The real Durham? ......advice needed. (photos, sunny, people)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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SunnyKayak, that is why previous posters suggested that the OP should not buy a house. I don't think you can buy a good, safe home betwen 50K & 90K in Durham. Same is true for Raleigh, Chapel Hill, etc. etc. I'm not even sure if you can buy a decent home for that price in Mebane.
Again, I'm still not sure what your angle is in your postings. Are you just trying to mount an anti-Durham campaign, and if so why? Would you live anywhere in all of the cities you previously mentioned?
The one with the graffiti was titled "low income housing projects". I don't think the original poster was searching for that. I'm sorry you feel that way about Durham -
Last edited by SunnyKayak; 10-01-2007 at 02:23 AM..
Reason: you know why it was edited
I am a student living in Gilbert Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix right now. I am very near graduating and one of the job opportunities available to me would have me working in Raleigh NC. The only problem is I will be saddled with a large student loan that I plan on paying off as quickly as possible. While doing some real estate research, I noticed a few homes in Raleigh and lots of homes in Durham in the $130,000 - $170,000 range which is as high as we would feel comfortable spending.
But here is the thing, I'd love to spend less and we found homes in Durham starting at $50,000 - $90,000. They were older but didn't look like they were in bad condition. I just couldn't figure out why they were so ridiculously inexpensive. Bad neighborhood? Termite infestation? High Crime? People desperate to sell because of the market? A combination of all of these?
I am looking for the truth about why housing is so low in these areas, from people who live there or have actually been there as all the statistics for crime and such are a little deceiving.
I'd love any advice and appreciate the help!
My advice and please take this from someone whom has lived Phoenix, Chandler to be precise, don't leave Phoenix to come to this place. Find a place that is similar to Phoenix culturally speaking. I moved here for a job and now I regret it b/c it's sooo much different here. Don't just move here or any place for a job. It's not worth losing those friendships and other relationships you may have established in Gilbert, AZ. Relatively speaking, housing here is much cheaper than Phoenix. You may want to hold off on buying a home until you build your income up to the point where you can afford a house in that 150k to 170k price range.
Whether it's Raleigh or Durham, I would be very careful when considering single family homes in the $50K-$90K price range. In my experience such low prices are indicative of homes that need tens of thousands of dollars in repairs or they are located in undesireable areas that suffer from high crime rates.
You may want to consider renting an apartment for a year while you get the lay of the land here.
Good Luck!
Very good advise given by North Raleigh Guy. I too would recommend finding a nice apartment and learn the area from a stores, clubs, traffic patterns, as well as your job. One of the nice things this area offers is variety on rental places. Very nice amenities in most of the better rental places.
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