8 Burning Questions You Need to Ask Before You Move (They’re Absolutely Necessary!)

My husband and I love our current home, but it’s not our forever home. Like many other New Yorkers, we’ve talked about escaping the hustle of the city and have tossed around different states we’d like to move to. Recently, we’ve been talking about moving to North Carolina.

Part of it is childhood memories; my husband fondly recalls vacationing on Lake Norman in North Carolina years ago. We’ve heard wonderful things about the Charlotte metro region, and we’ve begun to discuss the idea of moving there someday. We were recently in Davidson for a family wedding, so we tacked on some extra time to scope out other towns, including Huntersville, Cornelius, and Mooresville. And then, all of a sudden, we were looking at homes. One house we looked at led us to Zillow, which told us that the listing price landed safely within our budget.

Whoa. It felt fast. Were we really thinking of making a big move? We’d be in good company, as many of our fellow New Yorkers have moved to the Tar Heel State. But if we were getting serious about this, I knew that our current strategy — plugging in the address of a house we liked on Zillow, then driving by and attempting to look casual — wouldn’t cut it in the long term. 

If we were going to eventually make this move, we’d need some more good company — specifically, that of an experienced real estate agent. I got on the phone with two people experienced in out-of-state moves: Lorie Stadick, a real estate broker with ERA Live Moore, serving the Carolinas, and Kate Terrigno, a Realtor with Corcoran HM Properties in Charlotte and a former New Yorker herself.

I could have spoken for hours with both experts, so please know that this list of questions/topics is just the tip of the information iceberg. But for me, it was a good start to understanding what we’d need to consider for a big move — and these were questions that both agents said should come up when you’re starting to look into moving across state lines.

Now, I know that people can and do pull off major moves at an impressive speed, but my husband and I are not looking to be hasty. (A good thing because oof, those mortgage rates, am I right?) 

Stadick says she’s helped people move in 45 days for a new job, so a “speed dating”-type of home search is always on the table. But optimally, we’d give it three to six months. That’s about the time it took for us to find our current home, and we were already living in the same ZIP code. So this time frame both excites and terrifies me. Stadick, who has helped with many out-of-country buyers, assures me it’s doable.

The prospect of buying a home while selling a home is tricky enough, even if you’re staying in an area you know well. But I am deeply fearful of buyer’s regret in terms of location. A friend suggested that we sell our house first, then rent for a year to get a lay of the land. Makes sense, but moving twice? Yikes.

Terrigno says renting could work to get to know the area, but only for the short-term. “Rent is not cheap here,” she says, noting that rental homes aren’t the best representation of what’s for sale. She instead recommends renting, if possible, an Airbnb for one to two months, so that you don’t have to handle moving all your furniture in and out of different homes twice. 

And timing is everything. “If you’re coming in and you’re wanting to rent for the spring market, you might be kicking yourself six months from then because you’re going to miss some of the best inventory for the year,” Terrigno explains.

Real estate is all about location. But without infinite funds to keep flying down to North Carolina on weekends to scope out the neighborhoods, we’ll have to rely heavily on a real estate agent to be the welcome wagon.

My husband and I don’t have children, so that takes one major issue off our plate: finding a “good” school district. Granted, we want a “good” neighborhood for ourselves, and to do that, we need to let our agent know what we want. What type of entertainment/culture are we looking for? What type of commute time? What amenities? The questions are plentiful. We’d need to make lists and share them with our future agent, including all the must-haves we want in an actual home. 

Both agents said the best thing to do would be to come down for a weekend to tour areas and homes based on the information we provide them — the more, the better. Stadick assures me, “Being able to target [a home search] and find you the right house in the right area is my job.” 

Charlotte is rapidly developing; Terrigno told me more than 100 people move there each day. That means new housing is plentiful. But do we want a brand-new house? 

It’s a complicated question because, on the one hand, who wouldn’t want to be the very first owner of a home? But as we scroll more and more listings, we are drawn to the style and charm of existing homes — which are still decades younger than the home we currently live in.

Terrigno offered this food for thought: Brand-new doesn’t mean better. She suggests looking at houses built starting in 2016 — not old at all, but built when construction costs were less. “The actual quality of the construction is going to be so much higher than if you built it today,” she explains, because of the rising building costs. Given that our current house was built in the 1950s, anything built in the 21st century sounds just fine. 

We’ve already been through the homebuying process before, but it was such a nerve-wracking experience that I don’t remember much of it. (I’m told by both agents that this is common.) So I asked a few basic questions to gather what you should ask agents about in an out-of-state transaction — as real estate law differs between states.

In addition to earnest money (a good faith payment), North Carolina is one of the states that requires a due diligence period. It’s a short length of time that allows buyers to have the home inspected, after which they can back out if there are issues. Due diligence requires a non-refundable fee that is negotiable, but it usually covers one monthly house payment so that the seller doesn’t lose money while entertaining an offer, Stadick told me. You should make sure you know what the state you want to move to requires if you’re considering buying a home there. 

Sellers prefer when they recognize the lender; it gives them the confidence that the sale will happen. While a national bank would do, I’m probably better off working with a Charlotte-based lender. Both agents say I can ask them for referrals; given that we had issues with a major national bank for our lender for our current house, I certainly would.

Properties tend to close within 30 to 45 days in North Carolina, says Terrigno. The closing date is put in the contract, and it is usually adhered to. Stadick agrees, noting that there is an automatic padding of seven days, if more time is needed. Amazing! In New York, buyers are usually given “on or around” language with a closing date, and it can get hairy.

Talking with Terrigno and Stadick confirmed my suspicion: While an out-of-state move can be stressful, it’s far from impossible. And it can be done much sooner than I think. Are we ready to start packing? Not exactly. But until then, I’ve subscribed to Charlotte magazine and continue to scroll listings on Zillow.