Neighborhood- Cary Park vs. Highcroft vs The Reserve (Morrisville, Black Creek: for sale, real estate market)

[CintheCity]

Looking for any updated (summer of 2014) community feedback on Cary Park vs. Highcroft vs. the Reserve in terms of:

1) Neighbors with pride in ownership and working to maintain curb appeal
2) An active and competent HOA
3) A sense of community for young families- including friendly neighbors that actually like to socialize occasionally and look out for each other

Any other neighborhoods in the Cary area closer to RTP that I should definitely be considering?

Thanks in advance!

[Funky Chicken]

Disclaimer-I am an ex-Cary Park Resident.

If I was choosing between those 3 communities here is what I would consider.
Cary Park is BIG. It has an active network and plenty of kids although 10 years ago the kids were much younger and the homes have not turned over yet. It has a very nice but overutilized swim club and a very active swim team.
One of our main issues with Cary Park was the fact that by nature it does not contain homogeneous housing types. Please don't misunderstand-we were very happy to comingle with all sorts of different people at varying income levels and when we were moving in this was a big attraction for us. The inherent problem (which we discovered after living ther for a while) is that all of those different housing types and price points attract people with very differing levels of interest in maintaining their properties. Many of the small lot homeowners treated their property like a townhouse or condo and probably should have purchased something with HOA yard maintenance. Drive thru ALL of the sections of Cary Park and you will see what I am talking about. We discovered that we prefer a neighborhood with a more consistent level of home prices/sizes/lot sizes or at least a neighborhood that groups like homes in more defined areas.

Highcroft also has many families and appears to be kept up a bit better than Cary Park-this is a function of the homes being more similar in price/size/build quality. Highcroft, being the first of Impact Properties' (the developer) neighborhoods, was able to mostly build out prior to the 2008 economic crash. Cameron Pond, also initially an Impact Neighborhood, suffered the misfortune of coming to market a couple of years later and has had to recruit new builders in order to build out. Highcroft does border the 540 corridor but is less "impacted" (pardon the pun) than Cameron Pond by it. IMO Highcroft's major liability has always been lot size, especially at the lower end of its price spectrum. Some of those homes are AWFULLY close together, which may be fine at $300,000 +/- (as in the McNeill Burbank section of Cary Park) but loses its appeal at $400K+. Some take issue with Highcroft's airplane noise.

Then we have the Reserve.
The homes are older and reaching the point where they are becoming both cosmetically and functionally obsolete. You will still find Brass Hardware, Corian, and other materials that most of today's buyers reject. it's time for new Appliances and HVAC in many of those homes. You need to be either willing to live in a home that has not been updated or budget to update yourself.
Turnover in the Reserve is low. There are always people waiting in the wings to pounce on a new listing.
The neighborhood has a pleasant maturity to it-trees, landscaping, streetscape. It feels less transient than the other two, if that makes sense. I would imagine that there are fewer small children in the Reserve than in the other two choices just based on age of the homes.

Not an easy choice, and much more to consider than I have mentioned here. If you asked me to list my preference in order as of today-

The Reserve
The RIGHT home/lot in Highcroft
Cary Park

[CintheCity]

Thanks Funky Chicken. Very, very helpful! Any thoughts on Weycroft and Wessex?

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by CintheCity

Thanks Funky Chicken. Very, very helpful! Any thoughts on Weycroft and Wessex?

I prefer Wessex to Weycroft (and my order for the other three is identical to Funky's order, but he and I often agree on local real estate, so that's no surprise).

I do like the quality of the homes in Weycroft, but the subdivision itself has just never appealed to me.

Wessex will have mature trees and larger lots, though more homes may be in need of upgrading. Depends on what pops up in the inventory.

I live very close to Wessex (we considered a few homes there when we were looking to buy a new home) and I'd move there in a minute for the right home.

[CintheCity]

Thanks RedZin! I love Wessex and my only hesitation has been... 1) not any younger families & socialization factor and 2) commute to RTP for work - if the traffic is insane at rush hour.....Maybe I am making assumptions that I shouldn't be!

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by CintheCity

Thanks RedZin! I love Wessex and my only hesitation has been... 1) not any younger families & socialization factor and 2) commute to RTP for work - if the traffic is insane at rush hour.....Maybe I am making assumptions that I shouldn't be!

I think the commute will improve when McCrimmon Parkway is connected to Evans Road.
In a couple of years or so.

Morrisville, NC - Official Website - NC 54 Bypass / McCrimmon Extension

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by CintheCity

Thanks RedZin! I love Wessex and my only hesitation has been... 1) not any younger families & socialization factor and 2) commute to RTP for work - if the traffic is insane at rush hour.....Maybe I am making assumptions that I shouldn't be!

There's more than one way to get to RTP from Wessex. My husband drives out to McCrimmon from Weston Parkway (again, we live about a minute and a half from Wessex, tops), and he can get out there in less than 15 minutes most days.

I drive further out into RTP closer to Miami/Cornwallis and I can get over there in 20 minutes, even in traffic.

Fear not. It's not that bad.

As far as younger kids, there are plenty of people who have sold in Wessex since the real estate market picked up and I know that younger families are moving out there now that older ones are scaling back and/or moving to other areas. I would not be terribly concerned that you cannot find young kids over here in this neck of the woods. My neighborhood is full of them, but alas, no houses for sale over here.

You may also want to consider Weston Estates.

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

I think the commute will improve when McCrimmon Parkway is connected to Evans Road.
In a couple of years or so.

Morrisville, NC - Official Website - NC 54 Bypass / McCrimmon Extension

Yeah... that'll be nice for my husband.

Davis gets a bit crowded sometimes, but I think the only part he currently dislikes is Morrisville-Carpenter since they lowered the speed limit.

Still, his commute is very short, so it's a minor thing.

[CintheCity]

Thanks everyone. I know I keep adding neighborhoods to the conversation but how about socialization and young families in Preston (on the golf course Preston) actually....and organic neighborly socialization, not just through "the club." Anybody out there familiar with that community feel ?

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by CintheCity

Thanks everyone. I know I keep adding neighborhoods to the conversation but how about socialization and young families in Preston (on the golf course Preston) actually....and organic neighborly socialization, not just through "the club." Anybody out there familiar with that community feel ?

You're just running through neighborhoods we considered while we were shopping, so it's pretty easy to answer you from a shopper's perspective.

Preston Grande and Preston Village seemed to have the most little kids around when we were looking. PV isn't on the golf course, but there are some homes in Preston Grande that are.

The further you get into the main area of Preston, the less little kids you seem to see, but there are definitely plenty of them. It's just a big community.

I'm sure others can address socialization based on living there and whether or not it centers around the club... we didn't get that far into it, because we really wanted to be closer to Umstead and Black Creek Greenway.