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Maybe I'm going off topic here, but back to the OP - you need a good realtor who knows Durham.
I live in Brier Creek, and I'm regularly astonished at how few people from Raleigh go into Durham! Heck, my neighbors will drive farther away to go to Costco in Raleigh just to avoid going to Durham.
I think Durham has a very cool vibe and a great atmosphere. BUT (and it's a big but) you have to find the right neighborhood. That, IMHO( requires a great t! R! realtor who knows the Durham market and neighborhoods.
I the furthest I have I lived from downtown Raleigh in my life is Garner almost near the Raleigh city limits and in the other direction from downtown Raleigh Cameron Village area which is a good area but don't know how long of a drive it would take you.
Maybe I'm going off topic here, but back to the OP - you need a good realtor who knows Durham.
I think Durham has a very cool vibe and a great atmosphere. BUT (and it's a big but) you have to find the right neighborhood. That, IMHO( requires a great t! R! realtor who knows the Durham market and neighborhoods.
Sorry, going off topic too. We signed that Fair Housing thing and it said something about how our Realtor can't talk about people's ages and whatnot? So does that mean you can't ask if there are a lot of young families or older people in the neighborhood, etc?? OR does that just mean they can't talk about your age and the seller's age? Guess I should've asked for clarification....haha
Sorry, going off topic too. We signed that Fair Housing thing and it said something about how our Realtor can't talk about people's ages and whatnot? So does that mean you can't ask if there are a lot of young families or older people in the neighborhood, etc?? OR does that just mean they can't talk about your age and the seller's age? Guess I should've asked for clarification....haha
In the purest sense, according to Federal and State law for real estate agents, and additionally NAR Ethics for Realtors, we broker and consult on house and land deals, and do not sell people/demographics.
NAR ethics go a step further than the law and dictate that Realtors will not discriminate based on sexual orientation.
IF you find an agent who delves deeply into discussion of neighborhood or community demographics, "to be helpful," you are dealing with a criminal or an idiot, or both. And usually, someone with a fairly disgusting personal outlook, too.
And they do exist and do offer their "services" still.
While it seems odd or that information is withheld from consumers, we have to keep in mind that there is some clear history of truly horrible things being done to people in the pursuit of "desirable," and in discrimination against "undesirable," demographics.
Some examples...
People of color paying exorbitant mortgage rates, or being declined mortgages when their credit is better than white folks who get better service.
Redlining by race.
Blockbusting.
http://www.realtoractioncenter.com/f...y-effects.html
"It is clear that the Fair Housing Act (“Act”) is violated when there is intentional discrimination and a person is denied housing based on one of the seven protected classes (race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin)."
My ideal is to live East, South, or South-east of the campus, within a 5-mile radius of his office (which is on the NE side of campus).
If I thought we could find what we're looking for (3+/2+, 2500+sq ft, 2 car garage), in the price range we need (<250k), I'd LOVE to live in Trinity Park.
So I'm digging around on Realtor dot com and see some possibilities in Hope Valley, Hope Valley Farms, Woodcroft (or maybe it's called Woodlake?). What other neighborhoods should I peruse in that area?
Trinity Park is a very nice neighborhood and is just East of East Campus. However, the other neighborhoods you mentioned are South of East Campus and slightly SW if anything. While Hope Valley and HV Farms could be right around the 5 mile mark, Woodcroft and Woodlake are probably more like 10 miles from East Campus. Google maps is definitely your best friend for something like this. If you find a house you like put it in Google Maps and get directions from there to your husband's office.
As far as being East of E. Campus. There are some great neighborhoods right there, including the aforementioned Trinity Park, but 5 miles directly East of E. campus would probably put you in an area you wouldn't want to live in. Realistically there are some great neighborhoods North of east campus (Trinity Heights) and West of E. Campus too (Watts-Hillandale). Also, if you do drive 5 miles West of Campus along Erwin/Old Erwin Road you will run into neighborhoods that you might also want to consider (Loch'Nora would be right around the 5 mile mark).
If you're not real familiar with with the downtown area I would suggest just coming out for stuff to do and spending some time getting to know it. There are lots of great free events going on this time of year. Last night the music at Diamond View Park was packed. There is also music every Friday at Brightleaf. Music on Thursday evenings at CCB Plaza, and sometimes on Wednesday nights at Duke Gardens. I like outdoor music. Good luck with your search!
I remember when you came to a party at my house JennyB.....wow you have twins now.....time sure has flown by!!!
We are planning on selling our house soon....purchased property out in Orange County (will be our farm) but are also looking to buy another house to live in while this one is on the market and we build the new house. I have found such good tools on the internet! For Durham look at the following link......
You can put in a location and search a certain radius for crime. Hopefully that will help. Also make sure to look at the Durham County page and once you find a house look it up on the GIS map so you can find out information on the property. Then you can look at the tax info and even pull up the deeds. You can even pull up sales history for that area. If you need some help researching a property just let me know :-)
Congrats on your new additions :-) and good luck with your impending move!!
Just curious why you would want to buy a house in the interim, as opposed to renting?
We've looked at renting and buying and after weighing the pros and cons buying seems to be a better option for us since we want to live very close to our property (especially when we start to build). There just isn't a whole lot of options for renting out in the country (unless we want to live in someone's 30 year old mobile home) and we have 2 LARGE Golden Retrievers that love to play and wrestle with us and each other so we have to have a nice size yard. I couldn't imagine being in an apartment with them and would feel sorry for anyone living below, above and on the side of us especially since one loves to patrol the house every few hours at night and bark and bark :-) We're also considering building a barn with living quarters as an interim solution but sometimes it just seems easier to buy a small house in the country (one much cheaper than our current home) and then just take our time planning and building our forever farm :-) And then we can either sell the home, rent it out or let one of our children live in it if they want.
BTW - I'm from California too! Raised in Orange County CA (Huntington Beach) and then spent most of my adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area!
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