Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Are you open to Durham? We live in South Durham and my husband's commute to RTP is 10 minutes. Our neighborhood is mostly within your price range and fits all of your criteria. Houses sell incredibly quickly (we stalked the neighborhood and made an offer the first day it was on the market). I love our location and Durham is a really cool city.
1. get pre-qualified, because your stated price range will be very difficult.
2. start looking now by finding a user-friendly website that lets you use a geographic search (preferably you get to draw the map, based on your work location in RTP).
3. start tracking what comes and goes on the market, so as Mike and others have said - you're extremely prepared.
4. you didn't say whether you only wanted Wake County, but given the towns named, it sounds so - please update us.
My buddy and his wife are touring that house tomorrow! Only one that met their criteria (which is exactly the same as OP's) on the market currently. Dealbreaker for him is having a 2-car garage; otherwise there are a few more options (very few).
The 540 toll has not alleviated it (I40), as expected, because it is so expensive many people "down south", in HS and Fuquay-Varina, are still taking the old Hwy 1/440 I40 RTP route ...takes some close to an hour now in the evening to get home.
I live in Cary and take the toll road to avoid the traffic on the way home. I get away with it because I get off at Rt 1 and i'm heading North so i'm going against the flow of traffic. It would actually be faster for me to take 40 but that's provided there aren't any accidents and we all know that there is almost always one of those waiting between RTP and 440. It's 25 minutes home.
A friend at work living in FV has actually stopped taking 540, not because of the cost but because once he gets off at 55, the traffic is a nightmare so it's taking him the same amount of time to take 540 as it does to take 40 and then take back roads. If that's his experience, others probably have the same and gave up on 540.
What hours will you be working? That will play a factor in commute times too. You could maybe live in North /Northeast Raleigh and get there in 30ish minutes if you go in to the office at say 7 am and leave at 3 or wait til 10 and stay til 7 or later. But if you are going at more normal times I agree Durham may be worth looking into. Are schools important? If so factor that in too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's 25 minutes home. 
