Raleigh neighborhood info (Alliance, Wade, Five Points: hardwood floors, middle-class, real estate)

[taijamarie]

I have a friend who is looking for an aparment/rental home and she is looking at the Baetz and Grant area of Raleigh off of wade avenue. I was wondering if anyone knew that neighborhood. I unfortunately am unable to speak about raleigh, I only lived and worked in the area a short time. Any help would be great, she is looking to move in the spring.

[miamiblue]

This area has a lot of older cottage and duplex rentals many of which are managed by leasing companies, such as the Cottages on Grant. There are also some townhouses on Dylan Heath Ct. That part of the neighborhood seems to cater to students due to relatively inexpensive rents, but the rest of the neighborhood is pretty nice with nicer single family homes. It is a safe neighborhood and a good location, being close to Cameron Village and downtown.

I went to look at one of the brick cottages for rent on Baez St when I was looking for a place. I think it was managed by B&B Properties, but I can't remember 100% if that was the leasing company. It was alright, but not really in the best of shape as the appliances were old, it seemed to need some repairs and the prior tenant must have had a dog that shed a lot; however, the rent was rather inexpensive, so that is the tradeoff. It was not a tradeoff I, personally, was willing to make. That said, had I been in a different situation with a lower budget, it might have worked, but I would have searched long and hard before settling on it.

Tell your friend to map this area on google maps and use the street view function to get a feel for the neighborhood. It is a very useful tool for those searching from afar.

[VaNC]

I used to live around the corner from this area, on Hathaway Road. MiamiBlue is correct, this is generally a good, but older area. The townhouses on Baez are nice, as well as some of the cottages on Grant, etc. Some have been kept up better than others. Assuming your friend thinks that the individual place is fine, then I can assure her that the neighborhood is fine. There will be many of people walking/running down Grant, etc, she will be close to downtown, Cameron Village, etc. Houses two blocks over are selling for a million.

[rnc2mbfl]

I agree, this is a gem of a location. I imagine that it's only a matter of time before all the "value priced" rentals go away and make way for either multi-million dollar houses or high end multifamily. This recently happened to a similar sort of neighborhood on Oberlin Rd. If anyone is looking to buy into this neighborhood and has a moderate budget, I'd look sooner rather than later. Here's an example of what was put up at the former location of modest bungalow rentals: Moderator cut: url removed

[taijamarie]

Thanks for the replies, I informed her of you guys views. She is also wondering how do you go about finding rentals(house,townhomes,duplexes) in the historic glenwood, oakwood, 5 points, seaboard area. She works at the capital and wants to live close to work, but close enough to an interstate, so that she can go into RTP when needed. She is also looking for hardwood floors, if possible. She and I both have been searching craigslist, but dont see anything often. So was wondering if there is any other site, that list properties that are privately owned or managed by other than an apartment complex. Any help will be appreciated! Thanks!

[miamiblue]

There is a bungalow/cottage style place close to Five Points called Country Club Homes, I believe. They often list available units on craigslist. The Cottages on Grant might also be worth looking into, located in the neighborhood you originally asked about. You can usually find places on craigslist by just searching for the neighborhood names in the apartments section (oakwood, mordecai, boylan heights, five points, ITB, etc.), and things will come up. I was browsing craigslist just yesterday and found a few reasonably priced units that sounded like they fit your friend's requirements from what you have mentioned. However, I found my place and many others that weren't advertised by driving around looking for signs.

Also, check out Boylan Apartments, Cameron Court, Raleigh Apartments, Capital Apartments, etc. You can find many of these on a map with contact info in the downtown living section of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance: Downtown Living :: Downtown Raleigh, NC.

Best of luck!

[saturnfan]

Originally Posted by miamiblue

There is a bungalow/cottage style place close to Five Points called Country Club Homes, I believe. They often list available units on craigslist. The Cottages on Grant might also be worth looking into, located in the neighborhood you originally asked about. You can usually find places on craigslist by just searching for the neighborhood names in the apartments section (oakwood, mordecai, boylan heights, five points, ITB, etc.), and things will come up. I was browsing craigslist just yesterday and found a few reasonably priced units that sounded like they fit your friend's requirements from what you have mentioned. However, I found my place and many others that weren't advertised by driving around looking for signs.

Also, check out Boylan Apartments, Cameron Court, Raleigh Apartments, Capital Apartments, etc. You can find many of these on a map with contact info in the downtown living section of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance: Downtown Living :: Downtown Raleigh, NC.

Best of luck!

Country Club looks nice but I heard it had been bought to be torn down. Maybe it never went through, though.

[mommiewrites]

My mom lives at the Cottages on Grant. I's quite small, but she likes it and has had no problems.

[miamiblue]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

Country Club looks nice but I heard it had been bought to be torn down. Maybe it never went through, though.

I also heard that when I was looking for a place a year ago. The lady in the office said that if I was looking for a long-term rental, the places were scheduled to be torn down six months from that time. Well, that was a year ago and they are still actively advertising. The development must be hung up in all the approvals, or maybe it has been reconsidered with the current real estate climate. Who knows? It would be a certain shame to lose more middle-class rentals in that area to upscale retirement townhomes, for sure. Not to mention all of those beautiful old trees!

That said, taijamarie, if your friend looks there, and wants something long term, it's probably best to check with them directly.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by taijamarie

She works at the capital and wants to live close to work, but close enough to an interstate, so that she can go into RTP when needed.

Not to worry, getting to the Interstate is not a problem from ITB neighborhoods. Take Wade Ave. West and you'll be in RTP without even having to turn. Wade turns into the Wade Ave. Extension and the Extension turns into I-40 West. From Downtown proper, one can either go South to I-40 W or North to Wade Ave to get to RTP. Either way, it's less than 20 minutes without traffic to the general area of RTP. With heavy traffic, the trip could take 30 minutes or more but finding a good time to avoid that isn't all that difficult. As a side note, getting back to Raleigh from RTP usually takes longer than going there from Raleigh.