The big move

For the last few years we've been taking an annual vacation to Lake Norman which is just north of Charlotte, NC. We would rent a house on the lake, bring the boat, jet skis, the whole nine yards. After falling in love with the lake and the surrounding area, we've finally decided to do it. This current winter in NE Ohio has most certainly reaffirmed our decision and actually sped our move up.

First we decided to list our house Jan 1st, just to get things moving, not expecting to sell terribly quickly. Well 5 days later and 2 full ask offers, the house is sold. Shortly thereafter I had a lead on a pretty desirable position in Huntersville which was not meant to come to fruition until the fall, however 2 unexpected retirements had my wife and I on a plane down for an interview 2 weeks later. Now that its all said and done, I've accepted a position there and we should close on the house in the next 3 weeks. Although, in medicine we have this nasty little process called credentialing which leads to no one being able to start work much earlier than 3mos from date of acceptance.

So we will be moving by the end of april, just in time for the boating season to really come into effect, although we're going to wait a few weeks to bring the boat until we can decide on storage. Not going to rush into buying a house simply for the fact that we may indeed not like the area and simply don't know where we really want to be yet.

All in all we couldnt be more excited for the change on scenery, the weather and the extended boating season. As far as family, we're making this move completely solo, just the wife and I, although we expect some family to make the move later this year. With that comes the big problem, we need a 3rd!! So hopefully we make friends fast and can enjoy the lake to its fullest extent.

With that far too lengthy post said, any help/suggestions are very much appreciated!

Lakes dont freeze over down here, so its boating season year round for the bold!

Seriously, congrats and welcome to the south :cool:

Welcome. Couple of us on Lake Wylie. Great place to be.

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Definitely consider renting for a while before you buy so you learn the area. I had a good idea of what I wanted when I moved here but missed by about a mile or two. Wish I had rented for a year. The transaction costs to sell and buy and move again are killer.

Do you need a 3rd in North Carolina ? You don't in Georgia as long as you have a mirror.

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Originally Posted by kaneboats

Definitely consider renting for a while before you buy so you learn the area. I had a good idea of what I wanted when I moved here but missed by about a mile or two. Wish I had rented for a year. The transaction costs to sell and buy and move again are killer.

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freshturk - I agree with Kaneboats. If you go that route, put an ad in Craigslist and let the rental market come to you. Specify your parameters, whatever they may be. Let the responses roll in for a couple of days, then pull the ad. Follow up with each offer. You could well end up with a nice arrangement that is far less expensive than the conventional rental market. I did this and the result was a half dozen very nice rental options. Friday of this coming week I close on the purchase of house that is far from what I thought would be my choice when I arrived in the area a year ago. The rental kept my living expenses very low for the year that I really needed to find the right place to live. No regrets. - Deerfield

That's a great suggestion. People hate advertising to the general public and having to deal with all their BS. I needed a temporary house for 6 months or so after my house closed while we were waiting for a short sale to wrap up on the new house. I put an ad on Craigslist and got about a dozen good responses. I said who we were, what our needs were what we wanted, etc. Be sure to go online and check the tax records to make sure they actually own the property though.

Congratulations on your decision! There are a bunch of people from Ohio down here. My wife and I made the move last July from NJ and are loving it, though don't kid yourself because in the winter like it is now it still gets cold here, just no snow usually (minus this week as Charlotte is supposed to get a little snow).

We moved to Fort Mill, SC a little south of you and ride on Wylie. We rented for 3 months and them found our home. Best of luck to you! In NC/SC you do not need a third as long as you have a mirror but boating is always fun with a group.

Watch the Craiglist scams on rental homes. It's been happening a lot. Someone gets access to a foreclosed house, changes the locks, rents to someone and then they are gone. Who would of thought of that except crooks. It actually happened in our community.

My wife spent a week in November and December in NC, Would really want to move from Ohio to there. But owning a business makes that kinda hard and she did not like the idea of me being a stay at home dad. With having a 6th grader and 8th grader we hope to enjoy more time at our condo in TN once they are out of high school

I am setting up a move right now. I used an internet search for moving company quotes. Within minutes, several companies were contacting me by email and phone. Quotes vary greatly in cost. However, most every will match/honor someone elses quote. I did this on my last move and was as happy as you can be for having to move. It's painful, but using a system like this could save you $2-3K in moving expenses.

You coming back north?

I'm living in Pensacola. House in Tampa is under contract. I have an offer in on a waterfront lot here and a builder making a home design. We are setting up the household goods move in 2 weeks and I'll start looking for a rental home until our house can be built (7-9 months).

Congrats on getting her sold. Maybe we'll see you at Lake Martin in July?

well that was easier than i thought. We signed a lease for an apt on on of the fingers of the lake about a mile away from the local marina where we signed a lease for a year of dry docking. All in all a very productive day. Looking forward to not only the longer season but the more overall time on the lake that dry docking and proximity to the lake will bring us.

Enjoying this freak snowstorm? Remind you of ohio?

Freshturk, what part of NE Ohio? I moved from the Akron/Canton area to TN a few years back now, love every minute in the south!


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Youngstown, have family in North Canton. And luckily i switched up flights and missed that storm by a day, I didnt want my opinion of my new home to change!

Small world, I've got family all around that area. Good luck on your new ventures!


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Anyone have experience with dry storage? We've always kept the boat in a heated garage and trailered to the lake. Found a place that uses only propane forks and cleans floors twice a week so hopefully the boat wont look too bad.

Which marina are you looking at using? I purchased my supra last summer from a marina on Normam that was dry docked at their facility it's entire life since leaving the factory in 2006. After being at there dry storage for 7+ years, did not have a single scratch on it interior or exterior, absolutely mint condition. I wouldn't hesitate to keep my boat there, or in a similar facility. Same idea, monster fork lift that just drops it in and pulls it out.

Holiday marina in cornelius

This was Westport Marina. The few I checked out seemed pretty similar, I doubt you would have any issues. Especially if they keep it clean.

Not sure how familiar you are with that area of NC, but there a few smaller lakes that are great for wakeboarding not too far from Norman. Norman is definitely a nice lake, just gets kind of busy on the weekends for wakeboarding. During the week it's not usually a problem though.

Yah weve taken a fewfamily vacations to norman and really enjoyed it. Due to the nature of our jobs a lot of the time will be spent on the boat during the week so it allows us a little more good water. Weve always stayed on the north side of the lake where the water is better but were hoping that we can find some good spots on the south side as well. We'll be living in Cornelius. Besides Wylie, what other lakes do you suggest? Ive heard some people complaining about stumps and underwater damage on wylie, albeit this was from a shop at the north end of norman so they may have just been protecting their customer base.

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Ive heard some people complaining about stumps and underwater damage on wylie,

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Ive been boating on Wylie since 95. Stumps are nonexistent anywhere you would be boating and only a few sandy sholes and most are well marked. As long as you dont go too far up the Southfork past the Allan plant discharge or way north on the lake which is whats considered the Catawba river. It can get shallow the further north you go past the Allen plant intake. In the main sections of the lake, there are a couple of points that need to be taken wide though. For the most part, the lake bottom is sand a red clay. Outside of a severe drought, the water levels are fairly constant in all the lakes.

Mtn Island is a small lake thats right in between Norman and Wylie. Hickory is north west of Norman, back up the headwaters. Wateree is south of Wylie about 45 minutes by road and fed by the same river. East of Charlotte, youve got Badin and a couple others. Not much east untill you get into the mountains and you have Jocassee and Keowee, which is actually in SC. Jocassee is one of the best lakes ive been on. Down I85 2 hours is Hartwell right on the SC/GA line. Its a nice lake also.

funny to read this thread. also from ne ohio. uniontown. my wife is from youngstown. we love norman. heading back this august. we would love to move. talk about it weekly. only snags is cost of moving my business and leaving family. really, we need to just nut up and pull the trigger!

If you are gonna work in Huntersville then I highly recommend living on the south side of the lake also! Traffic between Exit 36(Mooresville) the top of the lake and Exit 25(Huntersville) the south side of the lake is BEYOND terrible all the time. I live in south Charlotte/Ballantyne area and commute to Exit 36 everyday, I wish that traffic on nobody.

West side of lake in Denver area IMO

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Originally Posted by Gettin' It

. I live in south Charlotte/Ballantyne area and commute to Exit 36 everyday, I wish that traffic on nobody.

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Yuck that's a horrible commute, and I complain about going from Fort Mill to Tyvola via I-77! However I do work from home 75% of the time so I cannot complain at all, but traffic in this area sucks and gets exponentially worse every day.

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Originally Posted by Ironcross25

funny to read this thread. also from ne ohio. uniontown. my wife is from youngstown. we love norman. heading back this august. we would love to move. talk about it weekly. only snags is cost of moving my business and leaving family. really, we need to just nut up and pull the trigger!

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The toughest part is just finally saying lets do it. Its been a year and we could not have made a better decision and havn't looked back in the least. As a matterof fact, we've had 2 sets of relatives already make the move since we've been here.

The lake has been everything we hoped it would and probably more, same goes for the community as a whole.

High Rock Lake is a short drive from the LKN area. I live on High Rock and it's a good lake! We have a few low bridges so when the lake is at full pond we have to choose a side of the lake to stay on, or load up to go to the other side. Not a problem for us. Come visit HRL sometime, it's worth the drive to see different scenary. Plenty of Moomba's and other wake boats around here!