The Whiteville, Wallace, Wilmington areas.  

I am retiring from Law Enforcement at the end of 2026, and the spouse and I are planning on moving to the Carolinas, and possibly buy a house about a year prior, so we can begin the process.  We are looking for a existing home to remodel and make our own, I want about 3/4 to an acre plus, so I have room for my workshop and vehicle storage, that kind of thing.  Don't mind neighbors, just not on top of me, if you know what I mean.  We were also looking in SC in Johnsonville and North Myrtle Beach area.  We want to be 60 minutes max from the beach, as this move is to allow my spouse to get her beach on, without being married to it, and be not a slave to the weather.  

I look forward to the opportunity to hear from anyone with input to give.  Thanks for having me.

My wife and I relocated to the area just over two years ago.  We are just north of the area where you are looking Surf City / Sneads Ferry).  A big part of your decision will be based on what amenities you are looking to have.  We have about a 10-minute drive to Topsail beach and we love it.  Topsail is nothing like Myrtle.  It's not all built-up and commercialized, so a trip to the beach is truly relaxing (for old farts like us anyhow).  We enjoy the pace of small town life, so this area fits us just fine.  Only downside is that we need to drive about 30 minutes if we want to visit a Target or Kohls or stores like that.

You can find a home and land with all the features you mentioned almost anywhere in NC.  Just really consider how close you want to be to city / burbs.

Good Luck on your search!

Sorry - Realized I didn't answer your question....  IDK about Whiteville since I'm pretty new to the area myself, but I've been to Wilmington a few times.  It's a fine city with plenty of stuff to see and do.  Traffic is terrible in and around Wilmington.

Two things about NC that I'm not fond of:

You have to pay annual tax yearly, based on the value of your cars, boats, trailers, etc.

When purchasing a house, you will likely need to put down "due diligence" money.  This is money you will not be refunded if your deal falls through.  Like, say you get a home inspection and they find foundation issues....  You can walk away from the deal but you will forfeit the due diligence money.  Weirdest thing I've ever heard of.  Also, in NC the seller is not required to disclose any known problems or issues with the house.

Hope this helps.  Please do your research

Another item flooding..  

Do your research.

When Florence hit people were flooded for weeks..  

At the time was living in Richlands.  The house I was renting was 1 of 8 house that didn’t flood.  

People closer to the river had water up to the second story windows.  

Wallace got hit bad along with rest of coast.

I 40 was shutdown past exit 371 i think the exit is for Jacksonville.


You wouldn’t know it today but houses lost everything on the back roads.  Took months to be cleaned up..

Some houses were never rebuilt.  

Even though Wilmington sucks for traffic and is going to be higher cost of the three that would be the only area, or surround area I would consider.

Wallace and Whiteville don't have anything to offer.

Grew up in Wallace. Feel free to PM me for info.

Values are going up due to expansion north from Wilmington and south from Raleigh.

Fiber optic Internet being run in all of SE NC has made the work from home crowd look to leave the cities.

Think about the New Bern area.  Good healthcare and close to the coast.

From my phone so forgive typos

I moved here over a year ago. Due diligence money is negotiable. If the sellers do not disclose issues as was the case in my recent purchase, it would have been grounds to void the contract and have deposit returned.
I bought raw land (farm property) and a residential home 30 minutes from the farm. No due diligence on farm after negotiations. Small due diligence on cabin. Found a bunch of issues that I was comfortable repairing and renegotiated the purchase price since they were not disclosed and somewhat obvious.

I have cars and trailers. The tax sucks and the state income tax sucks. I knew it ahead of time and accepted it as the cost of living here.
Auto insurance was half of what I was paying as was property insurance so it balances out.
Be aware that property insurance near the coast is getting really expensive so factor that in.

I’m happy here and would do it again.

Good luck on your move.

This is incorrect North Carolina law N.C.G.S. 47E requires residential property owners to complete this Disclosure Statement and provide it to the buyer prior to any offer to purchase.

https://www.ncrec.gov/Forms/Consumer/rec422.pdf