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My husband's company just approved his relocation from San Jose to Chapel Hill. We are scheduled to move in March and are thinking of purchasing a house right away. We have a 15 month old daughter so good schools will be a deciding factor on where to buy since I anticipate us staying in the house for a while. Right now we are looking at neighborhoods in NW Cary and south Durham. I have been researching the forum but still do not have a good handle on south Durham neighborhoods and schools. Does anyone have any recommendations for family friendly neighborhoods with good schools in Durham (budget 600K). I may be accepting a position in Cary, so we are looking for homes in between Chapel Hill and Cary.
Also, does anyone know the average commute time from Carpenter Village/Preston to Market Street in Chapel Hill?
I'd recommend finding a realtor if you don't already have one. I'd also consider renting for a bit until you can get a feel for the area.
The average home price in Durham is significantly less than 600k. So you won't find as many options as in some other areas. It makes me think of homes near country clubs and golf courses, those big new construction homes on tiny lots south of Southpoint, fine old houses near Duke ... Many people in Durham who live in homes at that price point choose private school. I'm happy with my kid's public education so far here, but we were lucky with the lottery. There are a lot of good elementary schools though. Some of the better schools that lead to a good route through the system are facing overcrowding issues.
South Durham is super-livable, shopping galore, very convenient from a commuting standpoint, has diversity, and it is easy to cross over into the hip and cool parts of town for a tasty meal or fun activity. Or any other of the Triangle cities.
Public school wise, though, no one's reputation touches Chapel Hill. Taxes are higher to account for it. Home prices definitely reflect that. If you are looking for a lot of house, particularly new construction, there might not be much on the market. However, you won't have school choices in CH like you have in Durham and Wake (like opting for a magnet or year-round).
You'll find a lot of home choices in Cary too. And strong education. Just sort of confusing right now.
The issue with Chapel Hill commutes is that there are a lot of people leaving it on roads that are just two lanes wide. So you're in town a bit, slowed down by lights and a lot of college/hospital foot traffic. Then you might be on 501 or 54, having a slow time getting on the highway. Then you might slow down again on 40 near RTP or near Wade Ave. (Actually, I haven't driven the route for a while, hopefully more recent commuters might comment.) And most CH commuters are heading east in the evening.
It's all relative though.
One area you haven't mentioned is Chatham Co. Some interesting options down that way, with schools with a good reputation.
We moved to the area in Febuary and initially thought about purchasing a home right away as well. We quickly realized that this area has too many options to choose from (a good thing!!) and decided to lease for a while. We love many things about where we are leasing now in Cary, but I'm so glad we didn't buy right away. We are now taking the time to explore other parts of Wake County as well as Durham, before buying. It's impossible to get an accurate feel for this entire area by reading about it on these forums. With your child so young, you don't even have to be concerned about ripping her away from a school and friends if you ultimately decide to buy in a different location than you lease (which is one of our dilemmas right now!)
Good luck. You will have fun exploring this area and finding the right place for your family!
We moved to the area in Febuary and initially thought about purchasing a home right away as well. We quickly realized that this area has too many options to choose from (a good thing!!) and decided to lease for a while. We love many things about where we are leasing now in Cary, but I'm so glad we didn't buy right away. We are now taking the time to explore other parts of Wake County as well as Durham, before buying. It's impossible to get an accurate feel for this entire area by reading about it on these forums. With your child so young, you don't even have to be concerned about ripping her away from a school and friends if you ultimately decide to buy in a different location than you lease (which is one of our dilemmas right now!)
Good luck. You will have fun exploring this area and finding the right place for your family!
Good post. Yes, the 15 month old isn't too concerned about school right now, or for a couple of years.
Just one more vote for renting first. We also thought of buying when we moved here ten years ago. We had a dog, a four month-old, were coming from a house with a basement and hadn't lived in an apartment since before we were married. But after two house-hunting trips we realized, like Voltage, there were too many options and traffic patterns would be too hard to guess until we lived here.
We threw a lot of our stuff in storage and rented a large, beautiful apartment for ten months before deciding to buy. We've often said it was one of the smartest things we've done.
I think the advice from the previous posters have been spot-on. Good luck with the move and welcome to the area!
I agree with renting first since your child is only 15 months old. Obviously you're too far away to make too many quality trips to the area. This isn't a huge metropolitan area but it IS quite spread out - exploring housing in Cary alone could take a few days.
I would have loved to rent when we moved here, but with 3 school age kids, moving them twice and possibly changing schools again was just not an option. I also had a huge advantage - my sister moved here 2 years before me and scoped out areas for us. She's a WCPSS teacher and was able to make the whole system more understandable (athough you really can't "get it" till you live here!). Interestingly enough, we ended up in the subdivision that she picked out for us - she just thought we would love it, and we do. So we were lucky in many respects. But if I'd moved here with pre-school-age children, there's no way I would have committed to a house right off the bat even with family guidance. It just added a whole other dimension to the stress of moving, trying to find a "perfect" place and a suitable house in that place.
Rent first. This area is quite spread out, and the best way to decide what you'd like in a neighborhood and/or a commute time is to spend some time living here first. A 15mo old doesn't need a school just yet.
You may also find that you do not need to spend 600k to buy a great house here. I'd rent a house similar in size/age to what you plan to buy so you can get an idea how much utilities cost here, too.
I agree with renting first since your child is only 15 months old. Obviously you're too far away to make too many quality trips to the area. This isn't a huge metropolitan area but it IS quite spread out - exploring housing in Cary alone could take a few days.
Heck, my husband and I have lived in this area on and off for 20 years and it took us six months to settle on what area of the Triangle we wanted to buy a house in.
Thank you all very much for your advice. We have decided to rent first instead of jumping into the house buying process. With that being said, can anyone recommend where I can search for fully furnished apartments or houses close to Chapel Hill?
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