Buying North Carolina House

Business By surfergina Updated 7 Mar 2006 , 4:07am by surfergina

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surfergina Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 4:14am
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Hi! I lives in Florida right now, but I will be moving to Raleigh area in a few months. I contacted Dept of Argi to ask for license/permit info and they will send the packet in the mail.

I'm shopping for a house in Raleigh area. I told my real estate agent to find a house with a bonus room so I can convert into a small kitchen/bakery for my cake decorating business. Does anyone know what kinds of room I should be looking for when shopping for a new home? Basement? Sunroom? Your advice is greatly appreciate!

21 replies
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culinarilyobsessed Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 5:40am
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Hi, first off, welcome to NC! I'm about 3 hours southwest of Raleigh in Charlotte. As for what kind of rooms to look for, that really all depends on the desires & needs of your family. Basements aren't the most common thing in NC. Some houses have them, but they definitely aren't common. Many newer homes now, in NC & otherwise, have the bonus rooms that you mentioned instead. Sunrooms aren't always the most practical in terms of how much use they get, but I love mine! And I recommend LOTS of closet/storage space. Especially since you mentioned running your business out of your home. Sometimes you don't realize how much stuff you have & need until you start to run out of storage space..lol

Good luck with your search =)

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surfergina Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 1:14pm
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Thanks! I'll be sure to be on a look out for the bonus room. Wow, I didn't know most NC homes doesn't have basement. I'm in Florida and there are no basements here, too, due to waterlevel underground.

One thing I'm worried about: pets. I have a long-haired cat and a beagal dog. My cat stay indoor 100% and my dog's 50/50 in/outdoor. I will be sure that a bonus room is off-limit, meaning no pets in that room. I read somewhere here in the forum that someone mentioned about no pets are allowed IN the house at all time. I find it hard to believe, so I contacted DOA and I'm waiting for the packet, so I can read it and find out if it's true.

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smileyface Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 1:28pm
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Welcome to CC and almost welcome to NC TOO! I am in Goldsboror, it's East of Raleigh about 1 hour away. My sister used to live very close there in Cary. Where are you going to work? I can talk to my sister and see if I can get you some info on the area. Yeap, you won't find too many basements here. I think the water table is too high in most areas for a basement.

I had someone send me the licensing info through an email. I don't have time to search for it right now but will find it later this afternoon and see if I can get it to you. I know it mentioned pets but I don't remember for sure what it said. It may have said you can only have outdoor pets but again I am not sure.

Be back later.

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Jenn123 Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 1:32pm
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Be sure that your house doesn't have to be in a specific zone (Business/Agriculture/Residential) if they even permit in-home bakery.

I have a separate building on my land but almost didn't get a license because they had changed the zoning requirements recently.

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countrycakes Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 9:50pm
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icon_smile.gif Smileyface, I am an NC'er too. I live close to Washington, NC. I have not been online here at CC for a good while...due to health problems and my ds was in a horrible accident (motorcycle was hit by TRUCK! icon_eek.gif ) , and I never received my packet from DOA......I would appreciate any info that you could or would be willing to share.

I love doing cakes, but need to find out more details. Thanks! icon_wink.gif

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smileyface Posted 19 Jan 2006 , 10:31pm
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Countrycakes, glad to see you got back on CC. Sorry to hear about your health problems and your DS's motorcycle accident. I hope both of you are healing and doing better. My hubby rides a motorcycle so that sort of an accident is always in the back of my mind.

I know someone here sent me the info in an email but I can't find the file. I know I save it. I did have the info mailed to me awhile back. I will see if I can find it. I don't have any pets so I wasn't worried about that part of the requirements. I try to search for the hard copy after dinner and post what I find. Are there any specific questions you have?

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ncdessertdiva Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 3:21am
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Welcome to NC and CC! I live in Durham, about 20 minutes north of Raleigh. Here is the link the DOA for a home-based business. There is a stipulation of no pets of any kind. My solution is going to be an attached garage. You might look into that setup. Then your indoor pets/outdoor pets will not affect your "business place". Here is the link: http://www.agr.state.nc.us./fooddrug/homebiz.htm
Hope this helps.
Leslie

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smileyface Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 3:30am
post #9 of 22

Thanks for posting that ncdessertdiva, I must have deleted the online info I had.

Good Luck everyone!

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surfergina Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 4:19am
post #10 of 22

Thanks, ncdiva - i will look it up. If I do happen to receive the packet in the mail, I will let you all know.

We haven't decide on the new home location yet, but I know it's somewhere in Raleigh area. We are heading to NC in a few weeks to meet with the real estate agent and have her to show us all around the towns.

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DDiva Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 4:29am
post #11 of 22

Welcome to NC!! I live in the High Point/Greensboro area.

NC is one of the easiest states in the country in which to have a home based business.

My business has outgrown our current home and we're moving into what are called live/work townhomes. It has a commercial space on street level, a two story townhome above and a garage with a studio above it. It has already been zoned for any type of business. The builder will configure the space any way that you want, or you can finish it yourself. It's a great tax situation too. I know that these are being being built in Cary and in the Raleigh area. You might have your real estate agent check into these.

You won't have any converting to do. You just move in, get your business license, call the Dept. of Ag folks to come and inspect (they've already pre-approved these units) and you're ready to go!!

Good luck. Hope you'll check out our NC ICES chapter. We meet 3 times a year in the Raleigh area!! Great group of folks!!

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culinarilyobsessed Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 5:38am
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Surfergina, I had heard the stipulation about no indoor pets & that was problem for me also. I'm still contemplating how to get around that. True adding a detached garage would solve the issue as someone mentioned, but that's very involved and expensive. To do something like that you definitely have to know it's going to be cost effective and you don't plan on making a move anytime soon.

One other thing I forgot to mention that you should check on before buying a house. I'm sure the same applies in all states, but since you are planning to have a home-based bakery, make sure that your neighborhood doesn't have home-owners association restrictions forbidding you to have a home-based business. Many HOA will have restrictive covenants that do not allow that. Hopefully that won't be the case wherever u decide to buy.

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loriemoms Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 10:10pm
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First off, let me also welcome you to NC! I live Apex, which is right outside of raleigh. Do you know if you are moving into Wake County or will you be in some sort of City limits? You may want to keep this in mind when you are hunting for a house, because you will run into two different rules. Out "in the county", (Wake, Johnson, durham, etc) you have much more relaxed rules, you can build a garage or put a seperate building on your land and stuff like that. Inside the city (Apex, town of Cary, city or Raleigh, etc etc) you will have to follow more rules, depending on where you are going. I know in my neighbhorhood, they allow home business ONLY if it doesn't interrupt the neighbhorhood. So I can't have signs, I can't build an out building, I have to even be careful on how many people come to the house to pick up cakes! And Apex does NOT allow any indoor pets, period. Don't know about other places. And no food storage in a garage that has a car or other toxic stuff in it, including a fridge! (although I am still trying to get the true on that one..it is very time consuming getting all this done, as this area is growing so fast!...that is why you probably will never get your package! Grin)
BTW, the first thing you need to is register your business (even to get a bank account with your business name) and will need to charge tax, and like someone else said, need an inspection. So it is very easy here, compared to other places I have read!
As far as the kind of house, we don't have many basements here. The best thing is a room over your garage...bonus rooms are great, my house has a seperate staircase to the kitchen, which makes it nice, but I am hoping to someday convert my attic. Walkup attics are much more popular here, at least the newer homes.
Anyway, let us know when you come! and go to the Ices meetings! I have only been to one and I have never met such a friendly group!!

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prettycake Posted 20 Jan 2006 , 10:24pm
post #14 of 22

icon_smile.gif Raleigh !! wow that's where Clay Aiken is from....
American Idol 2nd placer in 2002..I am a big fan of his.. icon_smile.gifthumbs_up.gif

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surfergina Posted 21 Jan 2006 , 2:37am
post #15 of 22

Thanks for the info, everyone! I already informed my real estate about my home preference and home-based business rules. Luckily, she knew all about it, so that'll make it easier for all of us.

We haven't made up our minds on which city or town to live in yet, mainly because of school and zoning for home-based business. My husband is willing to build a small shop for me, but that's another options. Bonus room is ideal, too, so we'll have to wait and see while we go on the house-hunting

I'll be GLAD to meet you for ICES meeting! I should be joining it sometime around May. I can't wait!!!!

Gina

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golfgma Posted 21 Jan 2006 , 5:02am
post #16 of 22

Gina, Welcome to CC! I am in Durham, NC. I think what you will find is there are a LOT of people around here from all of the country! It's a great place to live. I am orginally from NY and have been here for 5 years now. I look forward to seeing you at the ICES meetings! Sounds like you will just miss the next one that is scheduled for April in Raleigh.

Diane

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abbey Posted 23 Jan 2006 , 3:56pm
post #17 of 22

Hope you'll love NC it is a great place to live. I live in the Hickory area about 3 hours from Raleigh close to the mountains. NC is a beautiful state and it has a little something for everyone. Whenever I visit other places I always think coming home how beautiful our state is. Good luck with your move and the start of your business!

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cat121481 Posted 23 Jan 2006 , 4:19pm
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I also live in NC. I am in Asheboro (home of the NC Zoo) about 1.5hrs. southwest from Raleigh. Good luck on your move. Let us know how it is going and what area you move to.

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surfergina Posted 25 Jan 2006 , 1:14pm
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Yes, looks like I will miss April's ICES meeting. If my house is sold next month, we still have to stay in FL until May, in order for our son to finish his school. By then, I'll be busy to practice decorating. We may live in North Raleigh area, but not sure yet.

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sempfi22 Posted 27 Jan 2006 , 1:06am
post #20 of 22

Hey, thanks for the info. I have been wondering what the stipulations were for a home based business in NC. I was afraid that I couldn't get a business license and have to do everything under the table.

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cevans Posted 7 Mar 2006 , 1:45am
post #21 of 22

Hey Gina,
I live in Wake Forest and I would say 90% of the homes in my neighborhood have basements. I know that in the Northern part of Raleigh/Wake Forest area there are a lot of new developments and the houses have basements. We are also still in the Wake county district for schools. In case you needed to know that. Welcome to NC icon_smile.gif

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surfergina Posted 7 Mar 2006 , 4:07am
post #22 of 22

Thanks, Cevans! I will check into it. thumbs_up.gif

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