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Hi all-I'm new to this, but thought I'd give a try since I'm otherwise not having any luck finding the information I need.
I may be relocating to the Chapel Hill area and need some help with areas. We are a family of 4 and my 3 issues are schools, safety and need for some space.
- Need to be within 30-40 min of Chapel Hill (UNC).
- Elementary school kids-want a good district
- Need to find a home with some acreage to accomodate a horse (at least the land, not necessarily a home with facilities since cost is an issue)
- Preferably in the $200,000 range
I've been hearing some stories about poor school districts outside of Chapel Hill/Carboro.
It's out of your budget just for the amount of land you are talking about. Not even including a house. Within 30 minutes of chapel hill + 5 acres and a decent house = $450,000+.
i think you can stay in orange county and find acreage if i am not mistaken. actually i just saw a listing in Chapel Hill with over 2 acres of land for $162,500...
It is definitely doable in rural orange county. Right now there are several Houses in your price range with 5+ acres in northern Orange county (north hillsborough and hurdle mills) which will put you in the 30 min commute range to UNC, all on rural roads (ie no traffic), and orange county schools are pretty good. From time to time things will pop up in western orange county which will get your commute down to 15-20 min. Also, you can find the type of property you are looking for in Eastern Alamance county (20 min commute) and northern Chatham county (10-20 min commute), but I don't have a good feel for the schools over there.
Fire up your favorite MLS and search each county, what you are looking for is out there.
Jelleigh, welcome to the forum. It really is a great place for sharing opinions and information. That said, my opinion is this:
Schools: depends on what your childrens' needs are. At elementary age, that can still be difficult to discern. Based on scores you could say the following may be true about the areas closest to UNC: 1) CHCCS 2) OCS 3) Chatham 4) Alamance. If you look at what each district spends per student, and what the demographics are it will tell you a bit more.
I agree with the previous poster, in that you will have more luck and perhaps find something to fulfill all of your wishes outside Chapel Hill. Rural Orange County (west and north), southern Orange County towards Chatham will also perhaps have some options My spouse grew up on a horse farm (15 acres) in Chatham Co but with a Chapel Hill address, attending Northwood High School. It was a new school back then, and I understand they have some really great programs there now but it is overcrowded. Considering you have a while b/f HS, much can change again.
There are some lots/subdivisions being built in north Orange to accomodate for those interested in horses so check out that way. Your commute should be 30-40 minutes to UNC, depending on the roads used (DON"T go through downtown Hillsborough!). Your price range is a bit low for the area, but I think if you really search and don't confine yourself to the number 1 school district you will find something that fits your desires.
Good luck!
Thanks for everyone's input-I appreciate it. I will be checking things out as suggested. I wasn't sure of the hillsborough area or the schools, so thanks. It's a long process and I'm thankful to have some people living in the area to be able to help guide a bit-I'm 8 hrs away and can't make a quick trip down to check things out!
I think the posters above have made good points. Everything is so spread out in the area that if you're looking for better schools, they're generally closer to town, which is where property prices are outrageous. Fortunately, though, because of the open space and highways, you're looking at a pretty large area for a 30-40 minute commute. That's really most of the Triangle west of Raleigh, plus most of Orange, Durham, and Alamance counties (depending on how far from the arteries you are).
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