$700k for what? (Raleigh, Durham, Cary: appointed, sale, big home)

[mdp_az]

Originally Posted by sls76

No idea, but according to fmrealty, Colvard Farms goes to Chatham County schools, not CH.

Its based on the County in which the neighborhood is located, not the city. There are parts of Durham in Wake & Orange Counties, parts of Chapel Hill in Durham & Chatham Counties, etc...

[dcgrl]

This question is very irritating. Why, oh why, would a rich person choose to live in Durham of all places?

Let me name some people who might buy an expensive home in Durham:
A Duke professor
A surgeon practicing at Duke
An owner of a car dealership in Durham
An owner of a real estate company in Durham
A CEO of a pharmaceutical company in Durham
A very famous jazz musician
A very famous author
A partner in a big Durham law firm
A city administrator
Do I need to continue?

As I said previously in this thread, it is indeed possible for a person to like Durham enough to actually buy property here.

[NCBoyMommy]

I would say if you can't see the value in the 800K house in Chapel Hill or the 700 K house in Durham then buy the 500K house in Cary and be happy with the 300K that you saved.

[toot68]

Originally Posted by LisaZ

I threw out appx. asking prices here. We are looking at homes with about 1/4 acre (give or take a little), high end materials (this is key because you can get lower priced homes that are more outdated than we like), in a nice HOA with pool, trails etc. For about 3,500 sq ft or so. 4 Bedrooms. We have been looking at:
Meadowmont/Oaks in Chapel Hill (less land -.2 or so and not as updated interiors but still upscale) going for $800's and up.
Southpoint Manor in Durham (get a little more land -.4 acre and larger house-3,700 sq ft or so) For high $600k and up (I said $700k-I rounded)
Highcroft/Cameron Pond type communities in West Cary. About .25 acre. These are going for mid to high $500k and up.
We have looked at so many homes and this is just the trend we are seeing for those specific areas and the homes we like in those areas. You can't compare exact apples to apples because all homes lot sizes vary and interiors/layouts vary and location within the HOA varies - but this is close enough.
Back to my REAL question, what do people value differently about these locations that the prices vary so much. From what I read on this forum, Durham schools rank lower than W Cary and W Cary rank lower than Chapel Hill. Yet, this section of Durham is still asking more than W Cary.

I'll take a stab at this...perhaps it's due to the number of new homes for sale. Looking at the MLS for homes built in 2008 in each of the subdivisions you list I see

Highcroft: 27
Cameron Pond: 16
Southpoint Manor: 5
Meadowmont: 5

It would appear that the developers in western Cary were slapping up homes as fast as they could and have been caught with alot of inventory in a very crappy market with alot of competition. 43 brand new homes in pretty close proximity. With a crappy commute to RTP. Meadowmont has little competition in the chapel hill market, and low inventory (only one home at your price point). Southpoint Manor also has low inventory. Looks like simple economics to me...lots of product with few interested buyers means prices go down.

[Funky Chicken]

Originally Posted by toot68

I'll take a stab at this...perhaps it's due to the number of new homes for sale. Looking at the MLS for homes built in 2008 in each of the subdivisions you list I see

Highcroft: 27
Cameron Pond: 16
Southpoint Manor: 5
Meadowmont: 5

It would appear that the developers in western Cary were slapping up homes as fast as they could and have been caught with alot of inventory in a very crappy market with alot of competition. 43 brand new homes in pretty close proximity. With a crappy commute to RTP. Meadowmont has little competition in the chapel hill market, and low inventory (only one home at your price point). Southpoint Manor also has low inventory. Looks like simple economics to me...lots of product with few interested buyers means prices go down.

It looks to me as if the last few homes in Southpoint Manor have much higher asking prices than most of the homes in there sold for over the last couple of years, and that puzzles me a bit with the exception of the basement homes.

Most of the stale inventory in Highcroft and Cameron Pond suffers from lot issues-not size (although the lots are onthe smaller side) but funny slopes or corners with non-private backyards. Cameron Pond has future phases that haven't opened up yet but everything that is left in the current phases is lot-challenged. The approval and impending construction of the Western Wake Freeway doesn't help the West side of Cameron Pond one bit, either.

[Moonwalkr]

I have friends living in Meadowmont who send their kids to Durham (private) schools. Someone mentioned earlier that you can live anywhere you want to and still send your kids to schools of your choosing, if you don't mind the tuition. I wouldn't worry about out of whack prices, go with what you feel is priced right. Unless this is your first time buying a house, you should know by now that there is no rhyme or reason why some houses are priced a certain way, just accept them the way they are like the black sheep in your family.

[LisaZ]

Thanks for some good information and educated reponses from toot68, funky chicken and moonwalkr. I was starting to think everyone was jumping on just to be argumentative vs. helpful.

[Tar Heel Smitty]

800K for a house? Are you kidding? This is out of control.

The average folks cant afford a decent house.

[Fresh Start Today]

Originally Posted by toot68

It would appear that the developers in western Cary were slapping up homes as fast as they could and have been caught with alot of inventory in a very crappy market with alot of competition. 43 brand new homes in pretty close proximity. With a crappy commute to RTP.

I have to differ on the commute part. We currently live in the area you speak of and one of the big attractions is our very easy commute to RTP. This is our big hesitation to move. We want to cash in on our current investment windfall and purchase another house. The way to do that is to move further away, but then we will not have the awesome commute we have now. We are very torn. Stay in West Cary and have tons of conveniences and a great commute to RTP or cash in on our house and live high on the hog further away.

[dcgrl]

Originally Posted by Tar Heel Smitty

800K for a house? Are you kidding? This is out of control.

The average folks cant afford a decent house.

To be fair, 800k is well above the median price for a home in this area (and most areas). Average folks most certainly can afford a decent house here.