Welcome. I was brought to NC by the army many moons ago from the west coast. My wife and I are not southern but we liked it enough around here to stay after the military chapter of life was over.
First, basements are not done in the Carolinas because it doesn't get cold enough, we don't get tornadoes/hurricanes enough to justify them and it is basically too wet which would floor the basement. You can build basements in any soils, just here there is so much moisture year round that basements are not a good idea. They would smell horrible from endless mold and mildew.
As far as location to move, that is a loaded question. As asked before, do you want to be near the mountains, ocean or not concerned either way? While the Raleigh/Durham/Cary (tri-cities) area is pretty massive it does come with a very hefty price tag for living there and those prices are not slowing down in any way. Greensboro, west of the tri-city area, is a larger city and pretty nice area but cost of living is similar to the Raleigh ones. Charlotte is a major city and just as expensive as the other ones.
I would encourage you to stay away from the Asheville area. The cost of living there may be higher than even Raleigh plus that place is like a hippy enclave, it feels so much like Seattle it is scary. Great place to see and visit, quite beautiful but not a place I would ever recommend to someone to live in. Gotta go visit the Biltmore out there though, just amazing.
Some smaller cities that aren't too bad are Fayetteville, Hickory, Lumberton, etc. In these areas you can buy larger homes/properties for subtantially less money that may even have the workshop you want or you can build the workshop of your dreams on the property because of the money you saved buying outside population ceneters. Basically for what it costs to buy just a house in the larger population centers mentioned you can buy 5-10+ acres with a nice house with room to expand elsewhere that isn't as densely populated. Some of these area are tucked into nice spots that aren't remote at all, everything is within 1-2 hours of a major city but provides all the primary shopping you need.
A LOT of people from the tri-city area are moving south through Fuquay, Lillington, etc down into the Fayetteville and surrounding areas. They are gobbling up the housing because it is cheaper prices, taxes, etc but in turn is overheating and inflating prices down here. The 60-90 minute drive is easier to do than living outside of means because homes are so expensive.
As an example, the house I live in down in Fayetteville would easily sell for $200-225k, maybe a little more, but in the tri-city area my house would run closer to $275-300k starting. That is withouth any major renovating as well. Just my thoughts as I personally prefer not to live in major cities like the tri-city area. It is enjoyable to head up there from time-to-time but I have no desire to live there, too peoply.
The bottom line is that there are lots of places to live depending on what you and your wife are seeking. Best of luck in your hunt.
