Questions about moving to NC - Mountain Region
 

Hello! My family (me, husband and 3 kids under age 6) is planning a move to somewhere in the mountains of NC within the next few months. We've visited there a few times and are trying to figure out the best place for us. We're looking at the outskirts of Asheville right now since it's the biggest town in the region. Specifically, we're looking at:

--Leicester
--Black Mountain
--Hendersonville

We've also looked in the Lenior area, but I don't think there's a big enough town within a decent drive. I suppose we don't really need a big town--just a WalMart :)

Does anyone have any recommendations?

We're thinking about/want:

1. My husband's work commute (he will have to find a job when he gets there)
2. Good schools within reasonable driving distance
3. Elevation, if possible (we like it cooler!)
4. Housing costs (we'd like some land, maybe an acre, and a large home or mfg. home under $140k)

Does anyone know the Leicester or Lenior areas? Anything else out there? We're also considering Boone since Johnson City, TN is not too far away.

Thanks so much for your input!

Renae

Please DO NOT move here with here without a job unless your husband is willing to do a minimum wage service related job or possibly construction. I can speak to the Asheville/Leicester/Black Mtn/Hendersonville area. This area is so popular right now. There is no way you can get that much land for that price with a home or even a manufactured home unless you are WAY out and are talking about a trailer on an acre because land is a premium . Leicester might be a remote possibility. Housing prices in this area are over $100/sq ft and more consistently $125 and higher - even for manufactured housing. An acre of undeveloped land would be at least $30K.
Johnson City will not be as high in elevation and I'm not sure of the housing costs there but they have more of an industrial/manufacturing base so there are more of that type job. It is an HOUR from Johnson City to Boone.
Lenoir might have more land/housing opportunities and your closest large town would be Hickory. Not as high as Asheville and certainly not as high as Boone but the housing/land costs would be a bit cheaper. Boone will be the priciest as that is a ski/resort area as well as a college town. The majority of your jobs there are probably service related or if you are lucky something at the university.
With children that age please secure a job BEFORE coming here. Do some research on-line on the real estate sites to get a more accurate idea of housing and land costs. Depending on where you are moving from you may be very surprised at the cost of this area. Asheville has the highest cost of living in the state. NC has the higher gas prices than all surrounding states (SC,TN, GA) due to taxes.

Hi! Thanks for your input! Just as I suspected--some of the homes will be "out there"; there are two in Leicester right now within our budget (with modest land), and even some in the Hendersonville area. Lenoir is definately an option, too. I've been researching for several months now and see many homes with land in our range, so I'm not worried about pricing. Sure beats the cost of homes here in Florida--a modest 3/2 in our highly desirable neighborhood that was purchased for $125k four years ago is now selling for $260k. Time to get out of debt, and out of town, while we're at it :)

I think we're going to make an exploratory trip to spy out the land a little more within the next few weeks. We spent three weeks in NC 7-8 years ago, and then vacationed in Maggie Valley for two weeks each of the last two years. But we want to check out the distance from Leicester to Asheville, and visit Hendersonville and the Lenior/Hickory area.

Oh--not to worry about my husband getting a job. He's got a solid trade behind him and will find something. Anyway, my work is more important since it brings us most of our bread--and I work from home and can work from anywhere as long as I have Internet access.

Thanks again! Can't wait to get up there!

Just a quick note, and Leah has given you excellent advice, when a real estate listing reads that something is X amount of mile from something, don't plan on a quick drive. A five mile drive can easily be a 30 minute drive especially in Leicester (pronounced 'Lester').

yes..be sure and realize that mountain travel is very different than FL. A windy mountain road that is 15 miles long can take 30-45 min to drive.

Although I live further south now, I am from the Caldwell County (Lenoir area). Caldwell County has the highest unemployment in the state right now and no indication of fast improvement. It was hit hard by the furniture plants closings (NAFTA) and the textile plant closings. I recently sold a family home there and hired a man to work part-time preparing it. He was the best worker I've ever met and he was living and trying to feed his family on temporary jobs. Again, don't come without a job.

I am also in real estate and prices may be a little more than you seem to be anticipating. Look on Realtor.com to get a realistic idea of the cost of houses the size you are expecting to need.

Hope that helps.

Forget on finding something in your price range in Black Mountain and Hendersonville area. Leah is so very right. Gotravel too made a good point about roads there. Traffic in Hendersonville is terrible from May until November when half population of Florida move there to avoid summer heat. Wal-Marts are everywhere now. Unfortunately!

I was surprised to hear prices were so high you couldn't find a mobile home on an acre - but when I checked realtor.com, I found lots of stuff in her price range. For example, in Hendersonville, I found a number of actual homes (not manufactured) on an acre for less than $140. I'm just wondering about the discrepancy between people saying "forget about it" and the actual homes listed for sale on realtor.com

Living here is a different story...the properties in desirable areas vs not desirable/too far out/trailer park in your front yard/DIY-fixerupper...
You may get lucky but the bottom line for this initial poster is that they need to do a lot of research and have jobs BEFORE they move here.

yes, I agree, when I did my move, you couldn't tell good areas from not so good until you were on the ground

this poster sounds like the job situation is covered if the main breadwinner is telecommuting - that's a nice deal. i heard about someone who was told, you can move wherever you want and do your work by telecommuting - they picked some gorgeous tiny town out West ... forget what magazine that was in...

Hey all! Thanks very much for your input! I don't think anyone heard me when I said we've got the job thing covered! Like I said, I work from home and win most of the bread. My husband's also not afraid of a commute--he's been traveling 1 hour each way (that's 2 hours a day!) for the past 6-7 years now...if he has to do the same now, at least he'll have nice mountain views to look at :) Or, even better, perhaps he can join me in my business since I have more work than I can handle anyway! Then we'll truly be a 21st century family--both parents working from home (and making a nice living at it!) using the Internet! Either way, "job" is not a concern, which is one reason why the mountains of North Carolina are so appealing--and perfect for a home-based worker like me!

It's good to know how crowded Hendersonville is--sounds like our area now. I also learned from someone else (thanks for confirming it, QuackerDuck!)how towns like Lenoir and Marion and surrounds are "closing down." Winn Dixies with "going out of business signs"; churches that are never unlocked--even on Sundays. So this is very helpful, although I suppose we'll see it firsthand when we explore the towns.

What I really wanted to know from this post--and what I guess I didn't make clear--was not "CAN I DO THIS?" but rather, "What are some of the nice mountain communities in North Carolina?" Where is "good living" possible?

We're also now looking at the Spruce Pine/Bakersville/Burnsville areas; there are lots of homes up that way in our price range. Yes, we might have to trek a-ways to get to the Super WalMart, and we might have to put in some work to make the home sparkle, but we really don't mind. We're not looking to make a bundle on a real estate investment :)

So anyway, if anyone has any input on nice mountain communities (or communities that might look nice but really aren't!), please do share!

Thanks!

Renae,
Maybe no one "heard" you because you DIDN'T tell us until your last post -

I don't think anyone heard me when I said we've got the job thing covered! Like I said, I work from home and win most of the bread.

You must have a ghost editor! :-)

starrsville - she was pretty clear in her second post (not her last post), here's the quote, "Oh--not to worry about my husband getting a job. He's got a solid trade behind him and will find something. Anyway, my work is more important since it brings us most of our bread--and I work from home and can work from anywhere as long as I have Internet access."

That's why I responded the way I did, about telecommuting....

Oh - you're right. Good thing I'm not an editor! :-)

In my opinion, Black Mountain is the prettiest of the three you've picked. It is just a gorgeous little mountain town with a thriving downtown. The holiday decorations are impressive.

While I like Black Mountain it seems a bit too much like Hendersonville in that there are a lot of retirees. With young kids I'd probably opt for the Waynesville area - I love the fact that they have an awesome indoor pool and large recreational fields as well as a beautiful wellness center(w/ pool and track) adjacent to the hospital - Asheville doesn't even have that!

I know Watauga County is supposed to have a great school system (You can thank some college professors for that I guess). Boone is a college town for the most part which is good and bad, you can find cultural events like theatre, art galleries, etc. there that you wouldn't be able to find in other small mountain towns but the population can be transient and young for the most part. However Blowing Rock is right next door and is a much more "mature" town. Traffic can be rough at times and I would never recommend commuting from Boone to Johnson City. Remember wherever you move that you will have to drive to and from that location to wherever you need to go in very snowy and icy conditions sometimes. There are times when some of those rural roads are simply shut down. Some of those "far out homes" may seem like a great deal in July but in January you may be wishing you were more on the beaten path.

Renae,
I also am moving from a major city to rural Tn or NC.We are looking into both.I see you mention that you work from home.I am having a hard time finding a reputable company that allows people to work from home. Would you be able to provide the name of a reputable company name/email/phone whatever? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Faythe

I only read this for interest since it's been some 30 years since I spent a few summers at Flat Rock Playhouse below Hendersonville. What a beautiful area.

Trying to be a "moderator" here I only want to say that when someone says "only way out and not in a desirable area" I have to say that not everyone desires the same thing. Some people can be perfectly happy in an area that others wouldn't possibly accept. As long as the poster's "desires" are in tune with what is actually available, then I would think lots of area are wonderful.