The perfect lake???

[DebtStar]

Hello Southeast boaters!

My wife and I are considering a move to North Carolina and I wanted to ask your guidance and recommendations. We’re tired of the short summers in upstate NY and the high taxes are killing us.

I need to live near a major airport for my business so immediately think of Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham but I’m not limiting options at this point. My question is whether there is a lake or lakes appropriate for our 320DA that also allows us to live within 20-30 minutes of the airport. Right now I live 9 minutes from our marina so I want to live on or near the ideal lake. Any recommendations? Also, can you recommend which SR dealer would be best to work with?

Oh yeah, one of my children will be in middle school when we make the move so access to a good public or private school for him is important.

I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

Regards,

Rick

 

[chuck1]

Have you thought of North GA. Lake Lanier is about 30 Miles north of Atlanta?

 

[First Born]

Come on to Charlotte, you will want to go with Lake Wylie (south of Charlotte) or Lake Norman (north of Charlotte). Both of which will be within 30 minutes of the airport. :thumbsup:

The Dealer is Hall Marine Group and they are great. They have a location on both lakes so you will be good to go.

Wesley


http://www.hallmarine.com/

http://www.lakenorman.com/

http://lakewylie.com/

 

[Dave S]

I live 20 minutes from downtown Charlotte, 20 minutes from Charlotte Douglass Airport and 15 minutes from Lake Wylie. My boat is moored at Lake Wylie Marina owned by Hall Marine. They are an Ambassador Dealer with multiple outlets in the Carolinas and Georgia. In 2004 they were given Sea Ray's Best Service Department Worldwide award.
http://www.hallmarine.com/location1.asp

One thing you didn't mention though was what size lake you are looking for. Wylie is relatively small......about 30 miles long but there are many big Cruisers on our lake including quite a few 320DAs. Lake Norman is much larger but won't meet some of your other criteria you mentioned. There is plenty of housing available either on the water or close by on both lakes.

If there is any way I can help you, shoot me a PM and I will do my best to provide assistance and advice.

Dave

 

[DebtStar]

Thanks for the great feedback! I will definately check out Lake Wylie as it sounds like what we are looking for.

Chuck1 - thanks for the heads up on north Georgia. It's further south than I was thinking but worth a look too.

Next step I guess is to find a good real estate agent.

Thanks again. I needed the boaters perspective before anything else.

 

[chuck1]

Good Realtor :lol: Just kidding only my customer call me a good realtor. No I'm not making a sales pitch. I don't service Lake Lanier, it's about an hour south of me. Not sure, but you may want to talk with CPA that knows NC and GA taxes and see what would be best for you. Since I'm on the GA/NC State line I'm licensed and deal in both GA & NC most of my customers are better off in GA if it is going to be their permanent residence tax wise. If it is just a vacation place it does not really mater. Just a thought.

 

[Dave S]

Be very carefull you understand the tax structure in both North and South Carolina since you will have a choice of either state if you like Lake Wylie since it borders both states. The SC Personal Property tax structure can be pretty brutal if you have a larger boat. I expect to pay over $2000 per year on my 260DA. If I lived in NC, the PP tax would be considerably lower. The same thing applies to PP taxes on automobiles. Generally speaking though, real estate taxes will be much lower in South Carolina...........so it's all a trade off.

For real estate I recommend you get someone from Tate Realty. They are the largest in our area. Make sure you ask for someone who is licensed in both North and South Carolina or you will get shortchanged when looking at homes.

 

[DebtStar]

Great advice on checking out taxes. This will hopefully be our last move so need to make it a sustainable cost of living. I'm fairly confident that whether it's NC, SC or GA it will be lower taxes than NY.

I found Tate Realty on the web and will contact them for some ideas. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BKP]

Great advice on checking out taxes. This will hopefully be our last move so need to make it a sustainable cost of living. I'm fairly confident that whether it's NC, SC or GA it will be lower taxes than NY....

No doubt about that... When I moved from NY, to GA (north metro Atlanta -- 20 minutes from Lake Lanier), my taxes went from $7,000 to $2,500 for twice the square footage. Additionally, we *rarely* ever see snow here, unlike the Carolinas. (We do have our occasional ice storm, and three weeks of cold, < 32 F. weather, usually in Feb).

A further upside, is I slip my boat up on Lanier, in Hall County, which is *very* low (almost nominal) for ad volerum taxes (personal property).

Unfortunately, the Atlanta airport (Hartsfield-Jackson) is a bear to get to, and get through...

Good luck on wherever you decide...

 

[chuck1]

GA is going to be looking even better for retires if the Governor can get his tax change of eliminating state income tax for those over 65. Don't have to worry about myself for a few more years but sure would help my customers that are moving here for retirement.