You Moved to Charlotte, Now What?

Lots of people seem compelled to buy or build a house before officially getting to Charlotte and living in the place for even a minute. I sincerely encourage you to rent--even if it's just two months. There are plenty of month-to-month apartment complexes in Charlotte. We stayed at the Marquis at Carmel Commons (off of Route 51--also known as Pineville Matthews Road) for close to two months. It was a perfectly lovely place with a big pool, hot tub, and they accepted pets. It was also centrally located and you could easily get to shopping, restaurants and other parts of Charlotte.

Trust me that you might end up making a different choice in which part of town you ultimately want to live in if you give yourself 6-8 weeks to just drive around and experience what's out there. You don't want to go plunking down money on a house and then discover 6 months later that you wished you would have settled down in Huntersville versus Mint Hill.

We initially moved into a great neighborhood in South Charlotte that was in close proximity to highway 485. Now, had I known what I know now, I would have moved straight into Union County (which is where I live now). I could have saved myself the time and expense of another move in the long run (granted, we did make a pretty penny on selling our house in South Charlotte though). But it was a hassle to move again.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, "But I don't want to have to move into an apartment, put my stuff in storage and then move again!" I recognize that it's no fun to move twice in a short period of time, but here's how I minimized the impact. We packed the stuff that we knew we would need at the apartment last, so the truck simply pulled up to the apartment and pulled off just exactly what we'd need to live with for 8 weeks. I put a bright orange tape on everything that we needed so it was clear what was staying with us and what was going back into storage. I suggest you use a moving company that has storage space, as it tends to be cheaper to house your stuff with them. I've also seen people use those PODS with great success for this process as well.

Your other option could be to stay in one of those extended stay hotels. You'll have all the furniture, plates and stuff you'll need without even needing to touch your own stuff. Just bring your clothes, toothbrush and move right in until you've found your dream neighborhood.
I know some of you will ignore this, plunk down your hard-earned cash on a shiny new house and just go straight for the pot of gold without this recommended interim step. I admire your boldness and I hope that you're happy with where you've ended up. I know that some of you will need to get your kids into school and don't want to disrupt their lives too much. I get it. I get it.
Now that its your first days here in Charlotte, what will life be like? You might feel pangs of homesickness and feel like you should just run back home. Fight the urge, people. This is a normal feeling and will temper after you've been here awhile. I'm here 3 years and there are days where I still have that feeling creep up on me. Humans are pack animals, we like the familiar contact of people who love us. Pick up the telephone or grab one of those little web cameras so you can hear and see your family whenever you like.

If you're anything like me, you might actually feel happy about being liberated from having to attend every single family function. No one is going to expect you to show up for Aunt Tilly's 75th birthday party if you live 700 miles away. Send Aunt Tilly a fabulous bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates and call it a day--without guilt.

As you sink into your every day routine in Charlotte, you'll find that your day-to-day is much like where you came from. Actually, I think it's better.

Lisa