Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina > Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary
 [Register]
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary The Triangle Area
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-18-2008, 08:14 AM
 
140 posts, read 440,216 times
Reputation: 165

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by PDXmom View Post
Yes, there is a savings in a mortgage payment but not necessarily taxes in your example. For instance if we use the tax rate Sneezecake quoted for his BL house of $1.20 the 300K house in S Durham would cost $3600 in taxes. The $325K house in Raleigh would cost about $3250 (I believe their new tax rate is under $1 which would mean $3250 would be on the high side). Yes, we are only talking about a difference of a couple hundered dollars and you do get more house for your money (generally) in Durham. (I say generally because I've seen a few over priced houses... which don't seem to sell.)

For me the frustrating thing about Durham taxes is that the tax base is small. Durham is not a huge county. And many of the houses in Durham's core have low values, thus do not generate much in tax revenue. Those of us who live in So. & No. Durham shoulder most of the tax burden in the city. But we receive the least services. This is my pet peeve... it doesn't seem to bother others.

But with that said, if this area is close to work for you, I would definately look into buying here. I love that it feels like the center of the triangle. I personally think in terms of location to other parts of the triangle and the lack of traffic it's really hard to beat. I'm warming up to Cary, but the traffic in certain areas of Cary is much worse than SW Durham. Not all of Cary... just parts.
You are right about the math and I wasn't clear about my point. I was really just trying to say that when comparing costs of locations, you couldn't just say a $300K house in SW Durham and a $300K house elsewhere -- you had to adjust the house values for the generally lower prices in SW Durham.

And I agree with you about the Durham budget -- it does often seem that the core is a black hole that just sucks revenue from the outlying areas. We can only hope that the commercial development and increased home values (some of those downtown neighborhoods have increased in value tremendously since the later 90's) will eventually even things out somewhat.

But that being said I still love the convenience and the lower level of traffic -- especially on the weekends. I am always amazed by the amount of traffic I hit if I need to go east or south especially at rush hour.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-18-2008, 08:56 AM
 
3,155 posts, read 10,741,519 times
Reputation: 2127
Quote:
Originally Posted by durhammom View Post
You are right about the math and I wasn't clear about my point. I was really just trying to say that when comparing costs of locations, you couldn't just say a $300K house in SW Durham and a $300K house elsewhere -- you had to adjust the house values for the generally lower prices in SW Durham.

And I agree with you about the Durham budget -- it does often seem that the core is a black hole that just sucks revenue from the outlying areas. We can only hope that the commercial development and increased home values (some of those downtown neighborhoods have increased in value tremendously since the later 90's) will eventually even things out somewhat.

But that being said I still love the convenience and the lower level of traffic -- especially on the weekends. I am always amazed by the amount of traffic I hit if I need to go east or south especially at rush hour.

Sorry, I should have said I understand the comparison that you are making, especially since we lived it. When we started looking at areas to figure out where to live, we narrowed it down to SW Durham & No. Raleigh and wanted to stay in the 300K -350K range. We definately got more house for our money in Durham. In this range we got a 2900 sq ft 2 year old house w/ upgrades like hardwoods & granite in a GREAT location. In No. Raleigh we were looking at less desirable locations (near busy streets), smaller updated homes, or older homes with not as much updating. We owned 80-90 year old homes in Portland so it was nice to buy newish and be done w/ updating.

My husband has to go to No. Raleigh every couple of weeks and hates the traffic there. I laugh at him since it's nothing compared to what he use to deal with in Portland. SW Durham really has spoiled us in many ways.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-18-2008, 09:15 AM
 
Location: Hoover, Alabama
673 posts, read 2,264,020 times
Reputation: 521
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDXmom View Post
SW Durham really has spoiled us in many ways.
Us too, PDXmom, us too!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-21-2008, 02:06 PM
 
189 posts, read 752,755 times
Reputation: 89
Baltimore7,

We arrived from the NE just under a year ago. After much research, and after looking in Brier Creek and Cary, we bought a home in the Fairfield development in SW Durham. We couldn't be happier. The more we learn and see of the Triangle area, the more satisfied we are that we made the right decision for us.

My husband works in the southern most part of the RTP and his commute is around 12 minutes. Fairfield is an active community of less than 400 homes, offering recreational facilities and social activities for those that are inclined to partake of them. Our neighborhood is ethnically diverse. People wave at each other in passing, are out jogging at all hours, and the dog walkers are a ubiquitous and friendly bunch.

What we really like is that we feel like we're on the edge of a more rural area, with an entrance to the ATT one mile from our home, yet we're less than 10 minutes from the Streets of Southpoint and all of the other smaller malls nearby. A large variety of restaurants are within close striking range. An added plus is the ease in which we can go elsewhere in Durham and Chapel Hill. I confess we almost never go to Cary or Raleigh, so can't speak to the convenience of getting to those cities.

We are very glad we didn't listen to those who categorized all of Durham by its worst neighborhoods, and by the realtors who encouraged us toward Cary and Brier Creek. For us, living in SW Durham was a perfect fit. I wish you well in finding the neighborhood and home that's right for your family.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina > Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:15 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top