Tillymin

Hi, just wanted to introduce myself as have been lurking for many months! My husband, two children (aged 11 and 6) and I will be relocating from Staffordshire to Charlotte in the next few weeks. My husband is setting up and running the US subsidiary of the company he currently works for so is coming out on an L1A visa. He is just negotiating the lease on the office and warehouse space he has found and our visa applications will be going in as soon as the lease is signed. The company is paying for premium processing so hopefully that will all go through smoothly.

We accepted an offer on our house a couple of weeks ago. I'm very upset about having to sell the house but we couldn't get a buy to let mortgage on it as the rental income wasn't high enough. I'm feeling pretty apprehensive about everything but at the same time just wish the next few weeks would pass quickly so we can get out there! I've learnt so much from these boards so want to thank everyone who takes the time to post and share their knowledge.

Rete

Hi Tilly and a second welcome to BE

Your initial post was noted in elizabethsmum post about her first few weeks in NC. We thank you for stopping to the Welcome Inn and introducing yourself. I know you are excited and of course, the move has many sad aspects to it as well for you and your family. But what an adventure.

Have a read, please, of the site rules for posting in the link to be found on the beige header above.

You are already familiar with the US forums so continue to read and post and those who live in NC, and there are a great many of them, will be happy to assist you in setting up your new life in a strange, often alien, place.

Rete

Tillymin

Thanks Rete. � ����

Tillymin

Oops. Not sure where all those question marks appeared from!

tom169

Hi Tillymin. Charlotte resident here since November 16. Let me know if you need any advice or pointers with the city and i'll do my best to answer them.

Tillymin

Thank you Tom. How are you enjoying life in Charlotte? My husband's offices will be near Pineville. We think we will probably live just over the border in either Tega Cay or Fort Mill. My husband has visited Charlotte several times but the first time I'll visit will be when we actually arrive to live there!

Pulaski

Hi Tillymin. Welcome to BE.

I live in NC too, and you should research the schools in NC and SC as they are apparently quite different, and bizarrely parents on both sides of the state line swear that their state has far superior schools - so be wary about just asking local parents if their school is better than schools across the state line, because most will sat "yes" reflexively.

FWIW schools in Charlotte are a political football that have been messed around horribly over the past decade with many teachers being forcibly reassigned to different schools (teachers are employed by the school district, not the school, and while teachers can be reassigned, usually school district ) superintendents leave well alone - the idiot in Charlotte, who has since lost his job, decided on a large scale reassignment about five years ago, moving the best teachers to the underperforming schools. Unsurprisingly about half the teachers quit within two years!

Many parents have left Mecklenburg county and moved out into neighbouring counties - Union, Cabarrus, Iredell, and yes, down into South Carolina. The local media has dubbed it "white flight", though it certainly isn't only a white phenomenon. The teachers who resigned, I guess often followed the families into neighbouring counties. Schools on the south side of Charlotte, including Pineville, have some of the best reputations in Mecklenburg county, so it isn't certain that SC schools are necessarily better.

The taxes are also different in the two states, and I believe the rate (percentage) of property tax is higher in SC than NC, though a similar house will be cheaper on SC than NC.

Rete

Hi Tilly and Tom and Pulaski and Others ;-)

May I ask that instead of continuing to post here in the Welcome Inn that conversations be taken to the general forum in the USA section.

There are many people who have emigrated to NC and will be happy to assist you in all endeavors to learn as much as you can about living there and in the US in general.

Thanks so much everyone for understanding where this request is coming from.


Rete

Tillymin

Hi Pulaski,

Thanks for the welcome. It feels like we have been researching schools for months. Initially we were keen on living near Lake Norman in either Davidson or Huntersville. The more we looked into it the more we were put off the Charlotte Mecklenburg school district. Fort Mill school district seems to be highly rated which is why we have decided to live there. It's such a minefield, I hope we've made the right choice!

Tillymin

Sorry Rete. Didn't see your post before I posted!

Rete

Not a problem, Tilly

Heljpvy

Hi,

Myself, my husband and our 2 year old are moving on 1st Sept, we have an apartment between Tega Cey and Fort Mill. It is for his job and I'm quite apprehensive! Visas expire in 2021, so not forever, but I'm still terrified! Did you find it hard to adjust?

Helen

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

As this thread I almost a year old...I suggest you open a new thread in the US forums. We have several members living in NC...I am sure they will do their best to help you.

https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/

Good luck.

Thread closed.