Is it too late to start on this realm, for serious raiding?

The title says it all, I wanted to start playing on here but I'm worried about starting up a character. I'm really only interested in playing if I can get into raiding seriously and I dont want to give Blizzard any money. I checked out some of the other forum posts regarding this question, and I feel like they didn't really answer my question. I'm just kinda looking for a realistic yes or no. I'm looking for a relatively unadulterated experience, so I'm only asking about the Lordaeron server, it looks like the one with the weakest cash shop and no restarts.

It being an MMO, and especially on a server that isn't going to progress to new content, there's basically no "too late." You won't get a new expansion when you're halfway to catching up with the current content, and even if there was it's always possible to catch up. It's more a matter of whether you have the time and patience to invest in getting there.

Just as Obnoxious said, ill just add one more thing - you haven't really defined what 'serous raiding' is for you. If you mean progressing hard tuned content in applicable gear, yes that is probably too late, a lot of people have high gear that might carry encounters. But if all you meant is having a good wotlk experience, lordaeron is a good realm for you. The community and pve is good quality here and your personal progression can be really exciting.