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My husband and I have long been fans of North Carolina. We are presently in Texas but discussing a possible move to NC. He works from home so we have a lot of flexibility in choosing a place to live but trying to decide on a spot can feel a bit overwhelming. Here's a bit of information on us.
We are in our later thirties and have three children. Our youngest is adopted from Thailand and we may adopt internationally again so an area with some racial diversity is a plus.
We are looking for a house in the $200,000 range and would choose to either live near a downtown that is walkable (perhaps only needing 1 car) or out in the country a bit but still relatively near a great town/city. We love culture, older/historical homes, a vibrant downtown with lots of shops & restaurants that aren't chains, etc. We would also love to be somewhere where there are lots of young families to get to know even if we might be out of town a little bit on some land. We will also be looking for a great church (people love being there as opposed to filling pews out of obligation). Denomination is not so important.
We would love close proximity to great outdoor activities weather it be beach or mountains. The natural beauty of NC is a major draw for us. We have been to Asheville a couple of times and love it but are looking for a couple of other options as well.
I love the four seasons with the heat of summer being my least favorite. I have heard that the piedmont area may be more temperate than other spots. Have you found that to be true?
Our kids go to a classical school that we love and being near one in NC would be great but probably not the determining factor in finding a place.
Hope that's plenty of information to go on and not TMI.
Well, as people say ad nauseum on this forum, it makes a big difference what sort of job you're looking for, and where you might find such a job.
I will say that my general experience in the Triangle region is that there aren't a lot of towns with walkable, vibrant downtowns. Most of the towns right around Raleigh are suburban sprawl incarnate. Chapel Hill/Carrboro has a nice downtown area but it's probably out of your budget. You might find something in Durham. Generally speaking, the farther away from Raleigh you get, the bigger the downtowns get (e.g. Apex, Clayton, even Wendell has a bigger downtown than Garner, where I live), but none of them are what I'd call particularly "vibrant". Maybe Apex, but again, I think that might be out of your budget (not as expensive as Chapel Hill, though, I don't think). Even most of Raleigh has a distinctly suburban feel and the areas that have walkable retail districts (Cameron Village, Five Points) are a lot more expensive.
Alternatively, there are plenty of subdivisions around the triangle that are "a little more out in the country" and the houses start around 200,000, but if you've got three children and maybe a fourth in the offing, I'm guessing that you might need or want a bigger house than a "starter". We've got three kids, wanted to buy a 4-bedroom house, and didn't find anything in the 200k range within commuting distance of Raleigh.
You might be better off looking for a small city/large town that's a little further away from the big population centers and has more of a self-sufficient downtown area but (a) I don't know if any such thing actually exists in NC and (b) again, it makes a big difference what sort of jobs you're looking for.
Sounds like Asheville might be a good option if you can find a job there and a house in your price range.
Thanks, for the response scratchie! Like I said, my husband has a job where he can work from home so finding work is not an issue. Just looking for a great town, not employment.
I've been reading up on Winston salem quite a bit. Does it seem like it would fit the bill?
Ah, missed that part. That certainly opens up more options but I'll leave it to others to answer as I'm really not familiar with much outside the triangle.
I've been reading up on Winston salem quite a bit. Does it seem like it would fit the bill?
Winston-Salem is a very nice small city. However, a couple of points.
1. The 4-bedroom houses in your price range are mostly older ones. (The west side of town is nice.) You would need to go further out for newer houses with more spaces. Check the Triad forum for expertise.
2. Summers in the Piedmont are quite hot. There is no relief from heat unless you go to higher altitude places like Boone. You might like Boone, so please check the Western NC forums.
Thanks, for the response scratchie! Like I said, my husband has a job where he can work from home so finding work is not an issue. Just looking for a great town, not employment.
I've been reading up on Winston salem quite a bit. Does it seem like it would fit the bill?
We've lived in the Triad for 3.5 years now. I really like Winston-Salem's downtown. If I were looking to live in a downtown, it would be one of my top choices in the Southeast. I prefer a suburban/semi-rural setting, and we chose northeast Davidson County (near Wallburg), which is convenient to W-S, Greensboro, and High Point.
It is definitely hot and humid in the Triad, but probably not as bad as most of Texas. We previously lived in eastern NC (Greenville), and it was certainly a bit hotter and more humid there.
Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Durham meet most of your criteria with the exception of price. Chapel Hill especially is pretty much the most expensive non-resort town in NC.
Rural Orange County would work well for you. Places with a Chapel Hill address but not "in-town" (IE in the coveted Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District) offer country setting with a little more of a hip vibe at a more affordable price than Chapel Hill with close proximity.
If my job keeps me in Chapel Hill long-term and I end up married with kids down the road; I'd buy a house in the country west of Chapel Hill (has Chapel Hill address) in an area called "The Trails".
I'm not sure where you are coming from in Texas; my only area I've spent much time in TX is Waco (ex-girlfriend went to Baylor Law School) and that place was miserable.....and it was too hot in April! NC gets pretty hot; but it's much more mild compared to TX
TarHeelNick, just so's you know, The Trails is not in the CHCCS district. It's Orange County Schools. There are many neighborhoods with Chapel Hill addresses that aren't in the CHCCS district.
I agree that you'd be hard pressed to find a 3 or 4 bedroom house for $200k in CHCCS. If such a mythical beast did exist (which I'm pretty sure it doesn't at all) it would be a real fixer upper older home, perhaps having been a student rental for years. Even finding a 3-4 bdrm for $300k could be tricky, too, but you could probably swing an older home for that.
There probably are some older homes in rural Orange County for $200k, but I can't think of any in a cute walkable downtown area that I know of. Maybe Mebane? But for good schools you'd want to be in the Orange County part of Mebane and housing costs there are probably more. I know property taxes are. Most of Mebane is in Alamance County, but Alamance county schools are not particularly good. Hillsborough, in northern Orange County, is cute, historic, and walkable, but I don't think $200k isn't going to cut it there.
Frankly the price sounds low to me for much of NC, certainly low for the most desirable areas with the best schools. I think the Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point) is a good suggestion, though, and you might be able to swing something there for $200K, but I do still think the housing budget is quite low.
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