranked lower they only put particulars for the best 10 in each category. Since Groton made it I'll post that

Groton -population 39,907 crime rate 6.84 SAT score 1487 median house $259,450 equalized mill rate 11.61 library per caita $63.33 PIC points 60 voter turnout 75.47%

 

I hope some of this helps. If you have the buying power of SIL behind you you may very well be able to do better in CT. Also taking into the fact that you're looking shoreline there is less snow there than inland or in the hills. You can't avoid it altogether, but dh has told me quite a few times this past winter on how they had not much in Groton compared to us in Scotland.

 

All the best in your decisions.

 

Oh that's fantastic. Thank you so much. :)

[Ibbygirl]

It all depends on what you personally consider acceptable as far as house size, lot size, age of the home, neighborhoods, etc. There are very expensive neighborhoods throughout Raleigh, Durham, and the surrounding areas, but there are also very affordable areas that are safe and where the homes are well-maintained. To give you an idea, I live northeast of Raleigh outside of Wake Forest, my home is 1400 sf on a very nice acre lot, and it's worth about $140,000. The more rural you go, the better the housing prices, generally speaking. If you want to have the option of putting your son in public school in order to have services for him, I would recommend Wake over Franklin or Granville counties.

 

 

Thank you so much for your post. It really helps to have the advice from someone who actually lives there. Your house sounds exactly like what I would like. I would like a house with at least 3 bedrooms so my daughter can finally have her own room. And I'd love some land. An acre would be great. If I could afford more land I would get it, but I would be pleased as punch to have an acre. I'd like to be able to plant some fruit trees and to be able to have a decent family garden that we can cut some of our food costs. I try to garden here where I live, but I only can grow some plants in containers on my terrace outside my bedroom so it's very small. I would like to have some animals... dog, cat, I'd LOVE to have a little goat and if I could afford it, I'd love to have enough land to be able to have a horse for my son. My husband thinks we can walk away with $100,000 from the sale of our house since we would have it completely paid off in a couple of years. If we could find a house on some land for $200,000 or under that would be so wonderful. Do you think it's doable?? Does Wake have any hills/mountains?? Do you have a creek near your home?? Thanks so much to you and to all of the posters who are so kind to take the time to advise me. It means so much. I'm so grateful to you all. :)

 

Blessings,

Jennifer

[Ibbygirl]

Yes, you'll want sweaters, maybe even a light coat ;). http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/north-carolina/ will give you some places to look.

 

Also, if you want to be near the GA line, you will be up in the mountains which is a good bit colder overall. The geography's very variable, so temps/likelihood of snow/etc varies a lot depending on whether you are down by the coast, in the Piedmont (middle), foothills or up in the mountains. We're in the Piedmont and get maybe one snow a year now, though ice is more likely overall. Our homeschool group has a weekly park day, which we cancel if the high is forecast for under 50. We only consistently have issues in Jan and Feb, though we can have some nice days in there as well. March and early April can be iffy---it's not considered safe to plant things like tomatoes (things that would be affected by an overnight freeze) until mid-April.

 

 

Thank you for the link and info :)

[Ibbygirl]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but out of 24 that 22 would be at the bottom of the scale in ranking according to those size towns across CT. So not a positive rating.

 

I didn't want to come out & say I wouldn't want to live there, but I would have to agree with the op comment not my cup of tea also. New London, Groton, & Norwich are the biggest towns in that part of CT although they would have the least desirability of rating of choice to live in. If you live in those towns it's not meant to be snarky just IMO.

 

It sometimes is all relative to what the environment you are living in now & what you are seeking in a location. As far as CT goes not places you would flock to or necessarily choose to live if you could afford the entire state which most can't. Not many can afford Greenwich or NYC corridor, pockets in Litchfield hills, & shoreline properties are high also. So to live in CT you try to pick the best areas you can afford for how far your $ goes. It may seem a strange snobbish sort of mentality, but if you've lived all your life in CT you're kinda' used to it. All of those who have lived here for a length of time know it's expensive although pockets ARE doable, but you give up things to be able to afford to live here that you may not have to elsewhere.

 

CT is very diverse as far housing $, but across the board prices are higher for taking same house & plunking it down say in the Midwest somewhere. There is a big diversity of people some multi billionares to rural farmers barely getting by. The places where people with $ live are the most desirable & you're going to pay for them, but I would assume that is true of any state. Maybe just more noticable because the have & have nots are pretty diverse.

 

Anything on the shoreline save New London & Groton is desirable hence the $ are higher. North of New London has smaller towns that are more affordable that may suit you, but there is a trade off. Small towns comes with small town living i.e. regional high schools sometimes (not a problem if you are an etched in stone homeschooler, but may hurt re-sale of home), volunteer fire, state police, dated or small library, property taxes being the largest revenue base for town since there is no business to offset anything for town they rise frequently, no city H2O, I'm sure you get the picture.

 

My suggestion would be to rely heavily on SIL to give you feedback on New London area & go to Realtor.com & start searching houses for New London & surrounding areas. Decide how far you're willing or SIL is to commute since dh doesn't have a job yet if I'm correct which IMO is the biggest to consider to get your range.

 

CT isn't hopping as far as jobs go now also. I haven't kept up with the current status of EB and their layoffs or if they're through. If I'm not mistaken I can't remember how far back there was a news piece on Groton-New London on how depressed in was due to EB layoffs & how some businesses who catered to them were shutting down due to lack of business. It may have rebounded since then & I can't remember how long ago it was I saw the piece, but they were interviewing restaurant owners & dry cleaners that were closing due to the lack of EB traffic & customers.

 

I will say when we were house hunting last year & were trying to decide what towns to consider it was hard. My dh nixed Groton, New London, & Norwich off the bat because we wanted land & he didn't want city living, but I would have been open to them. However like any bigger cityish area you need to know which are higher crime areas. That's not to say crime doesn't happen in the cow towns also, but you get the idea.

 

All the best in your researching.

 

 

I talked to my husband when he came home from work tonight. I told him about all of the wonderful information you ladies have been so gracious to share with me and he said that CT looks less and less likely based upon what you all have said. Truth be told, I'm TIRED of city living. The city where I live is only 26 square miles and we have 250,000 permanent residents and that number doubles to 500,000 during the tourist season from November to April. I'm so tired of the traffic, the crime, the crowds, the hurricanes... I love the ocean and I know I would miss that, but I am so ready to live a quieter life. I'd love to live in the country in fresh air and open spaces. That would be like heaven on earth to me.

[vineyard]

You can get the small town feel & acreage just not in hitting the bigger 3 in that corner of CT being New London, Groton, or New London if you are willing to drive say 30 minutes or so it opens alot of towns up which ones depend on proximatey to major roads being I95, 395 or Route 2.

 

I'll give us for an example as it was helpful from the poster about NC. Dh works in Groton at the very tip on Long Point you can't go any further & you're in the ocean, we live in Scotland which if you have a map it's easier to get an idea of locations. It takes him 45 minute for commuting in the evening at the most taking into consideration that EB gets out at the same time & I think he has to pass it or at least mix with that traffic to get out of base or onto highway. We're five towns up off 395 all of the towns he passes through are small towns. The town we live in being almost the smallest in CT there may be one smaller we're at 1,500 people. We bought in 8/08 a little over two acres , 1st acre wooded on surrounding sides, & last acre more heavily wooded with brook just over 2,000 sq. ft. including finished basement, 3 bedrooms on main floor for $170,000 it is a modular ranch built in 1994 with a two car attached garage.

 

Salem, Bozrah, Colchester, Franklin on the left of 395 are all small. Franklin is very rural alot of dairy farms. On the right of 395 you have Preston, Ledyard (which I don't know if it has small town feel due to casino & taxes may be either + or - influenced because of it)Lisbon, Plainfield, Canterbury is definately small, & over from Canterbury us being Scotland very small & rural.

 

You can get small town with land easily if you have $100,000 as you say to hope to net with your house & say add a $100,000 or $150,000 to the $100,000 cash from your sale to have $200,000-250,000 buying power.

 

The main key I see it as where will dh be able to find employment easiest. If I remember corretly your dh is somewhat specialized in his field correct? Was it an IT spot -not sure, but need to look at big employers in that area of CT Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods, EB or Electric Boat, Groton sub base or Air National Guard base, Norwich State Hospital, & college. Some of the small towns although great to live in & get reasonable $ real estate have little to no business in those towns because they are so rural it's you & the cows with the farmers & some small Mom & Pop type things, unless you drive to the bigger 3 to work. If any one else knows bigger employers in that corner chime in & let her know, that's the ones I know of.

 

So you live in the burbs or cow towns & commute to bigger cities/towns to work. How far or how bad your commute is depends on how big the city is. Really that corner isn't bad for traffic as long it's not I95 on the shore during summer & then it's not that bad. Also RI might open up more job opportunities for dh.

 

CT wouldn't be a place to not consider if dh could get a job within his field, you could get small town around New London for SIL commute. Also consider how real estate is or isn't moving in your area, which I'm sure you have already. We had to carry our previous home six months otherwise we could have had more buying power. I'm glad we factored carrying two places into the equation since it took six months to sell & we hope to have a closing by end of next week. Yeah!

 

Just didn't want you to think you couldn't get a small town in that corner of CT environment just need to go north a bit.

All the best

[Ibbygirl]

You can get the small town feel & acreage just not in hitting the bigger 3 in that corner of CT being New London, Groton, or New London if you are willing to drive say 30 minutes or so it opens alot of towns up which ones depend on proximatey to major roads being I95, 395 or Route 2.

 

I'll give us for an example as it was helpful from the poster about NC. Dh works in Groton at the very tip on Long Point you can't go any further & you're in the ocean, we live in Scotland which if you have a map it's easier to get an idea of locations. It takes him 45 minute for commuting in the evening at the most taking into consideration that EB gets out at the same time & I think he has to pass it or at least mix with that traffic to get out of base or onto highway. We're five towns up off 395 all of the towns he passes through are small towns. The town we live in being almost the smallest in CT there may be one smaller we're at 1,500 people. We bought in 8/08 a little over two acres , 1st acre wooded on surrounding sides, & last acre more heavily wooded with brook just over 2,000 sq. ft. including finished basement, 3 bedrooms on main floor for $170,000 it is a modular ranch built in 1994 with a two car attached garage.

 

Salem, Bozrah, Colchester, Franklin on the left of 395 are all small. Franklin is very rural alot of dairy farms. On the right of 395 you have Preston, Ledyard (which I don't know if it has small town feel due to casino & taxes may be either + or - influenced because of it)Lisbon, Plainfield, Canterbury is definately small, & over from Canterbury us being Scotland very small & rural.

 

You can get small town with land easily if you have $100,000 as you say to hope to net with your house & say add a $100,000 or $150,000 to the $100,000 cash from your sale to have $200,000-250,000 buying power.

 

The main key I see it as where will dh be able to find employment easiest. If I remember corretly your dh is somewhat specialized in his field correct? Was it an IT spot -not sure, but need to look at big employers in that area of CT Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods, EB or Electric Boat, Groton sub base or Air National Guard base, Norwich State Hospital, & college. Some of the small towns although great to live in & get reasonable $ real estate have little to no business in those towns because they are so rural it's you & the cows with the farmers & some small Mom & Pop type things, unless you drive to the bigger 3 to work. If any one else knows bigger employers in that corner chime in & let her know, that's the ones I know of.

 

So you live in the burbs or cow towns & commute to bigger cities/towns to work. How far or how bad your commute is depends on how big the city is. Really that corner isn't bad for traffic as long it's not I95 on the shore during summer & then it's not that bad. Also RI might open up more job opportunities for dh.

 

CT wouldn't be a place to not consider if dh could get a job within his field, you could get small town around New London for SIL commute. Also consider how real estate is or isn't moving in your area, which I'm sure you have already. We had to carry our previous home six months otherwise we could have had more buying power. I'm glad we factored carrying two places into the equation since it took six months to sell & we hope to have a closing by end of next week. Yeah!

 

Just didn't want you to think you couldn't get a small town in that corner of CT environment just need to go north a bit.

All the best

 

:grouphug: Thank you so much. That must have taken some time to type out and I really appreciate your doing that for me. :) A 30 minute commute for us is nothing. Where we live, everything is at least 20-30 minutes away so we are well used to that, but we only have one car which hubby lets me have since I have the kids. He takes the city bus to work and home which is an hour ride for him.

 

I wouldn't say that he is "specialized" per se. He worked in the probate division of the courthouse for several years and then got tired of working in that division. He was interested in computers and did alot of study on his own reading books and he took some Microsoft Certification classes at the community college and then applied for a job opening in the Clerk's computer division. He mostly does help desk types of things.

 

Wow, your town sounds really nice. 1,500 people is wonderful. Do you know all of your neighbors or do people keep to themselves?? Your house sounds so beautiful. I can't believe you have all that for that price. And in '08 too!! Weren't the housing prices inflated up there then?? They were ridiculous down here. My house was last appraised at 120-130,000. It is around 1,200 square feet in total. It has 2 bedrooms 1 and a half baths, no garage and we own the land up to the fence which is about a 10x5 foot area.

 

It's true that most of the houses now are not moving, but fortunately, one of my neighbors is buying up all the houses where I live. It is only a 16 unit townhome complex and he already owns 4 of the units. I suspect he ultimately wants to own them all and then he'll probably renovate them and rent them out for a high price. I'm pretty certain he'd want to buy it from us and if not it is close to the beach which is desirable and the city has spent alot of money renovating the downtown area which is walking distance from my house. It is now an artsy type area and we have lots of festivals and outdoor concerts in the art's park. I too live right off of I95 sandwiched between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and it is a 30 minute commute to either city. So it's in a pretty good location.

 

I will tell my hubby what you said. The thing is I don't know how his sister would feel about commuting. She only recently learned to drive (she lived in NYC for a long time and didn't need a car) and she is still very nervous on the roads. I guess he would have to call her and see what she says. Thank you so much for giving me good town names to look into. I'll go on zillow and see what listings I find. :)

 

May I ask you also, what does "BE" mean? I'm trying to figure it out, but I must be especially thick because I'm just not getting it. :tongue_smilie:

 

Also, what types of temps did you experience this last winter and were they typical??

 

Thank you again so much. I cannot tell you how invaluable your input is to me.

 

Blessings,

Jennifer

[TengoFive]

I just want to respond to your concerns about city vs. country in NC. My parents live on 70 acres in a very rural setting ie 15 minutes to the grocery store, but my mom can get into the city within 35 minutes. They're near the RDU triangle area. It's very possible to have the best of both worlds in NC.

Also, in Raleigh there is the best homeschool store I have ever been in. Whenever I visit, I make a point to hit there first! They have a huge used curriculum area. I rarely buy anything retail in there, since I can find almost anything I'm looking for in the used section.

[Ibbygirl]

I just want to respond to your concerns about city vs. country in NC. My parents live on 70 acres in a very rural setting ie 15 minutes to the grocery store, but my mom can get into the city within 35 minutes. They're near the RDU triangle area. It's very possible to have the best of both worlds in NC.

Also, in Raleigh there is the best homeschool store I have ever been in. Whenever I visit, I make a point to hit there first! They have a huge used curriculum area. I rarely buy anything retail in there, since I can find almost anything I'm looking for in the used section.

 

 

Wow!! That's great!! thank you so much. I would have never imagined it was possible to have 70 acres of country 35 minutes from the city. Ah, to be out of urban sprawl!!! That would be so wonderful! :)

 

How is the landscape in Raleigh? I'm not exactly sure how close/far Raleigh is to the mountains. Thank you so much for your reply. :)

[vineyard]

Hi Jennifer,

EB = Electric Boat which is a big employer at the Groton submarine base.

 

If SIL is used to NYC traffic this will be a change for her. The only things to get used to in this corner are the dark usually winding roads off the beaten path & caution about deer bounding across the road. Congestion & traffic jams not a problem. Not at all like Hartford, New Haven, or going towards Stamford way. I commuted for six years before children from Cheshire to New Haven don't miss it at all. Population density on a whole is much sparser & density per square acre is less than the rest of the state, hence not as much traffic tie-ups.

 

When we were looking housing $ might have been a little inflated, but I would say on the whole this part of CT at least was somewhat insulated from that. Maybe $10,000 or $20,000, but nothing really dramatic like some parts of US. The first time we bought in CT was in Cheshire in 1991 & we paid $112,000 for 1.7 acres with a 1,800 sq. ft./3 bedroom ranch circa 1950's with 1 car detached. So for us we thought it was more, but it was a 17 year difference & we know got a steal for Cheshire which usually you can't touch anything for less than $250,000.

 

When we were looking last year we got onto this update thing that is what comes out to all the real estate agents when properties just hit the market. We got it through talking to some real estate guy & we still get it. If you go to http://www.cteasthometeam.com, go down the page that comes up in the center towards the bottom there it says MLS Pulse Sign up for instant daily alerts that is what we got. You just pick what towns you want to be alerted about & you get them as the real estate agents get them. Also Realtor.com I think is the central listing service most all of real estate offices link & post their properties on. I just got one this a.m. for Scotland which I could view all the particulars when I went to the site which was the agency that had it, it wasn't even up yet.

 

Also something to be aware of when looking at properties & square footage some listings seem like lower square footage because if the basement isn't totally finished from studs out to trim & carpet it's not counted as inhabitable living space. So for instance when we were looking the square footage in the lower level wasn't counted on the listing since we had to finish floor & some trim. We never would have given it a second thought because we thought it too small. Since finding acreage of usable land in our $ range at the time was sparse we only happened to take a second look at it when comparing room sizes to another listing to find out it was bigger. I don't know if this is nationwide or a local thing, just what we found out.

 

HTH All the best.