No Thoreau in this Walden Pond (Raleigh: apartments, foreclosures, rentals)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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My family is seriously considering a move to Raleigh and we are now in the process of finding a house / townhouse / condominium. While my wife is still convinced a metropolitan area of 1.5 million people is a village (though our last city had 20 million people), I'm generally quite excited about the move. The one area we've found attractive housing is the Walden Woods Condo area. I've looked for any sort of data to suggest that the below 100K price tags are justifiable, but I can't find a problem with the area at all. Is there some sort eminent environmental catastrophe or a recently-situated family of serial killers (or less-extreme but obviously more realistic circumstances) that have impacted vacancy rates but have not made its way into census-city-data sheets? The area in question just east of the Atlantic / E. Millbrook Ave intersection off Brockton Dr.
And while I'm at it, does anyone send their children to Ravencroft School, or knows anything about it? I've looked at the website already, but was wondering what people have to say about it.
My family is seriously considering a move to Raleigh and we are now in the process of finding a house / townhouse / condominium. While my wife is still convinced a metropolitan area of 1.5 million people is a village (though our last city had 20 million people), I'm generally quite excited about the move. The one area we've found attractive housing is the Walden Woods Condo area. I've looked for any sort of data to suggest that the below 100K price tags are justifiable, but I can't find a problem with the area at all. Is there some sort eminent environmental catastrophe or a recently-situated family of serial killers (or less-extreme but obviously more realistic circumstances) that have impacted vacancy rates but have not made its way into census-city-data sheets? The area in question just east of the Atlantic / E. Millbrook Ave intersection off Brockton Dr.
And while I'm at it, does anyone send their children to Ravencroft School, or knows anything about it? I've looked at the website already, but was wondering what people have to say about it.
Ravenscroft is an excellent private school. Expensive, but they do have a waiting list currently I am told.
Is 100k your price point? Cause, well....there are nicer areas then Atlantic and Millbrook, but no you won't be murdered in your sleep there either. It's a very commerical area.
Walden Woods condos offer pretty good SF for the dollar, and a convenient location.
There have been several foreclosures. I don't know any particular reason why, except for one where an investor stripped the equity and then couldn't resell.
HOA dues are fairly high, but the units have new siding and roofing, so those two items shouldn't require additional funds for years to come.
The three level units backing to the lake can offer real value. 1800SF, and 3 or 4 BR's with 3.5 baths in the $100,000 or under range. I think the flight of stairs down to them makes them a little difficult to resell.
But, rising costs to own in Raleigh seems to be supporting prices in the low end, and I'm guessing these units will hold value and a well-kept unit will be desireable.
The area is heavy rental concentration, so bear in mind that pride in ownership may be less obvious.
Ravenscroft is an excellent private school. Expensive, but they do have a waiting list currently I am told.
Is 100k your price point? Cause, well....there are nicer areas then Atlantic and Millbrook, but no you won't be murdered in your sleep there either. It's a very commerical area.
100K is as much as I'm willing to go right now. I'm certainly not tied to that particular area and would be willing to take a look at other areas. I'm leaning towards these simply because there's a lot of house for the money when compared to similar houses available, plus they're apparently assigned very good schools (may not directly matter so much as my daughter will likely go to private school, but it may help with resale value).
I saw what you mean by "commercial area" (google earth is great), but compared to the places where we've lived before, a couple of big box strop malls 10 minutes away pales in comparison. We lived in a buildings zoned for residential and commercial use, and across the alley were a collection of noisy pool halls, bars, and restaurants. Are there any other things to look out for?
IMO, it's not that desireable of an area. Heavy traffic, lots of rentals, industrial area, no remarkable landscaping (in that area in general, not specifically the condos). It's not a slum or anything, just not that great either.
Could you make a visit and stay somewhere for a few months before you make any committments?
IMO, it's not that desireable of an area. Heavy traffic, lots of rentals, industrial area, no remarkable landscaping (in that area in general, not specifically the condos). It's not a slum or anything, just not that great either.
Could you make a visit and stay somewhere for a few months before you make any committments?
Industry, I was sort of worried about something like that. I looked at some pollution readings for the area and they seemed low, which made me assume that it was relatively clean.
I'd like to visit the Raleigh before I buy, but I won't have the luxury of a few months to decide and get a "feel" for a neighborhood. Which areas would you suggest around the same price point?
100K is as much as I'm willing to go right now. I'm certainly not tied to that particular area and would be willing to take a look at other areas. I'm leaning towards these simply because there's a lot of house for the money when compared to similar houses available, plus they're apparently assigned very good schools (may not directly matter so much as my daughter will likely go to private school, but it may help with resale value).
I saw what you mean by "commercial area" (google earth is great), but compared to the places where we've lived before, a couple of big box strop malls 10 minutes away pales in comparison. We lived in a buildings zoned for residential and commercial use, and across the alley were a collection of noisy pool halls, bars, and restaurants. Are there any other things to look out for?
Well...if you want to spend under 100k, I would think there are other places to live then there. Heck, I think I'd rather live in the Chavis Heights areas near down-town then up on Atlantic and Milbrook. In fact, I know I would. I've often thought about if my life would change drastically, that I would buy down there just because it's so close to downtown and it seems to be on the verge of a turnaround (depending exactly where).
Ironically, I see into today's paper North Raleigh section, where they list police reports for the area that one block up from there string of armed robberies at gas pumps in the area, while the other crime reported in North Raleigh as a whole tended to be non-violent crimes, thefts from homes and workplaces.
Wake County has good schools so that isn't a worry. Heck, if you want a sub-area with homes in that price, it might even be a base school for some of the best magnet schools in the nation if you do some research.
And...well, I am going to be a bit bluntly honest here, so please don't take offense, but if you did get your child into Ravenscroft (for example) while living in such an area as Walden Woods....well...people are human in the Triangle....and let's face it, a school like that is rather upscale (to say the least). Are you and your child prepared for the social pressure of that? There are several Ravenscroft students in my daughter's martial art's dojo, and yes, they are conscience of such things.
You may want to think about renting for a time to get a better feel of the area before committing to any plan.
It's not really the kind of big industry that going to lead to pollution, like factories or anything, but things like miles and miles of car dealerships, auto body and car reapir shops, brick office buildings, strip malls, storage units, gas stations on every corner, big box stores like Walmart and some run down strip malls (although there are quite a few good ethnic places to eat in some of those strip malls).
My family is seriously considering a move to Raleigh and we are now in the process of finding a house / townhouse / condominium. While my wife is still convinced a metropolitan area of 1.5 million people is a village (though our last city had 20 million people), I'm generally quite excited about the move. The one area we've found attractive housing is the Walden Woods Condo area. I've looked for any sort of data to suggest that the below 100K price tags are justifiable, but I can't find a problem with the area at all. Is there some sort eminent environmental catastrophe or a recently-situated family of serial killers (or less-extreme but obviously more realistic circumstances) that have impacted vacancy rates but have not made its way into census-city-data sheets? The area in question just east of the Atlantic / E. Millbrook Ave intersection off Brockton Dr.
And while I'm at it, does anyone send their children to Ravencroft School, or knows anything about it? I've looked at the website already, but was wondering what people have to say about it.
Walden Woods is in the district (District 23) that I patrol. I can tell you exactly why the below 100k price tags are justifiable, HIGH CRIME. This isn't a great area at all. There are a lot of juvenile gangbangers that live in those apartments (they call them condos but they're really just apartments) and gang activity is high in that area. The crime in that area is high, and that is an area we really focus on and target especially with the warmer weather coming. The whole brockton dr, green rd, killcullen, hoyle, hargrove area is full of drugs, and this leads frequently leads to other serious crimes such as robberies,etc... You also have to deal with a lot of minor issues and I am always responding to calls like loud music, vandalism, loitering, etc...
I'm hate labeling a whole area like I did above but it's not a great area. I've personally arrested over one hundred individuals in that area alone. The last person shot (and killed) by an RPD officer was shot right there on brockton dr. The average person doesn't know how bad this area is but there is perhaps no area worse in Raleigh than this area outside of the historically bad areas in Southeast Raleigh like the maple/oakwood areas, martin/haywood, bragg/state st, etc.... and that is saying a lot.
Ravenscroft is a great school.
Last edited by ALT-X; 04-20-2007 at 11:49 AM..
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