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.
I've been looking on Realtor.com and it seems like the Cary/Apex area is somewhat pricey??? and my budget is under $450,000.00 for a single family home.
We've had a lot of riff-raff problems here in my Phoenix neighborhood (drug houses, FBI raid, property crime, thug kids, and just your run of the mill noisy, partying unsavory types) so I'm hoping to avoid that somewhere around Cary or Apex.
Is this price range blue collar, white collar? Lower middle class? Middle class? Can anyone fill me in on what types of neighbors we might encounter? Would we possibly be making a lateral move?
TIA!
My opinion is that you are talking middle to upper-middle.
I live in a nice neighborhood in Apex where home values are currently in the upper half of the $300's. Homes in my immediate neighborhood average about 2 - 3 years in age, 3000 - 3200 sq. ft., 4 - 5 bedroom, 3 - 4 bath on .2 acres.
If you moved into my neighborhood, you would find primarily families with children ranging from newborn to senior in high school, people from the north, south, east and west, smack dab in the middle of the country and even from overseas, people who work in law enforcement, technology, sales, engineering, construction and services.
Cary and Apex are very nice towns but are by no means the only nice towns or areas in the Triangle area, as other people on this forum will be sure to tell you. I wouldn't limit my search to just Apex and Cary if I were you. There are lot's of nice options here.
Is this price range blue collar, white collar? Lower middle class? Middle class? Can anyone fill me in on what types of neighbors we might encounter? Would we possibly be making a lateral move?
TIA!
My opinion would be white collar, middle class. Lots of people who work in RTP.
Depending on your other requirements (house and lot size, age, etc) you should be able to find a very nice place.
The window of 350 to 450k will buy you a very nice home in a safe family neighborhood for sure. I would define that price point as middle to upper middle class if you have to put that kind of label on it. Most homes in that location will cost somewhere between $110 and $150 per square foot.
A couple of general observations-
It is possible to live within the town of Cary and to recieve mail to either a Cary, Apex, or Morrisville Zipcode. Zipcodes alone don't tell the story on realtor.com.
Cary and Apex are VERY safe areas in ANY price range. There is very little petty crime, and the few violent crimes that have taken place there are not of a random nature-not many carjackings or home invasions to speak of.
There are PLENTY of excellent selections under $450,000. The newest/flashiest/most aggressively marketed neighborhoods will be priced higher than that, especially in the "hot" West Cary area (27519 zipcode), but your budget allows for MANY excellent possibilities.
The newer the home, the smaller the lot. Most of Cary's newest subdivisions in that price range will offer lots well under .25 acres.
Cary/Apex is a LARGE land mass with many different pockets of nice neighborhoods in your price range. Certain pockets serve certain commuting destinations much better than others-it's not simply a question of Cary versus Apex.
The lot size thing is mainly a west-of-highway-55 thing (because of proximity to RTP and scarcity of land). There are new (and new-ish) neighborhoods in Cary like Park at West Lake that have larger lots in that price range.
Thank you everyone.
I have a friend in Apex, so I'd like to live close by. She's probably in the $650k+ range and when I asked her about neighborhoods under $450k she was hesitant and said, "uhhhhh.....I'm not sure".
Then I was reading a thred here about gang activity in the Wake schools and there are reported "incidents" (although nobody can seem to define what an incident may be) in all the middle and high schools which coming from a heavily gang populated/crime area, it scared the beegeebies out of me and it was almost a deal breaker.
I just want to be able to say hi to my neighbors without wondering if they're casing my house or kids, and take walks in my neighborhood - safely.
DH is probably getting a job offer in RTP this next week, so I have to sort this all out - - quick!!
Thank you everyone.
I have a friend in Apex, so I'd like to live close by. She's probably in the $650k+ range and when I asked her about neighborhoods under $450k she was hesitant and said, "uhhhhh.....I'm not sure".
Then I was reading a thred here about gang activity in the Wake schools and there are reported "incidents" (although nobody can seem to define what an incident may be) in all the middle and high schools which coming from a heavily gang populated/crime area, it scared the beegeebies out of me and it was almost a deal breaker.
I just want to be able to say hi to my neighbors without wondering if they're casing my house or kids, and take walks in my neighborhood - safely.
DH is probably getting a job offer in RTP this next week, so I have to sort this all out - - quick!!
Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
Thank you everyone.
I have a friend in Apex, so I'd like to live close by. She's probably in the $650k+ range and when I asked her about neighborhoods under $450k she was hesitant and said, "uhhhhh.....I'm not sure".
I really have to question what world your friend lives in if asking her what type of neighborhoods $450k will get you into in Apex, North Carolina gives her pause.
Not to say that my friend is clueless, but here in Phoenix, there are plenty of SAHM's who couldn't even tell you who the Vice President is. They can't function without their nannies, housekeepers and husbands. But that's a whole different topic; but actually a main reason we're moving - - for a higher form of life. And Cary happens to be well educated.
A $650K home in Apex is not the norm. That's the very high end of the range for Apex-the "meat" of the market in family-oriented Apex neighborhoods like Scotts Mill, Cameron Park, Pearson Farms, and others is in the range of 3 to 400K with a few homes on either side of that range. Even the older section of Abbington (a wonderful neighborhood) doesn't really push far over $400K, although the new section is $500K and up.
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.
