if you're moving to north carolina there are a few things about our state you need to be prepared for
hi this is chris morton real estate broker with exp realty in raleigh north carolina and there's
some things about living in north carolina that you may not have heard about from friends and may
not be prepared for for instance you'll probably gain some weight when you move to north carolina
here in north carolina our chicken is fried our tea is sweet and most every meal ends in dessert
if you're coming to the state and you're really a huge aficionado of tiny little baby watercress
salads be prepared that your friends and coworkers are probably going to be chowing down on
some barbecue and chicken and carolina style burgers and all the stuff like that that we
have all grown to love and have grown up with in this state so it's only natural for you to give in
and try a few of the local delicacies you may end up addicted like the rest of us another
thing about north carolina you're probably not prepared for is the amazing seafood we have here
north carolina has access to locally caught oysters shrimp scallops fish of just about
any kind and it is very very plentiful at very very great prices so if you come from a place
where seafood is a delicacy you'll probably be shocked the availability we have here
and the many ways you can get your seafood it's not all just delicately sauteed and very expensive
which we do have really great restaurants like that but you can also go to like a seafood
restaurant fish house we call it that will serve you sauteed or broiled or fried seafood
again at really good prices and instead of it coming with like a delicate garnish and and
pesto or whatever it's going to come with a side of fries and coleslaw tanner was shocked when i
took him to an oyster roast and he was prepared to go have like raw oysters that were like a dollar
each or two dollars each like he was used to in california and instead we're steaming them
and frying them and they're no big deal because you really can get like a big giant amount of
oysters here in north carolina for 30 40 so it was kind of a culture shock for him and it was really
shocking for me because growing up here i've never really even considered that oysters was
some sort of great delicacy or something another thing about north carolina you're probably not
going to be prepared for is that you're going to probably need to keep your politics to yourself
north carolina has always been a very middle of the road state a very independent state
and it's very likely that you could be in a crowd that's half one political party and
half the other political party or even your friends may be and you may never know it so
our advice to you is probably just keep your politics to yourself go about your business and
maybe talk about the weather with your friends and co-workers etc another thing about north
carolina that may surprise you moving here is that there's a vast difference between the cities of
north carolina and the rest of the state north carolina by and large is a fairly rural state
farmland slow pace you get the idea the cities however you're going to have just as you expect
in most medium-sized cities good life varied restaurants culture all that sort of thing
but as you get further and further out of the cities it gets more rural
and the the pace of life changes a little bit it's really cool because you have the opportunity
to go out and explore the state meet different kinds of people living different kinds of lives
not everybody's lives in a city so it makes it for a good mix another thing about north carolina that
may surprise you you're probably going to have to pay more for a house than you were expecting the
common misconception is you can get a 2,000 square foot house in north carolina for about 150,000
and unfortunately that's really not the case maybe out in some of those rural areas i just talked
about you can get a home in that price range but as you're getting into cities you're looking at
anywhere from 150 to 450 a square foot for a house so it does definitely add up and it is a pretty
surprising shock for people when they come here another thing about north carolina you're probably
going to have to adjust to is that it may be hard to understand what some of the locals are saying
so in north carolina we don't have just one dialect there's many many dialects from all
over the state including the high tiders who are up in and i butchered that up in the northern
part of the coast the outer banks area and even those of us from north carolina cannot understand
what they're saying they understand what they're saying but we don't understand what they're saying
and the accents from eastern north carolina are completely different from the mountain accent
you get the idea we even have our own words for certain things so
words like yonder which is sort of a directional so you need to go down yonder a piece turn
right at the piggly wiggly and then go like that so we have that toboggan which is not
something you get in and sled down a hill it's a cap you wear on your head made out of wool
i don't know where that came from of course buggy and that's not just in north carolina but you
shopping carts or buggies you've got that and then there's fixin to so fixin to is when you're
planning to do something i'm fixin to go cut the grass i'm fixin to go wash the car that sort of
thing so in no time at all you'll be fixin to do stuff as well and another thing you need to be
prepared for you might get bit no we don't have that many sharks around here i'm talking about
the everyday critters i'm talking about fire ants i'm talking about mosquitoes yellow jackets
and wasps so fire ants is an especially insidious creature most people that come to the state think
all ants are cute little walking around things no we've got these red ants in north carolina and
they will bite your butt so be prepared don't let ants get on you they might be the fire ant kind
and of course we've talked about in the past mosquitoes we do have a mosquito season
and you have to be prepared for them spray yourself down and get ready because those
little blood suckers will get you if you're not careful and you should also be prepared
that you're going to meet some really really nice people so north carolina is known to be
a state full of really nice very cheerful people that are very easy to get along with
and very easy to strike up a conversation with most drivers are not going to be aggressive and
run you off the road if you put your signal on they're probably going to wave you on and
let you get in front of them we just have a general niceness about us here in the state
you'll probably be surprised how warmly you're welcome when you move here now of course in the
bigger cities you are going to get some aggressive drivers and things like that things are changing a
little bit but by and large in the state you're going to be warmly welcomed driving is going to
be easy and you're going to really enjoy moving here from wherever it is you came from the best
advice i can give you is to embrace the local culture and appreciate all of these differences
they're what make north carolina unique and quirky but most importantly a great place to
call home if you like this video then definitely click on this one you're gonna love this one
like and subscribe below this has been chris morton we'll see you on the next one bye-bye