To stay, or not to stay, THAT is the question!
With so many in the northeast (and the west coast) fleeing high cost of living and migrating in record numbers to more southern locales, I'd love to get thoughts and opinions from this board. We have friends, a number growing each week it seems, that are making the plunge, taking advantage of the insanely hot market and selling their house here to move to one of the hot spots in what is likely becoming the 'new north' (lol didn't coin it, but love it!)
Places like Nashville, Charlotte, Charleston, Tampa, Atlanta, Dallas, South FL, and more are absolutely BOOMING with big city transplants, including some in our network - it's incredible actually, this is a mass migration like no other in our modern era from I what I can tell.
This has sparked a lot of interest for me, I have begun going down this insanely addicting rabbit hole, thinking of the possibilities and options... I am exploring so much that my wife and I may do a scouting trip or two here in the coming months just to see how we 'feel' about certain areas. I am really locking in on NC, especially the Raleigh-Durham area... it's so appealing in so many ways it's impossible for me not to consider at this point.
To be clear, we actually really like living in LI - there's a lot of great aspects to it, and hey we've become spoiled by the ease of access of things that isn't always replicated in most other parts of the country. We love a lot of things, but man the taxes and the cost is just becoming hard to ignore. We are fortunate and do well, this isn't a claim of poverty or seeking sympathy at all, more that it's become really hard to stomach things as you look at the long-term and how best to create any sort of wealth, to reinvest your hard earned dollars, or take the best care of your family possible, or even to have an ounce of respectable retirement without working until your days are done. It is so insanely difficult here to just stay on the 'average' line (for this area), so challenging to live well, that I'm finding myself really interested in a better way. We know a couple of millionaires (not us lol) that don't live as big as you'd think because of the cost, and that to me is ridiculous. Like I'm really questioning now why are we doing this to ourselves?! LOL
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
I'm driving my wife NUTS lolol - she's NY born and raised, so there's obvious concern, but she started checking the home market and had to admit she's become equally intrigued - me being from VA it's much more palatable. We do have certain requirements, so we've found there really aren't many areas we think either of us could truly acclimate to - and we are very much family people, and the entire fam on both sides is either in the tri-state or VA, so this self-limits our options.
Anyhoo, would love to hear your perspectives!!