Possible relocation to Cary area - coming down in a few weeks to check out area (Raleigh: real estate)

[jesslauren310]

Hello! We are possibly being transferred to the Raleigh area this summer of 2016. We currently live in the Philly suburbs but are originally from Boston. We are coming down in a few weeks to stay in Cary and check out the area. I was wondering if:

1. Anyone could recommend some good, inexpensive, family friendly restaurants?

2. Any other good parks/activities you recommend for a 2 year old?

3. Do you think it's worth it to work with a realtor and have them show us a few areas? Or are they usually not open to this?

Thanks!

[pjnugget]

1 - almost all restaurants will be family friendly
2-we like Pullen Park, Lake Johnson and Marbles Museum
3-You can probably just search this forum for some subdivisions you want to look at, it will probably depend on where you plan to work

[m378]

I'm a big fan of just driving around aimlessly - that way you see everything good and bad. Do a lot of driving, and if you're there on a Sunday maybe check out some open houses. Take the open houses with a grain of salt because they usually consist of houses that have been on the market for a while for one reason or another.

[NYCANC]

Bond Park- nice playground for young kids and lake.
Kids Together Park off of Cary Parkway (near Tyron).

[chickenbot]

Cary has dozens of really great parks. The Town of Cary has a great parks section to their website - just pull that up and see what's closest to your hotel. There are pictures and amenities listed.

This is the suburbs, most everything is family friendly.

I will warn you about this - Cary and most of the surrounding areas have *very strict* building codes in regards to signs and buffer landscaping around businesses. I love this - no glaring neon flash everywhere - but man when you are trying to find things it can be a pain in the tukus. You can drive down streets past all sorts of things AND NOT SEE THEM.

So do a little planning, just driving about can be less than productive unless you really like looking at trees and shrubs

You will likely have a hard time getting a realtor to spend that much time with you when you aren't buying for almost a year. I'd map yourself out something in whatever realtor site you like and GPS tour yourself.

Good luck, and it's still in the 90's here. Dress cool.

[BoBromhal]

if you were to know what your income would be, then you can call your friendly local lender in Philly and ask them an amount that you'd be prequalified for. This will help you know your price range; tis true that most people these days are spending less than what they "could".

Determine the "where is the job" address and a reasonable distance around that. Please know our average commute is 30 minutes or less, so don't think "anything is better than what I have now!"

take that information, and think about what type of house you'd want. # of bedrooms, baths, size of the lot, etc. Maybe the year built (ie, a brand new home, a home built since 2010, 2000, 1980 etc). You should strongly consider taking your budget and reducing it by 10% when you search, because today's listings might be next year's 10% more expensive homes (certainly they'll be 5%).

Find a local real estate company website that appeal to you and that you find easy to use. Enter those criteria, and see where the NEIGHBORHOODS are the homes are located in. Tour those neighborhoods.

That is the best possible way, in my experience, to learn "would I find a house I might like?"