Fayetteville - I am Moving to Cumberland County to Teach....Need a place to live! (Charlotte: rentals)

[wlr107]

I have just accepted a teachng position position with the Cumberland County School District. I will be teaching between grades 4 thru 6.

Here's the long and short of it:

I need a place to live that will accept my wife's german shepherd hearing dog, 2 toddlers (daughters 2,3), my wife, and myself.

I would love to find a place where I can rent to own, but do't know how it would work in NC. My wife works for Lowe's, and hopes to transfer.

We need information about the area, and we would love to get active in the community once we get there. We will have a little bit of cash to move in with, but it will have to last until I get my first school paycheck unless she can get a transfer.

Any information anyone has about the area would be appreciated! The school district personnel seem really awesome, and I'm excited about living in NC!

Thanks!

[joanchris2000]

What school will you be teaching in (if you know already), start there, then figure out a price range. Here is a good link

http://www.4fayettevillehomes.com/MLS.html

to start a house search on, but first look for the school you're working in, to see what's nearby. Pick a house in a good school area, there are many you probably wouldn't want your kids in, then find houses. Even where I live, supposed to be the BEST schools in the county, there are houses in all price ranges, the cheapest house in our elementary area is now 85,000, the most expensive is 775,000. There are also plenty of rentals listed, starting around $800 (in this el. school district).

We moved here last summer, wanted a house, had to sell our old house, put in an offer, but wanted to rent it for a few months til our house in CT sold....no deal, so we had 2 mortgages for 6 mos!
I don't know how easy it is to rent to own in general, that was just our experience, we didn't want to rent first as we didn't want to move twice. Too bad since we're moving again anyhow, to Charlotte!

I have a friend (actually the dad of my daughter's friend) who is a realtor who can help you, pm me if you want the name/number. Also, if you want the list of schools I used to house hunt pm me for that, I'd rather not post it!
If you're interested in actually buying a house outright let me know, I'm about to put mine onthe market (can't do rent to own) this week around $225k. (less if we can do it before I list it!)

Joan

[maryk9]

I'm struggling with the whole school issue! I have a 7th grader and our family will be relocating to the Fayetteville area in June (btw we're not military, we're USDA!) when I read this I was curious to know what schools are better....we are looking at the Hope Mills area because everything I read on this website has me afraid of Fayetteville! If there are great schools (looking ahead to High School especially) I would love to know! I've tried to analyze the school websites and report cards but the residents know best!

[joanchris2000]

Originally Posted by maryk9

I'm struggling with the whole school issue! I have a 7th grader and our family will be relocating to the Fayetteville area in June (btw we're not military, we're USDA!) when I read this I was curious to know what schools are better....we are looking at the Hope Mills area because everything I read on this website has me afraid of Fayetteville! If there are great schools (looking ahead to High School especially) I would love to know! I've tried to analyze the school websites and report cards but the residents know best!

Southview High School which is in Hope Mills, is part of Cumberland County Schools. The schools are all part of the same system. Southview ranks 6th in test scores in the county, (my data comes from www.psk12.com, they have free data for all to use, I joined for I can't remember how much, couldn't have been too much or I wouldn't have done it! last spring, I get the most recent year's data) behind Jack Britt, Terry Sanford, Cape Fear and 2 magnet high schools. Hope Mills Middle School is 5th, 2 elementary schools, Rockfish and Ed Baldwin (year round schedule BTW) rank 5th and 9th. None are too shabby, and I looked at Hope Mills when we were moving here. Fayetteville is very big, there are not so nice areas, and there are great areas. The Jack Britt high school area (John Griffin Middle school, 2nd after a magnet school) is on the very outskirts of town, and wasn't even technically Fayetteville until last year when this area was annexed.
The elementary school and high school are new, just built I think in 2002? As this area is almost all new and growing. Am I prejudiced to this area? Sure, I like it here, our neighborhood and schools are great, I hope to find something like it and the schools as good when we move to Charlotte this summer.
Fayetteville itself doesn't have a lot to do, compared from where I came from, CT. However if you're coming to this area anyhow, look all around. I had thought I wanted to be in East Fayetteville, an area called Eastover (trying to incorporate themselves now) but it was really "out there", away from everything, though it too is building up. (school is Cape Fear HS I mentioned above).
Good luck with your search!

[wlr107]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it! I would LOVE to et your place, but for now it's a bit high...grad school student loan payoff! AAARRRGGGGHHHH!

Ah, what we do to get good jobs. :-) I would be glad to send an e-mail you your realtor friend. My address is: wlr107@teacher.com

Man is it tough typing with a 2 year old and a 3 year oln hanging all over ya! :-) Thanks!

Will