penrith neighborhood in durham? (Raleigh, Winston-Salem: apartment complexes, crime, houses)

[gwyn779]

My husband and I are moving to the Triangle area later this summer and are currently looking at houses. What can people tell me about the Penrith neighborhood? Specifically Middleton Rd. We found a house we like there, but our realtor has doubts about the neighborhood and I just don't know how justified they are.

[sneezecake]

Ehhh - it's questionable. I don't mean questionable with the negative connotation that normally comes with it, but it's just iffy...not great, not awful, some bad stuff/sights, some nice stuff and newer homes nearby.

The immediate questions that come to mind are:

1) Is your realtor one who specializes in Durham? From some comments on this board, it seems that some (certainly not all) realtors who focus more on Raleigh/Cary etc will dismiss Durham and lead their clients elsewhere

2) What is your price range/need list for a home? As a nearby point of comparison, there is a subdivision called Lochside which are standard pacific homes and look decent. Looks like the same plans as are available in Lyons Farm, a more expensive neighborhood.

In general, that area west of 55 and south of MLK is kind of a mix of rural land, some not-so high-end apartment complexes, some older homes, and some newer homes.

At that price point (Penrith search in MLS looks like around the low 200s) I would probably go further south and west - check out neighborhoods like:

Woodcroft
Woodlake
Hope Valley Farms
Sunningdale
Audubon Park

We ended up buying in a higher price range than this, but we had looked extensively at all sorts of homes from 225k to 375k and these were all neighborhoods we saw homes in on more than one occasion.

Good luck!

[dcgrl]

What kind of doubts?

Penrith is OK. Middle class, diverse. Most houses are well kept, I think, and it's close to RTP if either of you are working there.

Not my favorite neighborhood in Durham, but I don't think you need to be warned away. Is your realtor very familiar with Durham?

Avail yourself of the Durham Crime Mapper. Durham Crime Mapper

I entered an address on Middleton, and the crime stats from Jan 2007 to May 2008 are pretty encouraging--actually better than the ones for where I live, and I feel perfectly comfortable and happy in my neighborhood.

I think my main concern would be the districted high school--I think people prefer Jordan to Hillside, but I'm a mom of a 6-month-old, so high schools don't concern me yet.

[Calvitts]

Originally Posted by dcgrl

I think my main concern would be the districted high school--I think people prefer Jordan to Hillside, but I'm a mom of a 6-month-old, so high schools don't concern me yet.

Don't let the districted high school turn you away from this area. I believe Hillside is an up and coming school. Strong administration, excellent teaching staff, and the senior class that just graduated was awarded somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.5 million in scholarships. Unfortunately, like Durham, bad reputations don't go away quietly, even if they are a bit outdated.

[gwyn779]

1) Is your realtor one who specializes in Durham? From some comments on this board, it seems that some (certainly not all) realtors who focus more on Raleigh/Cary etc will dismiss Durham and lead their clients elsewhere

2) What is your price range/need list for a home? As a nearby point of comparison, there is a subdivision called Lochside which are standard pacific homes and look decent. Looks like the same plans as are available in Lyons Farm, a more expensive neighborhood.

Our realtor actually lives in Durham and that's the only place we've been looking. I'll be working at UNC, so we've been focusing on SW Durham. The problem is our max is ~$200k, so we've looked at lots of houses but not that many we've really liked. Well, I guess the real problem is that we're moving from Winston-Salem so we're used to much lower prices in general.

[balboafest]

I don't know much about the Penrith neighborhood, other than having driven through it a few times looking at houses' exteriors. We considered buying in Penrith, and you can get slightly more square footage for your $ there. But, ultimately decided we liked the feel of some of the other SW Durham neighoborhoods better.

[gwyn779]

Originally Posted by dcgrl

What kind of doubts?

Penrith is OK. Middle class, diverse. Most houses are well kept, I think, and it's close to RTP if either of you are working there.

Not my favorite neighborhood in Durham, but I don't think you need to be warned away. Is your realtor very familiar with Durham?

Avail yourself of the Durham Crime Mapper. Durham Crime Mapper

I entered an address on Middleton, and the crime stats from Jan 2007 to May 2008 are pretty encouraging--actually better than the ones for where I live, and I feel perfectly comfortable and happy in my neighborhood.

I think my main concern would be the districted high school--I think people prefer Jordan to Hillside, but I'm a mom of a 6-month-old, so high schools don't concern me yet.

Thanks for that link! Her doubts revolve around crime, which looking at that website, especially Middleton Rd and the streets right around it are pretty good (i.e. NOTHING last year). Yeah, my realtor lives in Durham so she's pretty familiar. I'm also not concerned w/ the high school personally (my son is 6 wks), but I kind of need to think about resale...I might only be in the area 3 yrs.

[sneezecake]

Resale is a concern in the Hillside district, but remember, resale is also a concern for the current seller - i.e. you are buying at a discount there if you were to buy. I still think the neighborhoods I listed for you are MUCH more desirable if you can find something that fits your budget/needs there, but it's all up to you and what you think when you visit!

[gwyn779]

Originally Posted by sneezecake

Resale is a concern in the Hillside district, but remember, resale is also a concern for the current seller - i.e. you are buying at a discount there if you were to buy. I still think the neighborhoods I listed for you are MUCH more desirable if you can find something that fits your budget/needs there, but it's all up to you and what you think when you visit!

We've actually looked at about 30 houses total, mostly in the neighborhoods you listed. You're right, of course, because of the area, the house in Penrith is comparatively larger and nicer than similarly priced homes elsewhere. I'm mostly trying to see if my realtor's bias is justified or not.

[sneezecake]

It's justified in terms of the fact that yes, Penrith is generally a less desirable neighborhood than those others, but as far as steering you away from there if you find your dream house? Probably not justified - it's not Stepford, but not awful.